Merry CHRISTmas!

The baby's pac-n-play (which takes up half of my floor space) is folded up for the week.

 

My backpack is tucked away in the closet.

Christmas decorations are up and carols are playing on my laptop.

My bag for Winter Youth Conference is laying on my bed, ready to be packed with new clothes. ;)

Christmas has never really been my favorite time of the year. Yes, it's full of family traditions and good treats, but jumping from house to house (5 to be exact) in 3 days is honestly exhausting.

I love the preparations of Christmas... Black Friday shopping, decorating the tree, watching Christmas movies, the smell of my Dad's "Christmasy" candles, etc. But I just don't look forward to what Christmas is, as I know it.

But this year I've found myself looking at it differently... Genuinely about Christ's birth. And suddenly it's a GREAT celebration! Visiting 5 houses is yes still a little crazy, but why should I let that hinder my view on Christmas? The celebration of my precious Savior's birth should exhaust me. God coming to this Earth as a man to eventually save His people, is a huge celebration.

After the festivities are over, I'll be heading to Winter Youth Conference and I must say I'm pumped! The topic of the messages (Joseph's life!), the fellowship, the relaxation, the time I have away from school and work, the gorgeous location, not having my cell phone, AND growing closer to my Lord... I can't wait. I know He's got big plans at this year's retreat, and it'll be great to share them and wonder in awe of my Savior.

I hope this Christmas brings you joy. Not because of presents or food, but because of fellowship, the reminder of freedom from our sin, and falling in love with the infant that changed the world.

Merry CHRISTmas to all!

<3 brandi

forgiveness is freedom

Forgiving someone for hurting you is probably one of the hardest things you'll ever have to conquer... There's so much pain in every step of the process.

For me, it's deep. Deeper than I thought anyways. God's showing me I have a tendency to suppress. Suppress the truth. Suppress my feelings. Suppress my hurts. And even suppress my need for Him... My need for forgiveness.

But what I'm realizing is ignoring these problems, pains, feelings, etc, are never a good thing. God wants us to address them. He wants us to realize our dependence on Him.

I want you to think of one time in your life when you had to forgive someone for something they did to you... usually it brings up rotten memories and there might be a few scars you have to tear at. It wasn't easy (and we'll just leave it at that).
Then I want you to think of all the times YOU've messed up. How many times has God had to forgive you for hurting Him? On a daily/hourly/minute-by-minute basis I'm sure.


How does that make you feel? It should strike a nerve. It should make tears come to your eyes. You should be on your knees begging for Him to see you rightly in His eyes. Let me just tell you, He has. His Son took care of that for you.

He sees us mess up. He sees the intent of our hearts. He knows we deliberately sin against Him. It's never ending. I mean, we continue to do it and He continues to forgive us. So who says we can't forgive others? I've heard people say, "You just don't understand. He/She hurt me too bad. I just can't forgive him/her." Really? Have you looked at your own sin lately? Have you seen the wretchedness of your own heart?

Remember how bad it hurt you to forgive that person. Remember the fragrance of that pain. And remember how bad you hurt your blessed Savior. But yet, He died for you. Remember His pain.

Matthew 18:21-35
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant  

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
 ²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[a]
   23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold^[b] was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
   ²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
   ²⁸ “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.^[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
   ²⁹ “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
   ³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
   ³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
   ³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

"that's life," that's what all the people say

   Working full-time
   School full-time
   Weekly church events
+ All my normal activities
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   Worn out Brandi