I caught myself saying yesterday, "It doesn't feel like Christmas." I said this because of the balmy temperatures we are having in middle Tennessee this Christmas. At this time last year we were in a full fledged blizzard and Glen and I were on hold as my little sister was trying to fly into Chattanooga. We ended up picking her up in Knoxville and were grateful to have her in our possession even though the ride home during the storm was tricky. Once we reached the mountains the road disappeared all-together and we had to travel by God's grace and mercy and He did not fail us.
So I began thinking about what really makes it feel like Christmas. Is it the music and the shopping? Is it the decorations and the sweets? Maybe its the parties and the presents. Is it being around friends and family? I have to say, all these things are a part of what makes Christmas special but you really don't need all these things or any of any of them for that matter.
This year I put up fewer decorations, baked less goodies and have no family around for the holiday but my hubby. But when I entered God's House this morning, it felt like Christmas. God's Son is what makes it feel like Christmas but you need Him in your life to experience it. I hear the music in my heart and I see His awesome decorations everywhere I look. He has blessed me with so many precious gifts including the desire to give to others. He has blessed me with a wonderful family yet I am even more blessed to be His child. So do we need the cold and the snow to make it feel like Christmas. No, we just needed the Son of God coming to earth in the form of a Child. He came to be a sacrifice for our sins so that we could have eternal life. We only have to accept His perfectly free gift of salvation. So in the words of my favorite new Christmas song.....A Baby Changes Everything.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
God Wants To Hear You Sing
I love to sing. I was not gifted with a beautiful voice even though my parents sent me for voice lessons for a few years. Oh, there's probably a message in there somewhere. But what God did bless me with was the desire to sing, and the courage to do it in public. He gave me the ability to carry a tune and interpret a song. How I would love to have "the gift" of an angelic voice and the three octave range. But it is what it is and I have not let it stop me.
This time of year reminds me of my first public appearance. It was the church Christmas program and I was seven. They put a child's size card table and chair on the stage with a birthday cake on it. My dad was to carry me out to the table and then leave me there. I was to light the candles and then sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. My daddy practiced with me for weeks on lighting the candles. When I look back at it now I have to wonder, "What were they thinking?" I remember being more nervous about lighting those candles, then singing. The Saturday before at the practice, they decided to have the cake candles already lit. Good choice! I would sing a solo in the program every year after that till high school. That's when I was old enough to be in the adult choir. We had a wonderful choir and a very talented, funny director.
At Fairchild Hall, my special ed class put on two operettas. Hansel and Gretal and Amhal and the Midnight Visitors. Having a flair for the dramatic, I enjoyed performing in these two little productions for the rest of the school and friends and family.
In junior high I learned to sing alto in our school choir. This is where my strength was and I quickly learned how to read music and sing harmony. I would follow this path into high school.
My husband and I have been singing for the Lord now for almost 35 years. Now he does have a gifted, beautiful voice and I love being his doo wop singer. Many times I sing alone, but I love to pick out songs that touch my heart and are personal to me. The problem with that is, I get so caught up in the song that I can't help but cry. Crying and singing do not work together for me and the sobs caught in my throat usually are the winner. I heard someone sing the most beautiful song one Sunday and asked her, "How can you sing that song without breaking down?" She said she just sings and never thinks about the words. I was flabbergasted about that remark. The day I sing without thinking about the beautiful message in the words, I will quit. I would rather cry.
So as our choir takes the stage this Sunday to sing a very beautiful Christmas Cantata, I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this group sharing the message of Christ's birth, because I know God wants to hear me sing and He wants to hear you too. What a wonderful way to praise and worship Him.
This time of year reminds me of my first public appearance. It was the church Christmas program and I was seven. They put a child's size card table and chair on the stage with a birthday cake on it. My dad was to carry me out to the table and then leave me there. I was to light the candles and then sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. My daddy practiced with me for weeks on lighting the candles. When I look back at it now I have to wonder, "What were they thinking?" I remember being more nervous about lighting those candles, then singing. The Saturday before at the practice, they decided to have the cake candles already lit. Good choice! I would sing a solo in the program every year after that till high school. That's when I was old enough to be in the adult choir. We had a wonderful choir and a very talented, funny director.
At Fairchild Hall, my special ed class put on two operettas. Hansel and Gretal and Amhal and the Midnight Visitors. Having a flair for the dramatic, I enjoyed performing in these two little productions for the rest of the school and friends and family.
In junior high I learned to sing alto in our school choir. This is where my strength was and I quickly learned how to read music and sing harmony. I would follow this path into high school.
My husband and I have been singing for the Lord now for almost 35 years. Now he does have a gifted, beautiful voice and I love being his doo wop singer. Many times I sing alone, but I love to pick out songs that touch my heart and are personal to me. The problem with that is, I get so caught up in the song that I can't help but cry. Crying and singing do not work together for me and the sobs caught in my throat usually are the winner. I heard someone sing the most beautiful song one Sunday and asked her, "How can you sing that song without breaking down?" She said she just sings and never thinks about the words. I was flabbergasted about that remark. The day I sing without thinking about the beautiful message in the words, I will quit. I would rather cry.
So as our choir takes the stage this Sunday to sing a very beautiful Christmas Cantata, I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this group sharing the message of Christ's birth, because I know God wants to hear me sing and He wants to hear you too. What a wonderful way to praise and worship Him.
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