Christmas is over. What now?

Christmas took up so much of my time with planning, shopping, cooking, and visiting that now that it's over, I really have to remember that it's over already, and I have to move on with this new year and do something else instead of shopping and cooking, and preparing for Christmas...but what?? What am I supposed to be doing now? I had been putting so much time and effort into Christmas, that now just seems dull, and boring, and meaningless.

For some reason I became interested in reading the book of Ecclesiastes on New Year's Eve as we were driving toward Rotan, TX at around 11:00pm to spend New Year's with Fletcher's family. I had been reading it earlier in the day before we left and had found the wisdom of Solomon to be so profound. And, since there were no good radio stations on that long stretch of road once we turned north of the Intersate heading toward Rotan, and I was trying to stay awake so that Fletcher would stay awake, I came up with the idea to read the Bible, from my iphone app. That's when I started reading the book of Ecclesiastes aloud to Fletcher (in my teacher/librarian voice), and before I knew it we had read and discussed the entire book! We finished just before we got to Rotan, TX and just before the year 2009 ended and 2010 began!

God thought of everything didn't he? I love the way he knows all of the troubles, feelings, and emotions we will have throughout our life, and he put all of the answers into one book, The Bible, just for us, his children, so that when we open it and seek his advice, it's right there in black and white. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can apply His word to fit our situations in life whatever they might be. What a great and mighty God we serve!

I would love to reprint the entire book of Ecclesiastes right here for you to read and give my own commentary on each chapter and verse, which would probably be different than any you have ever heard before! But, instead I will strongly suggest that you reread this book from your Bible, or iphone app, and see if you agree that God is speaking to you even today through the words of a wise King in the days of the Old Testament. Amazing!

I have included here in this post a few photo memories of our Christmas of 2009 which I am missing very much right now!

He Rescues me, He rescues me, He rescues me,...

At First Baptist Houston with Dan and Kim.

One of my daydreams, whenever I'm having a bad day or things aren't going well, (which if you know me like I do, I mess up alot!) is that Fletcher will ride up to me (wherever I am) on a white horse and call out my name, then he will grab me up onto the white horse with him and we would ride away together, far away from whatever is going on, never to return. And all of the people around me, who are giving me a hard time, or causing my problems (of course it's never my own fault) will stand there in awe, with their mouths open and later they would say things like, "Did you see that?" and "He must really love her alot to rescue her like that from this terrible place!" Seriously, I've thought this through many times, and wished that it would happen. I even used to ask Fletcher to come to get me around 10:00 am from school on a white horse, but he never did. The problem with this dream was that I was hoping in the wrong person, because I can't expect that of Fletcher. He doesn't have a white horse, he doesn't have time to save me every day, and he doesn't always take my side in everything because he usually sees that I am wrong and the other people are right. So, my daydreams are just fairy tales in my mind that I made up for my own little world that I created for myself to live in. So I was happy to hear recently about how Jesus, my Lord and Savior, rescues me!

Recently we went to church with Dan and Kim at First Baptist Houston. The pastor there is Greg Matte (a former Aggie and the person who originally started "Break Away" at Texas A&M.) His message series for December was "The Song of Christmas" the message title for Dec. 20th was "Zechariah's Song - Luke 1:62-80." In summary, Zechariah is the father of John the Baptist. He wasn't able to speak during his wife's pregnancy because he questioned God and couldn't believe that his wife Elizabeth would finally have a baby! The first thing he said after the birth of John, and after scribbling that the baby's name would be "John" on a tablet, was this passage Luke 1: 67-79, and the interesting thing is that he speaks of the birth of Jesus first, before he even speaks of the birth of his own son, John. But what really sticks out in my mind about the message that day was what Pastor Greg kept saying about Jesus: "He rescues me, he rescues me, he rescues me..." That was something I had never really given much thought to before. I know Jesus is my Saviour, but I never really thought about how he rescues me over and over each day. So, I wanted to write about this and share some of the "rescue" verses I found in the Bible for safe keeping here on this blog so that I won't forget, because I know that I am for the most part the only one that reads and rereads my own blog, so whenever I read this again I will be reminded of His faithfulness because Psalm 145:13b says, "The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made." Thank you Lord Jesus for rescuing me over and over again. Amen.

Psalm 18:17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.

Psalm 22:8 He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.

Psalm 31:2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

Psalm 69: 4 Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs on my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. (refer to Psalm 18:17)

Psalm 91:14 "Because he loves me," says the Lord, " I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name."

Psalm 143:9 Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in you.

Proverbs 11:8 The righteous man is rescued from trouble, and it comes on the wicked instead.

Daniel 6:27 He rescues and he saves, he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.

Daniel 6:20 *The story of Daniel in the lions den where God rescues Daniel from the lions!

Romans 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

*Colossians 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

Galations 1:4 ...who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ...

2Peter 2:9 The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials.

If you are trying to deal with something on your own and you're having trouble with it, or you feel like the enemy is winning and you are losing, if you can't see the end of a situation or if you feel like you're drowning, then just remember there is a Saviour waiting to rescue you! Just ask him with all of your heart, and believe with all of your heart, and trust him with all of your heart to handle the situation. This will only happen when you release the problem completely and give it to him. Trust him. He will rescue you!

Ezekiel 36: 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you...

Lord Jesus, please remind me each day that you are all I need to rescue me from my enemies. Please remove my heart of stone and give me a new heart of flesh. Put your spirit within me and move me to follow your decrees, to be careful to keep you laws, so that I may live in the land you have promised as one of your own, and so that you will be my God. Save me from my sins that entangle me. Thank you for all of your provisions and your grace each day. Thank you for being my Savior and my friend. Thank you for rescuing me. Amen.