TODAY IS “TRUTH BOMB THURSDAY…” 

Wait, how did I miss TUESDAY?

I have been writing my Blog for over 5 years now, and in that entire time I have never missed a “TRUTH BOMB TUESDAY!”

There have been events, vacations, Illnesses, weddings, funerals, dark days and days full of light. There have been early morning posts and late night posts and every time posts in between. But never in my 5 plus years of writing my Blog have I ever missed a “TRUTH BOMB TUESDAY,” until COVID!

When I looked up the most used word in 2020, guess what popped up?

You guessed it, COVID!

COVID has been on everyones mind since the day we were told to, “shelter in place!”  It has consumed our thoughts, curiosities, worries, fears and doubts! It has been on every channel we turn to and has turned face masks into a fashion statement. We dread it, we fear it and we strive to understand it. Whether you dread COVID or think it to be a hoax, there is no denying, it has been the topic most talked about in 2020!

I dwelt with COVID pretty much like everyone else did…learning new ways to “do life,” live out ministry, and maintain relationships with COVID restrictions. As 2020 was coming to an end I felt pretty good about “Surviving the year of COVID!”

Then it came knocking at my front door!

A family member contracted COVID and we had all been in contact with each other! So, the tests were ordered, the quarantines maintained and our family Christmas plans were destroyed.

If you know me at all or if you don’t I’ll fill you in, I do not need a gift at Christmas or anything really at all for that matter, I just need to be with the ones I love! I’m not being a martyr, or trying to sound humble, it is just simply the truth! I just want to be with the people I love! 

We scrambled, we prayed and we just had to realize that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day would be spent alone and there was absolutely nothing we could do about it!

My Christmas Eve plans with my sisters, Christmas morning breakfast with my mom, our trip down to Southern California, and our eggs Benedict with my mother-in-law on December 26th, were all not going to happen! 

CRAZY COVID CHRISTMAS had hit us hard and we found ourselves waiting for test results ALONE!

Had Christmas been ruined? Would Christmas come?

In my head I knew the answer, but in my heart, I needed The truth to penetrate my spirit!

So I sat on my staircase with a cup of coffee in my hand and tears rolling down my cheeks and I began on day one…

JESUS IS:

1.The word 

2.I am 

3.Son of God

4.Redeemer

5.Light of the world

6.Lamb of God

7.Meditator

8.Emmanuel

9.Corner stone

10.Bread of life 

11.The vine 

12.Glory of the Lord

13.Man of sorrows

14.Alpha Omega 

15.Prince of peace 

16.The way

17.Lord

18.Morning star

19.Good shepherd

20.Messiah

21.Son of man

22.Christ 

23.Savior

24.Jesus

As I got to Day 24, I repeated day 22, 23 and 24 over again out loud…

CHRIST, SAVIOR, JESUS!

JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD! Christmas is here and has come and will never be stopped, altered or changed because of Covid or any other problem or circumstance this world will ever face!

As I pondered the fact that the most used word of 2020 was COVID, I realized I could turn it around in 2021!

This crazy Covid Christmas may have caught me off guard and had me post a Truth Bomb Tuesday on a Truth Bomb Thursday, but it did not have to stop me from ending the year 2020 and beginning the year 2021 with the most common word I will use, CHRIST!

Christ is the title given to the Savior of the world! He has saved us from darkness into light! He will save us from COVID or any other struggle we face!

May we not waste another year, another month, another week or another moment focused on anything more than CHRIST alone!

MAY THE WORD CHRIST BE THE WORD WE USE MOST IN 2021!

As we end possibly, the worst year of our lives, may we begin this new year with HOPE, POSSIBILITIES, and FOCUS as we pledge to make it all about CHRIST JESUS, OUR LORD!

TRUTH BOMB

The greatest word we could ever use is Christ!

May we use no other word more frequently than CHRIST in this New Year!

GOOD BYE COVID 2020.

HELLO NEW YEAR OF CHRIST 2021!

Speak Truth Love

It hurts so bad when God’s plans are not mine! Problem is, that’s backwards.

My plans need to be God’s!

That’s the way it is meant to work!

We are such planners. That is a nice way of saying “control freaks!”

We want everything to go according to our plan. Afterall, we have planned it all out!

Then comes in the nasty but true truth about us, SELFISHNESS! 

We are born with a human nature that yearns for what we want, when we want it, and how we want it! That can be the “not so pretty” part of our control. We do not want anyone or anything changing or interrupting our plans!

How do you think Mary felt when the Angel Gabriel came to her and said, “The Wedding is off?”

All your plans and dreams that you have been creating since your engagement to Joseph, they’re over. Cancel the venue, tell the caterer you won’t need them, call the guests and let them know they don’t need to show up, and that white dress you have longed to wear, you won’t be needing that, you will be pregnant by the Holy Spirit!

WOW, my head is spinning at the thought. My heart is broken by the disappointment she must have felt at her plans falling apart around her!

What did Mary do when her plans unraveled in the blink of an eye, or more accurately, in the breath of an angel’s announcement?

She did not throw a tantrum, demand her way or hold onto her control…

SHE LET GO AND SHE LET GOD!

“Let it be to me according to your Word.”

Luke 1:38

What is our response to God when our plans are interrupted? Do we throw tantrums, stomp our feet, and get upset that things didn’t go our way? Do we pout, feel sorry for ourselves, or even worse, do we get angry and allow our emotions to rule the day? In this year, 2020, we’ve had lots of practice…little, if anything, has gone our way.

Our response should be like that of Marys. Lord God, let your plans be my plans, and not the other way around! 

Truth Bomb

God’s plans are always best even when our plans are interrupted!

Christmas is in just three days, we celebrate God’s GREATEST plan coming to live among us! Immanuel, God with us! I pray you are wrapped up warmly in His love this Christmas!

Speak Truth Love

You’ve heard the saying, “All good things must come to an end.” I hate that saying. I know hate is a harsh word, but with all my heart, I hate that saying. I have allowed that saying to ruin far too many wonderful experiences in my life. I have driven on a vacation trip when thoughts flood my mind, that soon I will be returning home. I have almost had a “deja vu” experience driving to see my grandkids thinking, “Oh no, before I know it I’ll be on the opposite side of the highway heading home, and my time with them will be over.”  I have headed into Disneyland ready for a great day of adventure, when the awful thought hits me, “Soon I’ll be walking the opposite way through this gate.”  Worst of all, I have wasted too many wonderful Christmas days, fearing it would be over, and I would have to wait a whole year for Christmas to come again. 

While it is true that all good things must come to an end, the end of something does not need to be tragic. Actually, the end can simply be the closure to wonderful memories, fantastic activities, and heartwarming times spent with those we love the most. 

It is day 14 in the countdown to Christmas. As I turned over the card for today’s countdown of Jesus’ names, it read “Alpha and Omega.”  I found myself with a catch in my throat as I tried to get the words out to thank my Savior for being both the Beginning, and the End!  Within these two words is held the tremendous truth that Jesus is actually EVERYTHING!

He is the beginning, He is everything in between, and He is the victorious end!  

In this year of uncertainty, doubts, fears, and what I quoted last night at our “Cocoa and Caroling” event at church, this is the “year to get dumped on.”  It has been trials with some triumphs, but certainly a beginning with no end in sight. Yes, there is a hope of a vaccine, but we still have the uncertainty of what it will accomplish, and if we will ever go outside again without a mask. Will we be able to experience gatherings where we are not fearful of being near to our neighbors? But in these words, “Alpha and Omega”, the end is very clear.  

In the last book of the Bible–the end of God’s word–Jesus said,

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:13

As we near the day when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, marking the beginning for man’s reconciliation with God, do not neglect to see the Truth and the power in Him not only being the beginning, but also being the end. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. My prayer from now to Christmas as I thank Jesus, for who He is, is to include thankfulness that He is not just the beginning of my story. He is also the end of my story. And as a matter of fact, He is there with me through every moment of my in between!  

TRUTH BOMB

Jesus is our beginning AND our end!

As we continue through each day of our lives, both with certainties and uncertainties, may we live confidently that the God who began a good work in us, will indeed carry that work to completion in our lives, until the very day Jesus returns!  

That, my friends, will be the perfect ending!

Speak Truth Love

On my BIG birthday, this is the sight I walked down the stairs to!

WORDS, written on snowflakes, simple pieces of paper with printed out messages.

At first glance it may have looked like a scene from one of our favorite Christmas movies.

Not the one that sings about snow, White Christmas, but the one where Buddy cuts out hundreds and hundreds of snowflakes and hangs them all over the place, Elf!

But, at closer examination, you could see each snowflake had been cut by hand and held a unique pattern all its own! They glistened as the light from the window landed on them and caused the silver gems on them to sparkle! As you stepped even closer you saw THE WORDS!

What’s in a WORD? 

Appreciation, gratitude, loyalty, laughter, memories, joy, commitment, passion, enthusiasm, friendship, sisterhood, family, kindness, generosity, inspiration, blessings, faith and most of all LOVE! 

These WORDS and more jumped off of these snowflakes and into my heart and soul forever!

“Gracious WORDS are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

Proverbs 16:24

TRUTH BOMB

OUR WORDS HAVE THE POWER TO HEAL WHEN THEY ARE GRACIOUS AND WISELY CHOSEN!

If our WORDS can hold so much power, is it no wonder that JESUS CHRIST is THE WORD!

“And The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and Truth.”  John 1:14

Our WORDS matter as we reflect THE WORD, Jesus Christ, with the WORDS we say and the lives we live!  

I was inspired by the Words on my snowflakes to give this same gift to my Savior on His Birthday!

I hung a string on my staircase banister, and found printed cards online with numbers 1 – 25 on them, and a unique name of Jesus on the back. For seven days now I have read each name and thanked God for the way He has blessed my life with that attribute.

Day 1, was THE WORD!  

My WORDS to God on Day 1, “Thank you God that you are THE WORD! Thank you that Jesus Christ has been and always will be THE WORD! Thank you that His WORDS are TRUTH! Thank you that you have given your Son, Jesus, to the world and I have Him as my Lord and Savior!”

“In the beginning was THE WORD, and THE WORD was with God, and THE WORD was GOD.”  John 1:1

THANK YOU JESUS!

THE WORD! Jesus Christ is THE WORD, the WORD of God, sent to Earth in human flesh. He walked, talked, slept, ate, listened, got hungry, got tired, felt, understood and lived on this earth just like I do! Just like you do!

As we are one week closer to the birthday of Jesus, I pray we will continue to use our WORDS to show THE WORD our love, gratitude, and appreciation for who He is!

I love and appreciate and pray for all of you! 

I want to use my WORDS to tell you so!

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU AS YOU ANTICIPATE HIS BIRTHDAY!

Speak Truth Love