I told Scott that as a child, Christmas Eve was my favorite day because that is when the excitement reached its absolute peak. Christmas morning is over so quickly, but on Christmas Eve, the anticipation was almost too much to take.
Now, as an adult, I am feeling a bit panicked as the day closes in on us. And my list is long of what I am hoping to get done. I talked to my mom today, and she helped me prioritize the list;) She even suggested that I just throw all of my dirty clothes into a garbage bag, take them with me to Scottsboro, and wash them there. She is serious, and depending on the level of panic, I might take her up on it. So, as John slept (he's still sleeping), and I got Ada settled and watching Curious George on television, I took a moment to regroup and refocus by reading today's chapter in Come Thou Long Expected Jesus. I am desperate for the Lord to meet me in the midst of the self-induced chaos. I don't want my focus to be on laundry and dishes and clean floors; I want it to be on what took place in Bethlehem on that first Christmas Day. I want to get it, just a little bit.
Here is part of what I read. My favorite part...
The message of Christmas is that God came into the world in all his glory, and what was only a whisper became a shout. And someday in the future, as we read in the book of Revelation, he will come back in his blazing glory, which Jesus called 'great glory.' When he comes back in second coming glory, the Bible says the shout will be even louder so that every voice in the universe will cry and shout and sing his praises.
What does this say to us? We discover in 2 Corinthians 2:18, 'But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.' The veil is taken away. The things that were mysterious, troublesome, and confusing have been made clear. We now behold clearly the glory of the Lord. It's Christ. And as we behold him and look at him and gaze on him, we literally become like him.
Every authentic believer in Christ is being brought to spiritual maturity by that very process. We're gazing at his glory and being transformed into his image in the process. (95).
I love this. In my weekly women's bible study, we have been talking a lot about daily taking the time to simply "behold Christ." We have discussed disciplining ourselves to search for, study, seek out His glory in everything and then meditate on that glory, on who God is. I love the passage above because it says that this is the very thing that God uses to sanctify us. It is never about us, is it? Even the sanctification process. It happens as we Behold Him and His glory. Anyway, it was a nice little "getaway" to read that in the middle of this 23rd day of December, two days before Christmas. I want to focus on Christ!!! I want to get what that meant for God to send his son in order that he might die for me.
And I want to find a way to see God's glory in the daily stuff. In the daily making beauty out of chaos. That is what we talked/joked about at our last bible study. How can we see God's glory in the laundry, we asked. And Jessica mentioned that in the laundry and the straightening and the sweeping and everything else, we are, in fact, making beauty out of chaos. It is a way that I can reflect him, right? So...here is what my house looked like at the end of yesterday. And Ada helped me. She helped me after several spankings and pleadings and perhaps a raised voice here and there. But, she did help me.
Better, right? Certainly not perfect, but much less chaotic, I think. And on that note, I need to make my way upstairs to "make some beauty out of chaos" with the master bedroom and the laundry in the hallway.
Merry Christmas Eve, Eve. May we experience Him!!!
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