Christmas - a time for friends and family

I've had a privilege few experience for my whole life.  I've always worked and served with family.

I served along-side my parents in church as a kid - cleaning, mowing and preparing for our weekend services.  There's something about making your kids 'help' especially with menial tasks behind the scenes in ministry that makes them take ownership and care about the ministry personally. I HIGHLY recommend inviting your kids and grandkids to serve with you.

My mom and I also worked at two places of business together before I stayed home to raise kids.  These shared days of work and life let us know one another in ways most mothers and daughters don't experience.

As Ron and I had children we all served together at church doing various tasks and being there when the doors were open together. 

I'm in that era of life where I see roles reversing with our kids.  Now I'm the one being taught.

I started my day today 'learning' from the writing of my daughter as I continue my study of Mary from the book she just published.  There's something about raising your kids, trying desperately to teach them about who the Lord is, then benefitting from their knowledge of Him... (tears streaming down my face)...

And then to get the call last night that Jared and Jocelyn lead Trinity their daughter to the Lord...(tears running down my face)... no words

And following having time in the Lord this morning using Jocelyn's book, I saw our son's video work on social media again - as we advertise our Christmas services.

How different they are - one being a 'word-smith' from an early age, the other visually able to see the story and make it come to life through his ability to understand the message that needs to be communicated and capturing it on video or graphically.  Breathtaking...

You can see it at this link.
Lift Up Your Eyes








God has also gifted us with an amazing God-loving daughter and son-in-law too - both crazy in love with Jesus and talented.  We consider both gifts straight from the Lord and miracles!

I'm not writing this to brag about my kids, our family has experienced ugly season's too.
I'm writing to encourage everyone who reads this to mend any damaged family/friend relationship you have right away.

I'm not suggesting you enter back into any harmful relationship, ever! 

But, recently with people I've personally talked to, I've been shocked at how long it's been since they've talked to loved ones.  Differences in life style and life choices have separated them - a difference in opinion in some cases is all that separates them.  You DO NOT have to condone how someone lives in order to love them and let them know that.

Please consider this Christmas season a simple text or call to a family member or friend that you've distanced yourself from.

Jesus says to 'love'...He doesn't list exceptions that permit you to remain mad or harbor a heart of disappointment or lack of forgiveness.

We owe the Savior a clean heart - that's what He asks for at Christmas!!

(I would LOVE to hear your comments about steps you're going to take to contact loved ones!!)

a Crossroads Christmas

It's so difficult to believe how many Christmases we've created at Crossroads!  This year was particularly meaningful.

Just the way the live actors combined with the amazing music and pre-shot video to tell the amazing story of God sending us His son, it felt like the story came alive in front of us.  We considered how a human mother was chosen by the God of the Universe to give life to His son.  A mother who herself had spent her life waiting for the Savior of which she'd been told.

During the process of preparing the services, through the discussions we had with Pastor Dave and Jocelyn's beautiful writing, I felt like I understood just a little bit more of how shocking that would have been to receive the angels' news.

The way the Lord chooses to use His children to be part of His story is always amazing!

Here are some pictures of the process to create Christmas at Crossroads.

We had a blast creating the services!  Here
Pastor Dave was doing a crazy commentary keeping us laughing!

We practiced like crazy

We made trees

Ernesto was so good!

Our beautiful dancer

These were some of the paper rocks we made!

I can't even guess how many hours Jackie Crawfis spent
building our set - such an amazing job!

We had an extraordinary string section!

Each song was carefully chosen to help tell the beautiful story!

Abi played the part of Mary beautifully!

Our 3 shepherds - Kevin, Hayden and Eric

 I love Monty's stand-up bass

Our amazing quartet!

Sherri Stewart played beautifully for us in the lobby!

Eric's beautiful video work added so much to the production.

It was an unbelievable privilege to help tell the story and to know that a few people came to know the Lord through our work!

Thank you all for attending, we pray it made your Christmas a little more special!

blessed

I just got to work and immediately was in tears...again.

Our family has had an emotional year for sure, like many of you have.

The separation from us that someone we dearly loved chose to make caught us totally off-guard.  I guess we had bought into 'having the perfect family' as my friends teased me often.

I've been very emotional this year.  Those I work with have shown patience and my family has all rallied together in Christ to move past it.  But it's very humbling how emotional I still am at the most unexpected things.  I like being in control of my emotions more than I can say.  More than is healthy I suppose.

I totally believe I'm watching God's will unfold in front of us and am very excited about the future!

But, this morning I felt God's presence totally and unexpectedly wash over me when I got to work.

I realized just how unbelievable God has been to me, allowing me to be surrounded by family and getting to see them all use their talents for the Lord!

My son pulled me into his office this morning to show me the Christmas promo he created to use for our Christmas services in a couple weeks, and I immediately began to tear-up.  As I heard the words on the video that my daughter wrote, I was completely overwhelmed with the sacrifice God made to send us His only son.

We're telling the Christmas story from the perspective of Mary this year.   It's made me consider again how God can use the most-unlikely, unexpected people and things to change our world.  In fact He chooses to.

If He used extraordinary people - none of us could relate to them!

As I watched Abi's image come across the screen when my son showed me the promo - it all came pouring back to me.  My family's opportunity to get to know Abi's family when they first arrived from Mexico.  It took my breath away as God revealed the 'good' He's allowed us to be part of.

I left my son's office too emotional to talk - I believe our Christmas services are one of the most important projects that our team creates and our team takes it very seriously.   Our jobs are to tell the story of Jesus.  To use our creativity and talents to make it applicable to people's lives.

So that's my request to each of you.

Please invite your friends to one of our 5 services this year!

Pray for unsaved friends and don't hesitate for one moment to invite even unlikely friends, if they hear His Word, and SEE the story, they just may gain a new understanding of their need for a savior!

This could be a new beginning for many, just as God is moving our family into a new beginning!!

Please plan your holiday around our services and bringing friends and family to Him!  Merry Christmas!

betrayed

I've been working on Christmas@Crossroads this week.

I am once again feeling privileged beyond my dreams to be able to take pieces and parts and form the skeleton of what the services will become with everyone's contributions and surrounded by prayer.

In searching the web for all the latest ideas and gadgets and bells and whistles I found myself in tears watching the simplest of things.

I Love this drawing

One short drama I watched was of actors portraying the experience of Mary being told by an angel that she was with child, and not only pregnant without intimate relationship, but carrying the long awaited Savior of the world.

The actress portrayed beautifully the innocence of a young girl being told SHE was the chosen mother of the Savior.

Her belief and trust in the Lord had to be HUGE.  Amazing!

Then the actor that played Joseph was told by Mary she was pregnant.  He cried, felt completely betrayed, probably accused her of being unfaithful, and moved from utter disbelief to horror and again burst into tears and left.

It was the first time I've ever really thought about how betrayed Joseph must have felt.  He thought he'd just lost his promised wife to another man, he knew what a pregnancy out of wedlock would mean for Mary, and he loved her.  Even in his deepest moments of feeling betrayed, he loved her which caused a deep pain the likes of which I've never known.

And then Joseph's suspicion of betrayal was erased as an angel of the Lord told him not to hesitate to take Mary for his wife.  And that he had been chosen to be the Savior's earthly father, can you imagine?

Would you believe that kind of message?

These were normal human beings chosen to be used of God in a supernatural way that only He could orchestrate.  Almighty God had to reduce His only son to that of a human to save His creation.

Now to somehow communicate that message to our congregation...

It will of course only happen with that same divine help from the God of the Universe who is still reaching out to his fallen creation.

Please pray for us!

not praying

My busyness has caused me to neglect intentional prayer recently.  I realized last week that I was feeling disconnected from the Lord.  Shame on me.

Asking for forgiveness from putting anything before Him - I've enjoyed rich closeness since then and find I'm VERY hungry Spiritually.

Soon after this I heard a pastor on the radio speak on, you guessed it, prayer.

He said - "Prayer is not a device to use to get what we want, our will.  But rather to pray over what God's will is.  He already has a plan in place.  When we pray it isn't God that changes what He had intended to do, it's us that changes.  Our prayer should always be motivated out of an understanding of God's Word.  When you study it should drive you to prayer."

I want to be driven by the things of God.

Are you like me - often putting earthly things before Him?  Busyness is far more dangerous than many other sins.  Busyness blinds us to our true priority of putting nothing before our spiritual growth in Him.  Other sin is black and white and has a beginning and end even if deemed more evil than busyness.

And so I'm recommitting to a whole lot of praying!


Join me anyone?