Christmas Possibilities

If you’re like me, you spend time watching Hallmark movies during the holidays. Each movie has a predictable plot and outcome, yet you find yourself drawn to watching as many of them as you can! The storyline goes like this…

Two lives meet by “chance” and fall in love. Each person has their challenges and struggles. One person is in a relationship that isn’t “true love” or has been hurt in a previous relationship. Through experiencing a new environment with new people and an open heart and mind, the possibility of something more fulfilling emerges. Even when things look bleak, you know that each person chooses to make changes in their lives so they can be together. It is a happily ever after and it all happens at Christmastime.

Yet Christmas possibilities run deeper, don’t they?

Perhaps you love Christmas because of the possibilities to be surprised. Maybe an unexpected proposal, gift, job, or opportunity.

Yet Christmas possibilities run even deeper, don’t they?

Perhaps it is the possibility of gathering with friends and family that isn’t possible during other times of the year. Maybe it is a time of relational healing and restoration between spouses, family, and friends.

Yet, Christmas possibilities run even deeper, don’t they?

Is there any wonder why possibilities emerge around Christmastime? No.

While there are many meaningful and memorable possibilities that emerge at Christmastime, the true meaning of Christmas was affirmed and fulfilled by God long ago! You can find the account of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:1-20.

God is not like a Santa Claus or genie. He is about so much more than granting a mere hopeful wish to come true. He knows what is best for us, what we truly long for, and He is the giver of all good things (James 1:17). He knows what we need because He created us in His image (Genesis 1:27).

During the holidays, the season of Advent, we ponder and prepare our hearts with the anticipation of Christ’s birth. The long awaited Savior, the possibility of Him coming to Earth, is fulfilled! God keeps His promises because He is faithful and loves us!

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. ~John 3:16

Talk about the ultimate Christmas possibility that came true, emerged out of unconditional love, extreme sacrifice, eternal significance, priceless value, and redemptive power! What a gift! A gift that changes EVERYTHING, for you, for me, for the entire world!

CHRISTmas Blessings to you!

Follow-Up: My Thanksgiving Blessings

In last week’s article, Are You Celebrating Your Dependence and Interdependence this Thanksgiving?, I invited you to shift your focus in regards to your blessings on this day. Below was the invitation…

I encourage you to be intentional about giving thanks for the blessings in your life that specifically identify God and others as the source.

However, if you want to take this to the next level, identify how you use your gifts that God has given you to be a blessing to Him and others that requires you to step out in faith. This requires courage to get out of your comfort zone to respond to a specific need God invites you to meet. And it’s all for His glory!

Will you do me a favor? Please comment how you celebrated your dependence and interdependence this Thanksgiving.

I promised to follow-up by sharing my thanksgivings to you. So, here they are!

God

• Grateful for God’s provision during my time in Hawaii.

• Grateful for health, spiritual growth, and the opportunity to enjoy His creation in Hawaii.

• Grateful for God’s guidance in developing His ideas for my business (i.e., The IMPACT Journey and Giants & Stones) and help in the writing I have undertaken this year.

Others

• Grateful for my friend that lives on the island that has helped me assimilate and become familiar with island life.

• Grateful for my friends that invited me over for Thanksgiving.

• Grateful for the support and encouragement from friends and family in my move to Hawaii.

• Grateful for coaches that have mentored me.

My gifts from God to be a blessing to Him and others that has required me to step out in faith…

• Definitely it was an unforeseen move, yet I took a leap of faith and got out of my comfort zone by resigning from my full-time position to focus full-time on building my business (Innovative Leadership Solutions) while condo-sitting in Hawaii for 6 months. I did visit for a week this past January. At the time, I only knew one person on the island and God has blessed me with community over time. Grateful for my home church, Our Savior Lutheran, and to help in the church office twice a week.

• Grateful for the opportunity to serve as a leadership coach, speaker, and consultant. My own transformational journey began at the Townsend Institute at Concordia University-Irvine. Now, I am able to serve clients in their transformational journey with God’s help.

Dependence

• Continued gratefulness to Jesus, my Savior, and the unconditional love and grace from God!

• Grateful for help with transportation. I do not have a car in Hawaii. Others have graciously given me rides, including a ride every Sunday for church. Otherwise, I ride the bus.

Interdependence

• Grateful for the opportunities to have collaborated with co-workers serving as an event and store manager with Goldy’s Locker Room.

• Grateful for my dad. He passed away this past February from a 17+ year battle with Parkinson’s. I appreciate his wisdom, faith, and guidance over the years. His faith in God definitely helped him persevere through his battle with Parkinson’s. He was blessed by others ministering to him. He was also a blessing to others as he still had his “pastoral hat” on through it all. Today would have been his 79th birthday. Through serving as a pastor and a professor at Concordia University-St. Paul, God gifted him to have much transformational impact on the lives of many.

How about you? There is still time! There is always time to be grateful! Take a 10-15 minute break from scrolling on your phone. Be specific and intentional when counting your blessings and then experience real, genuine, heart-felt thankfulness!

Do You Need a Good Night's Sleep? Don't Count Sheep, Count Fruit!

What's getting in the way of a good night's sleep for you? Here are just a few common examples: replaying the day's events in your mind, worrying about the next day's schedule, stewing over a conflict, feeling stressed and anxious, and scrolling on your phone before bedtime.

If we're not intentional, we can forget to give all of our worries and cares to God (I Peter 5:7). Prayer doesn't require Wi-Fi, so God is always online to be with us. Grateful for that! Speaking of grateful, I also invite you to count your fruit with God in prayer and get a good night's sleep! In Jess Connolly's book, You’re the Girl for The Job, she encourages women to count their fruit. That really resonated with me which led to more reflection which led to 5 ways you can count your fruit!

1-3. I learned Dr. John Townsend's Competence and Character Growth Path in graduate school in the Townsend Institute at Concordia University-Irvine. In his book, People Fuel, he names three types of fruit in our lives, the three Ps: Personal, People, and Performance.

Personal: Includes healthy choices in your behaviors, thoughts, values, and emotions.

People: Includes your personal and professional relationships. To the degree that they are healthy and bearing fruit depends on relationships where there is safety and acceptance with reciprocal vulnerability (being mindful of appropriate boundaries) and the ability to solve relational problems.

Performance: Includes the productivity and success of your tasks, the doing aspects of your life. A few examples of work include living out your God-given purpose; serving others with your time, talents, and treasure; and leading others with mission, vision, and core values.

What kind of fruit are you bearing in the three Ps?

Thank God in prayer for the fruit you are bearing in your life. Remember, when we bear fruit, we are blessing others and giving glory to God the Father who is the giver and source of all blessings (James 1:17).

4. I encourage you to thank God for the special people in your life where you are the receiver of their fruit.

5. Pray for the people that get under your skin! When was the last time you prayed for someone that they may know God or be strengthened, healed, or forgiven so that they could bear healthy fruit in their lives? I don't know about you, but this can be the last thing on my mind to do! Yet God instructs us to pray for our enemies and those who hurt us (Matthew 5:44).

Each night at bedtime, pick one of the 5 ways to count your fruit.

God desires to be in a personal relationship with us. After all, "there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13). God blesses all who believe in His Son, Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins and rose in victory, to receive His greatest fruit, His gift of eternal life. With a free, undeserved, gift of grace like that, how can we not respond with prayers of Thanksgiving! So, let's be intentional and develop a daily habit of prayer, connecting with God. 

So, before you start counting fruit and enjoy some good zzzzzzs, I have a favor to ask. Please leave a comment and describe what this experience was like for you and what was your fruit count before you fell asleep! In all fairness, I will share mine with you next week!