Hello. Goodbye.

This small sign. I almost chose to write different words in this particular chalkboard amidst my Christmas decorations. And even after I made it, I thought, "Oh well, I can change it later."

 But this little sign has had more impact on me over the last 2 weeks than I could have ever imagined.

 I have realized that I have said "hello" to so many things in my life when I should have been saying goodbye. 

The enemy has fear knock at my door? I say hello. Worry rings the doorbell? I say come in. Loneliness asking to come in? I say hello. Unworthiness pounds away? I say hello.

 But why do I struggle so to trust turning my door knob when Jesus sends grace knocking? Comfort? Joy? Confidence? 

Hello. Hello to truth. That is what I need to say, not just in this season, but every season that life brings.

 It seems that a lot of things have been coming to my door lately asking for entrance. 

But what a simple reminder that if it isn't a thought, a word, an attitude, a mindset that brings me straight to the comfort and joy of my Father's heart, then it isn't my Father who is bringing it. 

I never thought I'd use this phrase in a Simple Truth sharing moment, but this is what keeps coming to my mind: 

Bye, Felicia! 

Maybe I need to make that chalkboard too! 

Everyday, we choose- we choose our hellos and goodbyes and therefore open up the home of our hearts or close it off to a multitude of things. 

What are you saying hello to? What are you saying goodbye to? 

May our hellos in every area of our life usher in Holy Spirit truth. And may we have the courage to say goodbye to all that distracts and drains us of His power.

 Bye, Felicia, indeed. 

Hello, Comfort and Joy. 

#SimpleTruth for every season. 

When the Cookies Burn

Ahhhh Christmas. 

It is my FAVORITE.

Celebrating and family and fun and...

And then? 

Then there are days when the cookies burn.

The ones you’ve been waiting to make and decorate…saving those best moments for some of the last.

The days where traditions tank and you wonder why you are even attempting it all.

Days when discussions over gift giving turn into irrational, heated arguments.

Days when you aren’t the one invited.

Days when you are in a room with people yet feel dreadfully alone.

Yep. 

Those days when all your cookies seem to be going down in a blaze of glory and you are groping your way through the smoke just trying to figure out how to breathe.

On the outside the house is all a glow for the season, but inside? It’s a season of mess.

Can you relate?

I hesitate to share the truth about my cookies burning.

Because who wants the burnt stuff? 

We all know I am not gonna serve anyone my burnt mess. No…I will present a platter of beautifully decorated cookies that are made with love from the bottom of my heart...but the truth is...I still have days when the cookies burn. 

So I am not sharing for sympathy.

I am sharing because I realize there are so many just like me who roll out another batch of dough, put another pan in the oven, when really you just want to sit down, give up and have a good cry over all the burnt cookies. 

When the smoke of loss, fear, failure, change, transition, hurt, bitterness, hardship, fractured relationships, lost friendships looms thick in your kitchen…please know that you are not alone.

Emmanuel.

God is with us.

WITH us.

This Christmas, remember that there is grace for all that is charred and burned. Jesus came so that you could take up, “...beauty for ashes, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”(Isaiah 61:3)

HE makes all things new.

And so I set those cookies aside.

I open up doors and windows to let the funk out.

And I decide that I will bake another batch.

I am not done.

He is not done with me.

There is more sweetness in store.

I just have to wait and watch.

And even if the next batch burns, I am learning a lot in the making. 

And I am never alone…even when the cookies burn.

It's Official: I Don't Deserve Christmas.

When words you don't expect pour into the mundane moments, you listen. Listen hard. And write fast. 

As "What Child is This?" flooded my ears, the Holy Spirit flooded my heart. 

Fresh Words. 

Fresh perspective. 

Refreshed Spirit.

Maybe it was for you as much as it was for me…wherever you are.

"Wherever You Are"

Come peasant King…and all in-between to own Him.

Enthrone Him with your praise.

All that we are, all that we have, not merely voices, but LIVES we raise!

There is nothing that you have to do to earn this love, this grace.

Simply turn and look. There waiting, you'll see His face.

Breaking into your darkness, there is no need for shame.

Love He pours out over you, Mercy is His name.

He took on our broken form in the most vulnerable way.

The breath of this baby to be sacrificed, in Him all power to save.

Messiah in this tiny form, held in His mother's arms.

And then, He takes on MY wretched sin, allows my humanness to bring Him harm.

He scraped His knees, bumped His head, heart hurt and broken by by life.

He was a baby, a boy, a man- yet still God- allowing all the strife.

So, I cannot see this baby and leave Him in this humble bed.

Because through pain He walked where I should have been and took on death in my stead.

I celebrate His coming, this child breathed of God.

But that night is only the beginning of the story, the path that Grace would trod.

The chubby hands of this baby were the hands pierced for my soul.

The heartbeat felt, skin on a Mother's chest, pumped the blood that was foretold.

Yes, the joy found in those new life moments, made life accessible to me,

Because this baby, 

My Jesus

My Savior

He died to set me free!