I'll Be Home for Christmas

Is it really possible to "make ourselves at home" in a place that's not our home? Surely it's easier in some places than others, but truly feeling at home doesn't happen for me unless I'm...home.

Home is where I'm most myself, most at peace and most comfortable. Home is where I am refreshed and energized. Home holds routine, order and traditions. When I'm away from home,  I long to be there. And Christmas anywhere other than home, just doesn't feel quite right!

I have so enjoyed being home in Covington, KY, this weekend celebrating my Savior and reconnecting with friends and family. Today at my "home" church, the message was brought by a man whom I've known since childhood. He's a chaplain in the airforce and is leaving today, probably as I type this, for a 6 month deployment in Kuwait. He spoke today of our lives being like a deployment. He said that our "deployment" has a purpose, a time frame, and a return home. I found particularly interesting the statement he made that he "did not know a single officer who fell in love with their place of deployment so much that they didn't want to return home."

Have we Christians forgotten that this world is not our home and gotten too comfortable to the point we'd rather stay here? Have we forgotten that we, too, have a purpose for being here, a time frame already ordained by God and the sweet promise of our Heavenly Home when we've fulfilled our mission? Or are we allowing the things of this world to distract us from our purpose and to forget that our days here are numbered?

The Israelites wandered in the desert living in tents for more years than I've lived, and yet I can identify with the restlessness and frustration that accompanies being unsettled. They became discontented to the point that even slavery in Egypt seemed more appealing than the years of pitching tents and packing them up again. It seemed that the land God had promised would never be given to them. They longed to be able to call a place "home."

Simon Peter reminds us in 2 Peter that this world is not our home, and yet that many of us live as if it is. I love the way he uses the word "tent" in 2 Peter 1:13-14.

 ¹³ I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, ¹⁴ because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

May we remember that this world is really just a deployment, that we're just pitching our tents here for a moment. May we not get too attached to our temporary residence. May the promise of a return trip "Home" compell us to carry out our mission.

It is with heavy hearts today that we recognize a life well-lived, a "deployment" successfully completed by our dear Mr. Jim Hostetter. I couldn't help but to think of him all weekend, and especially today. He is Home. And what better place to be for Christmas? What a joy to know that someday I, too, will be "Home for Christmas!"

~Rebecca Phillips~

Remember When

I took one of those silly quizzes on facebook recently. It was called "What Christmas Song are You?" (I said it was silly!) Turns out I'm "The Christmas Song," better known as "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire." The explanation goes on to say that I love old-fashioned things and nostalgia and all that. Well, yes! It is Christmas, right? Don't most of us turn nostalgic at Christmas?

I was going through my Christmas cards (I do love getting Christmas cards--the real kind that come inside an envelope and appear in my mailbox this time of year--my actual mailbox, out by the road.) and it is remarkable how many of them feature scenes from the past or very rural settings. Julie Baumgardner's column in Sunday's paper is headlined, "Take a holiday trip down memory lane." More nostalgia.

I have some wonderful Christmas memories: standing up to say my lines in the church Christmas program, shopping for my mom and dad with money they gave me, trudging through the snow to see what the neighbors got for Christmas. Thinking about the past may seem unrealistic and impractical to some, but it's not all bad. God commanded his people, in fact, to remember. He even had them set up stones to bring to mind the things he had done for them so that they could pass along to their children the stories of his faithfulness.

Deuteronomy 32:7 says, "Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will show thee. . ." The psalmist, in Psalm 77:11, records "I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy works of old." There are times when recalling God's past goodness increases our faith and helps us through a difficult day.

This week will be a wonderful time to remember past years and good times with friends and family. It will also be an opportunity for most of us to make more sweet memories. Let's remember, too, that there are around us people who might require help creating good times to store up for the future. With God's help, we can be the hands and feet of Jesus to spread love and cheer where it is most needed this Christmas.

-Sherry Poff

A Sweet Smelling Aroma

I was thawing out my frozen body by the fireplace a few nights ago when I suddenly found myself back at my Grandma and Grandpa Britton's house on Chamberlain Ave. The smell of the fire and the tiny wooden manger scene on the mantle triggered the nostalgic childhood memories and brought tears of joy to my eyes as I thought about my godly heritage and the wonderful Christmases I spent in that house.

I'm sure you're familiar with the flashbacks brought on by various aromas. Holiday scents are wafting through many of our homes these days making us long for the "golden days of yore". Our olfactory nerves are working overtime connecting us to many memories of the holiday season.

It gets me to thinking about the verses in Scripture that talk about our sacrifices being a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord. I wonder if His sense of smell carries Him back to the precious memories of our obedience and sacrifice. I sure hope they aren't smells that cause Him to cringe or turn up his nose.

Ephesians 5:1-2 says, "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

These verses are sandwiched between lists of sins and behaviors that are opposite of love and sacrifice. They are full of selfish ambitions and self-serving actions.

As we etch new holiday memories into our lives this Christmas, may they be full of the wonderful smells and aromas that please the Lord. Let's take out the rotten garbage of materialism and selfishness and fill God's nostrils with the freshly-baked-banana-bread scent of sacrifice.

~Rebecca Phillips~

The Shepherd "IS"

“The Lord is my shepherd…(Psalm 23).” I love this passage of Scripture. I quote it to my son each night at bed time. The “IS” impacts me right now more that it does him.

My most recent time of quoting verse 4, “I will fear no evil...” came on a Sunday morning. I was sitting in Sunday school class enjoying an excellent lesson when I realized that I had left a pan of rice cooking on the stove at home. I panicked! I dashed out of class heading for home (about a 15 minute drive). Fearing the worst, my mind was racing and fear was taking over. In my mind I could see flames shooting from my house. I planned that I would get home, run in the house and call 911. My plan was laid as to how to deal with my house fire. While I was hurrying home, I kept quoting verse 4, “I will fear no evil...”

Upon arriving home, things were calm on the outside. Slowly entering, I was just sure smoke would meet me. Much to my joy and surprise, no smoke detectors were blaring and no smoke smell. As I approached the stove, I opened the lid of the pan. A cloud of steam, not smoke came out. The rice had cooked for an hour and a half! It had not burned or even scorched. At that moment, I dropped to my knees, crying and thanking God for His watch care over this frazzled, absentminded mother. The Shepherd had been there watching over me and my home. He "IS" so kind and so patient.

As we ate our rice for lunch that day, I was reminded that the Shepherd "IS" always there leading me, causing me to “...fear no evil...”

~Lynell McMillan~