Christmastime is such a great time of year. Everyone gets to be with family. Everything is happy and perfect. Except when it isn’t.

For some people, Christmas can be a time when difficulties of losing a job are magnified, losing a family member seems even lonelier, and tough family circumstances are even more complicated.

Isaiah 9:2–6 says,

“2 The people walking in darkness
       have seen a great light;
       on those living in the land of the shadow of death ^[a]
       a light has dawned.  

3 You have enlarged the nation
       and increased their joy;
       they rejoice before you
       as people rejoice at the harvest,
       as men rejoice
       when dividing the plunder.  

4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
       you have shattered
       the yoke that burdens them,
       the bar across their shoulders,
       the rod of their oppressor.  

5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
       and every garment rolled in blood
       will be destined for burning,
       will be fuel for the fire.  

6 For to us a child is born,
       to us a son is given,
       and the government will be on his shoulders.
       And he will be called
       Wonderful Counselor, ^[b] Mighty God,
       Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  

This is a prophecy about the birth of Jesus. Hundreds of years before his birth, God thought it was important to let us know that Jesus was coming to be a light in the darkness, to be a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

If you’re going through a difficult time this Christmas season, remember that Jesus came to offer light and comfort to dark and cold places.

When I was a little girl, every year around Christmastime, my mom and I would sit down and she would help me write a letter to Santa. I felt really important addressing a letter to the North Pole and putting a real stamp on my envelope. It actually wasn’t until recently that I realized that she was helping me write the letter so that she could get an idea of what I wanted for Christmas without ruining the magic of Christmas for me.

These days, she’s not quite so subtle. Now she just asks for a list of the things I’d like for Christmas.

As we were driving up to Iowa for Thanksgiving, my brother and I started talking about some of our favorite Christmas memories. We made lists of our top five favorite presents. Here are mine (in chronological order):

1.       1988 – Hot Pink Barbie Corvette.  If memory serves, I was really hoping for a baby brother or sister for Christmas, but the Corvette was an excellent consolation prize. That puppy was a classy ride. By the next year, I’d have the baby brother I was asking for.

2.       1989 – Barbie house. With the introduction of the new member to our family, I was feeling a little neglected. My parents recognized this and did an awesome job with the house. My mom even wall-papered it. Little did we know, two years later, the house would be involved in a now-infamous incident involving my brother, running laps around the basement, and a couple of stitches over his right eye. He still has a scar.

3.       2002 – Slippers. This was my first year at college. My dad overheard me complaining about how cold our dorm room floors were and went out all on his own to buy me light purple fuzzy slippers. I cannot tell a lie: I shed a couple of happy tears when I realized he’d done this one on his own.

4.       2006 – Diamond ring. My mom got a new ring for her 25^th anniversary, so my parents had her old diamond reset in a ring for me. It’s the same diamond my dad sold his guitar to buy so he could propose to my mom.

5.       2007 – Cookbook and apron. Last year, my parents moved from the town I’d grown up in to a new town. My mom compiled recipes from all of our friends from my hometown, new friends from the new town, and family members into one cookbook. She also color-coordinated the cookbook with a super-cute apron. 

As we were talking, I asked if he could remember ever asking for something for Christmas that wasn’t under the tree. He couldn’t. Neither could I (besides the new sibling fiasco of ’88). Even though our parents aren’t exactly wealthy, they made sacrifices and made sure that we both got the things that we wanted for Christmas.

This year, as you’re shredding wrapping paper and reveling in your post-present-opening glory, remember that there’s a giver on the other end of the presents. Be sure to let your parents know how much you appreciate the sacrifices they’ve made to allow you to have the things you want for Christmas (even if you don’t get everything on your list).

I love surprises. As much as I always insist that I don’t like surprises for my birthday, I totally love them. The most fun surprise of all is the surprise birthday party. However, the couple of days right before the surprise birthday party can be kind of a bummer.

When it comes to my birthday, I like to celebrate more of a “birthweek.” I like to kick it into high gear party mode and linger in party mode for at least a week. I like birthday lunches, birthday cake, birthday presents, and birthday parties. I figure that you only turn <insert birthday count here> once, so you might as well milk it for all it’s worth.

However, when there’s a surprise party plan, the actual birthday day can be kind of a drag. Usually the party throwers will at least feign a party. The faux party before the surprise party will usually go through the motions and have all of the essentials of a real party (guests, presents, cake, etc.) but will fall short on every level (like only half of your friends show up, they all act a little lethargic and tired, they bring lame presents, and they forget to put candles on your cake, which is probably your least favorite kind). Also, they have apparently turned into the densest people on earth because they didn’t pick up any of the enormous hints you’ve been dropping about the thing you’ve been wanting most for your birthday (i.e., “Boy, that’s a cute shirt – if anyone needed to buy a gift for me any time soon, they should know that I’ve already tried it on and wear a medium.” Or “I love bowling so much. You know what would be a fun birthday party activity? Bowling!” Or simply “I would like to go to that new restaurant for my birthday.”)

You start to wonder why you chose these people as friends. I mean, what’s the point of having friends if they can’t at least throw you a good birthday party?! (Of course being able to throw a good birthday party isn’t the only criterion for choosing good friends, but it certainly helps.) You might even start to get a little pouty when you realize that this is the only birthday party you’re going to get for the next 364 days.

A couple of days pass and you’re just getting more and more irked at your friends. You’re probably considering suggesting that you celebrate your half-birthday so your friends have a chance to redeem themselves.  What about all of the awesome parties you’ve thrown for your friends? Maybe they don’t like you as much as you like them. Maybe they need your expertise to plan a good party.

By the time you make it to the destination for the surprise party, you might actually be considering not showing up because you’re so upset with your friends. You walk in and are completely overwhelmed with a giant “SURPRISE!” and hugs from the friends you’d been ready to abandon only moments ago.

After you realize what’s going on, you see that they had picked up on the hints you’d been dropping, everyone is there, and there are even candles in your cake. As you compare notes about the days leading up to the surprise, you start to feel a little guilty. All this time, your friends had been scheming and planning to throw you a giant surprise. The lame-o party had been in your best interest. You realize that you have, in fact, chosen thoughtful, intelligent, excellent party-throwers for friends.

In a lot of ways, the process of the surprise party is like prayer. You pray for something that you really want or need. You pray earnestly and wholeheartedly, with the belief that God will come to your rescue. Nothing happens. Or maybe something happens, but it’s certainly not what you had in mind as an answer to your serious prayer. You start to doubt that God cares for you or even listens to you at all. Until one day, you’re caught completely off guard by God answering your prayer beyond your wildest hopes. You realize that even though you’ve had a totally crummy attitude, He still answered you beyond what you could hope or imagine.

So, if you’re in the in-between time, remember that God is a good father. He always has your best interest in mind. He’ll be faithful. The answer to your prayer might not look exactly the way you want it to look or come at the time you’d like it to come, but it will be a good answer.

A couple of weeks ago, I had to take a road trip to a retreat center I’d never been to before.  I was traveling at night and had pretty vague directions.  I ended up getting hopelessly lost and (gasp!) had almost no cell phone service. Thankfully, I ended up getting in touch with someone eventually and made it to my destination safe and sound.

My escapade brought me back to the archaic period in history before cell phones. What did we do? I remember driving down the road as a little girl and thinking about how cool it would be to have a phone that you could use in the car. (I know this is making me sound like Methuselah, but I promise I’m not that old.) 

I remember how cool it was when one of our wealthy friends from church got the first cell phone I’d ever heard of.  It came in a bag and weighed like 80 pounds and cost something like $1600. It was the most technologically advanced communication device I’d ever laid eyes on. 

When I was growing up, we had to use the phones that were actually attached to the wall. I remember feeling totally free when we finally got a cordless phone that I could take outside and use to talk to my friends. If I wanted to hang out with one of my friends, I had to call on the land line. If someone was on the Internet, after getting over the hideous, deafening noise, I’d have to hop on my bike or walk to get to her house. If she wasn’t home, I’d have to ride or walk back home. I know. Oh, the tragedy of growing up in the nineties! 

This stroll down memory lane made me realize how totally dependent I am on my little mobile device. Here are a few signs that you might be a little too attached to your phone.

The number of texts you get in a month looks like a zip code. I heard of a girl the other day who got 27,000 texts in a month. That’s almost 1,000 a day. I hate to break it to you, but just because your parents are paying for the unlimited text plan, it doesn’t mean you have to try to set a Guinness record for the number of texts you receive in a month.

U always use txt splng. Language really is a great thing, and if you find yourself thinking in text abbreviations or trying to use “u” and “b/c” in a paper for school, you might be spending a little too much time texting. Practice spelling words completely out. Get a “Word of the Day” calendar and practice using new vocabulary words. (It’ll make you sound incredibly clever.) 

You can’t remember the last time you actually turned your phone off (not just to silent mode). It’s actually good for your phone to be powered completely down, so make a habit of turning your phone completely off from time to time. If you’re having dinner with your family, in church, or spending time with a close friend (and your parents know where you are), turn it all the way off.  It’s a great way to let the people you’re with know that there’s nowhere you’d rather be and no one you’d rather be spending time with than them. 

You have a mild panic attack when you misplace your phone. If you actually consider calling the police and hiring a detective squad to help you find your phone, it might be time to take a break. Staying connected is important, but it’s also important to keep things in perspective.  It is actually possible to live a happy and fulfilled life without a cell phone. (I did for the first 16 years of my life and your parents probably made it into their 30s without a cell phone.)

Seriously, it’s good to give the phone a rest from time to time. Don’t forget how great it feels to get a real, live hug or to look someone in the eyes when you’re talking. If you’re feeling really unconventional, hop on your bike and ride over to your friend’s house. It’s good for you.

We all have them. You wake up in the morning, wash and dry your beloved locks, doing everything the same way you’ve done it every day, but something is off. Something just doesn’t quite look right. Often, this happens on the very day you need your hair to be rocking. You’re running late and there’s just nothing to be done. You’re having a bad hair day.

Things that would normally seem insignificant now have the potential to make you throw a temper tantrum or burst into tears. Discovering your little brother ate the last bowl of your favorite cereal quickly escalates into WWIII. Losing your keys could be enough to send you straight into a tornado-like search frenzy leaving behind an aftermath of wreckage comparable to a natural disaster. 

As you walk out the door, you know that everyone is going to see how bad of a hair day you’re having. What was once a happy, confident demeanor is now replaced by doubt and insecurity. Suddenly everything feels a little off. Not only is your hair sticking up a little funny, but now it feels like your jeans are too short and you’re questioning your shoe/shirt combination.

One little strand of hair can send you reeling into a downward spiral, and it can be pretty challenging to talk yourself out of your funk.

Psalm 139:13-16 (NIV) says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that fully well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me [even the bad hair days] were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Editorial added.)

In Matthew 10:30 (NIV) Jesus says, “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

Not only does God know exactly how many hairs are on your head, He knows about your bad hair days before they happen. He knows that tomorrow, you’ll rock an awesome hair day. He created you and all of His works are wonderful.

So, in the midst of the flat-iron resistant frizzy hair, the strand that will not lay right despite a barrage of hairspray shots, or the bangs that have suddenly given themselves a curl reminiscent of 1988, you have a Father in heaven who created you, knows exactly what you’re going through, and thinks that you’re fearfully and wonderfully made. 

I absolutely love my job. I love my job for several reasons, but one reason in particular is that I just had the opportunity to go to India with a team from the national Girls Ministries Department. It was an absolutely incredible trip - completely life-changing and amazing in so many ways. If you ever have the opportunity to go on a missions trip, you should definitely go. If there’s any way you can make it happen, do it. 

I’ve been home for exactly one week and Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I’ve had a little time to gain some perspective on my trip and I have so much to be thankful for. 

I have a pretty awesome life. I have a great family and parents who taught me about Jesus from an early age, wonderful friends, a job I love, a great church, and freedom to worship however I choose. In India, it’s a little different. Many live in extreme poverty, Christians face discrimination and persecution constantly, and something as basic as the opportunity to attend school is withheld from many children. While in India, I saw some very difficult things and it’s very easy to feel pity for the people living in garbage piles or who face real persecution on a daily basis, but one of the things I was surprised to see in the faces of the believers I met in India is hope. 

God is always good. God’s goodness might not look like our American version of what is good (financial provision, security, and comfort), but He is always faithful and always good. The believers I met in India understand this.

I’ve realized that I shouldn’t pity the people who face such hardships, but rather admire their hope and ability to see God’s goodness even in the face of such dark circumstances.

So tomorrow, when you’re thinking of the things you have to be thankful for, don’t just be thankful for the material things you have, but remember the eternal things you have to be thankful for - God’s love, His goodness and faithfulness.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(For more on the trip, click here.)

This morning I woke up and decided to wear my glad-I’m-alive shoes.  These shoes are the epitome of cuteness.  They’re houndstooth, peep-toe heels with a little three-button accent.  I bought them after I was in a tragic (-ly over-dramatized) car accident (which is another story for another day).  And really, what better way to celebrate surviving a near-death-experience than by buying shoes?

Since we’re rounding the corner into cold weather, I thought today would be a great day to re-debut the glad-I’m-alive shoes.

And then I remembered that I took them to Iowa for Christmas last year.

Last Christmas, I went to Iowa to be with my family.  It was wonderful and Christmassy and white.  On the way back to Springfield, I decided to meet some friends in Kansas City for a prayer conference.  Due to a fancy game of musical cars, I arrived in Kansas City solo, but had my friend Charity with me for the trip back to Springfield.

The last morning of the conference, we loaded the car with all of my Christmas loot and the rest of our luggage and headed out for a day of loving Jesus.  We finally found a parking spot relatively close to the convention center and headed in to the conference.

After the last workshop of the afternoon, Charity and I headed out to the car to go out for dinner before returning for the evening service.  When we rounded the corner and headed toward the car, I noticed a hanger in the slush next to my tire.  I commented to Charity about the oddity of a lone hanger on the sidewalk of a business district.  As we approached the car, I realized the back window had been broken and the hanger was a remnant of the clothes I’d had hanging up in my back seat.  

In all, the thieves (I assume it was more than one culprit due to the sheer volume of their bounty) had made off with Charity’s iPod, her suitcase, pajama bottoms, one very cute suede boot, and her makeup collection (accumulated over a few years and worth several hundred dollars).  They also got my suitcase (containing, among other things, all but one pair of jeans I owned), cosmetic bag, a bag full of brand new workout clothes and shoes, computer, iPod, and (gasp) five days worth of shoes (approximately ten pairs, including my glad-I’m-alive shoes), which leads us to this morning.

Once we took stock of what we had lost, we both started to laugh.  Being the manly man he is, our friend Josh happened to have duct tape (albeit fire-engine red duct tape) on hand to temporarily patch up the back window.  Sure, it was pretty frustrating losing all of that stuff and driving around with red duct tape covering my window.  But really, she and I were both OK and we didn’t lose anything that couldn’t be replaced eventually.  When we started to think about the logic (or lack thereof) behind the theft, we really started to laugh.  Besides the electronics, unless the thief wore a women’s size 8 shoe, size 6 jeans, and had an affinity for MAC makeup, everything else wasn’t worth much. 

It’s been nearly a year and other than the occasional memory lapse, we’ve both adjusted fairly well to the loss.  The Lord has provided for both of us in some really incredible ways.  Families in our church were really generous to both of us.  My brother got a free iPod and gave it to me.  We both learned the value of learning to pack light.

Most importantly, the entire experience has made me realize that the things that we save up for, spend weeks drooling over, and think we simply cannot live without are so temporary.  In an instant, everything we think provides us with a symbol of our status can be completely gone.  Trust me, life will go on quite swimmingly even without your ten most favorite shoes.  It is entirely possible to survive with only one pair of jeans in your closet.  Your car can run just fine with red duct tape covering your back window.

I have learned the truth of Matthew 6:28-34 (NIV) “And why do you worry about clothes?  See how the lilies of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ for the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

So, this morning, instead of being frustrated with having to pick out a different pair of shoes to wear, I was reminded of God’s faithfulness.  Not only do I have several other pairs of shoes to choose from, but I have a loving and gracious Father who meets all of my needs and provides for me in ways that far surpass what I can even hope for or imagine. 

Who knows?  Maybe He’ll provide me with a new pair of houndstooth peep toe heels with little three-button accents.

**Edited to add that I miraculously found these shoes on Ebay. They’ve been discontinued, but I’ve got my pair! God is good! :) 

I love Christmas.  It’s October, and I’m considering putting together one of those red and green construction paper chains that you make to tear off a link every day until Christmas, but I don’t really want to cut out 75 strips of construction paper.  Christmas is my absolutely favorite time of year, but there are 364 (365 if it’s a leap year) other days of the year. 

If I spent all of my time pining away for December 25^th, I would be a major bore.  People would probably get sick of me asking what they wanted for Christmas or talking constantly about what I was planning to eat for Christmas dinner.  It might hurt people’s feeling if I spent my entire birthday talking about what I hoped to get for Christmas.  I would really miss out on a lot of other fun days if all I could think about was Christmas.

While it seems ridiculous that someone would act that way about one day during the year, sometimes I think I’m guilty of the something similar.  I find myself looking forward to the friends who are coming to visit next week, the trip I’m taking next fall, or even getting married and having kids in a few years.  Sometimes, I can be so focused on what’s coming next that I forget to enjoy what’s going on right now.

Looking back, I didn’t fully enjoy a lot of the great moments of my life because I was looking forward to the next time I got to see a guy I had a crush on, the next school year, or college. 

Elizabeth and Jim Elliot spent most of their dating relationship living apart from one another.  If you’re not familiar with their story, read Passion and Purity by Elizabeth Elliot – it’s quite an incredible testimony!  In one of his letters to Elizabeth, Jim said “Wherever you are, be all there.”  That’s quite an incredible statement.  They were in love with each other and planning to get married, but living on opposite sides of the world.  It would have been very easy for them to spend most of their time sitting around wanting to be together.  Instead, Jim was encouraging Elizabeth to be fully present doing what God had called her to do. 

There’s certainly nothing wrong with having things that you look forward to.  It’s totally godly to have dreams and goals, but it’s when we start to look forward so much that we forget to enjoy where we’re at presently that we run into trouble.

So, enjoy where you are right now.  Even if you’re going through a rough time, embrace it.  Watch out for what God is trying to show you today, even through the tough spots.  God has you where you are for a reason, so take advantage of it.

I am a music person.  I have a mix CD (or playlist for those of you who were born after 1990 and aren’t familiar with the now-archaic mix CD) for every mood, occasion, and important (or not important) event.

There are very few words in the English language that don’t trigger a memory of some lyric.  Most of my life is lived to the soundtrack of the songs triggered by these words.

I have entire relationships based mainly on a shared affinity for music. Our conversations are about music and musicians, we attend concerts together, and buy each other CDs for every occasion. 

I am a music person.

It’s only natural that this love of music carries over into my relationship with Jesus.  David was a musician.  The Psalms were meant to be sung, and I can always find something there that eloquently expresses my thoughts and feelings to the Lord. 

Singing songs in praise and worship is probably one of my favorite parts about going to church.  I love to use music to express feelings to the Lord.  Music is one of the best ways for me to do that. 

I also love to do this with people. I think it’s such an awesome experience to have the band playing and everyone singing together to praise the Lord.  It’s incredible to be together and all create something together to honor the Lord.

However, sometimes, the music gets in the way of really worshipping the Lord.

A couple of weeks ago, our youth pastor challenged all of us to worship without music.  I’m not gonna lie, it was a little awkward at first.  But, it made me realize that a lot of the time, I’m pretty dependant on lyrics of a song to express my worship to my God.

Practicing worshipping without music has really challenged me to express my own thoughts, my own praises, my own individualized worship to the Lord.  Sometimes it comes out in a little song that’s all my own.  Sometimes it looks (and sounds) a lot more like just praying.  Sometimes it’s pretty quiet.  Any way it comes out, it’s definitely real and completely mine. 

So, give it a shot.  Try to worship without music.  See what comes out of your heart.  It might surprise you a little bit.

School is back in full swing and that probably means the drama is too.  Whether you’re in the middle of it, or simply watching from the sidelines, drama can be pretty irritating.  No matter where you live or what school you go to, you probably don’t have to look very hard to find two girls who used to be BFF’s and now hate each other’s guts, two girls fighting over one boy, or a group of popular girls who everyone wants to be friends with even though they’re mean to everyone.

The best way to deal with girl drama is usually to avoid it altogether.  That can be pretty tough (if not impossible), so here are a few tricks to help you stay out of the middle of the mean girl drama.

• Be nice to everyone.  The old kindergarten rule of thumb still applies.  “In order to have friends, you have to be a friend.”  Be nice to everyone all the time.  It’s a tall order, but definitely worth the effort.  If you’re nice to everyone, no one will have a legitimate reason to be mean to you.  Not only will you have more friends who will stick up for you and more people to turn to if the drama heats up, but you’ll also be building a great witness to those around you.  Follow Jesus’ lead and show kindness to everyone you meet.
• Choose wisely.  If you find that your friends are usually talking about other girls behind their backs, odds are it won’t be long before you’re the target of their talk.  Make friends with girls who don’t talk behind the backs of other girls.  Your friends reflect on who you are and they will have a huge impact on the choices you make and the person you become.  Choose friends who are people you’d like to be like.  Remember that good character traits like kindness and compassion last much longer than cute clothes and popularity.
• If you can’t say anything nice…  Have you ever noticed that the girls who talk about other girls the most are the ones who eventually end up getting talked about the most?  If your friends start talking about a girl behind her back, don’t join in.  As tempting as it can be to start cutting someone else down, remember that it doesn’t really make you look like a good friend.  Try to change the subject, and if that doesn’t work, walk away.
• We’re all in the same boat.  Those feelings of insecurity that you have every once in a while are universal.  We’re all in the same boat.  Even girls who seem like they have tons of friends and perfect hair feel lonely sometimes.   When you’re having a bad day and wish someone would say something nice to you, you’re certainly not alone.  The best way to get over a bad day in a hurry is to say something nice to someone else.  Compliment her shoes or how smart she is.  You’ll probably make her day and it will make you feel better, too.
• Keep things in perspective.  Remember that after you graduate, you’ve probably got another sixty to seventy years of life to live.  Even though it can feel like an eternity, high school is a four-year blip on the radar of the rest of your life.  When you drop your lunch tray full of food, remember that no one will probably remember it tomorrow (let alone a year from now).  People will remember you for how you treated everyone else.  The way to make these years count is to make an impact for Christ.