The Holidays

It is a joyous time of year. A time when the holidays are upon us and we look forward to spending time with those that we love. It is when we take the time when we decorate and celebrate the Holidays. There seems to be a spring in our step as we prepare to celebrate family and friends. When we all come together, and share with one another freely.
It is more than the Holidays though, it is Christmas time, a time in today’s society that has become more about the last minute shopping, Santa, hanging of stocking by the fire place, putting the new wreath on the door. Oh and don't forget the lights.  We put the lights on the trees, bushes and on the outside of the house as well. The nativity scene that we set beneath the Christmas tree to help remind us what it exactly we are celebrating. We spend so much time preparing, baking and shopping, wrapping, cleaning that it is easy to lose the real meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is a time of celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior. It is a time when we give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the gift of His son Jesus. When we sit at church / mass and listen to story of how Jesus is born, the wonder of the marvelous story of a virgin giving birth and a man willing to marry her even though she was with child prior to any relations. Something that was nearly unheard of was a man that would stand at her side proudly. It is a story of a gift that was given to all of us.

Christmas is about us celebrating His birth, where we take the time to give a small piece of ourselves to another in a form of a gift. The time that we put into the selection and wrapping of the present. Much like the Heavenly Father giving Jesus to Mary and her wrapping him to lay in the manger for the world to see Him. It is a precious gift.

It is that of a Lord and Savior that cares and loves us no matter what, a Lord that forgives and forgets. A Lord that remembers no wrong doing; a Lord that loves you so deeply that he see every tear that you shed. It can be in public or in the privacy of the bedroom. He sees your pain, your hurt and is there to comfort you with His loving arms and His Words of Comfort. He knows you intimately, so much so that He knows every hair that is on your head, even those that have fallen out. He knows the inner working of your heart, he sees your dreams, your pain, your deep hidden pain that you are afraid to share, and He knows the shame that you hold in your heart. He is there and knows you, and is willing to help you, guide you through that pain, shame and bring you to the side of joy and freedom. His Love is never ending and is ever present to you if you simply cry out to Him.

His forgiveness and love is always there and the door is always open to you, knock and it will be opened and you can walk into the arms of Jesus the true gift of Christmas. Sit in His love and find that eternal peace.

The Tempo

There is a beat that run through our lives, a tempo to which we tend to live up too. There are some that are slow like a waltz and others that are so fast that one wonders if they could even count the beats per minute if they tried.  There tends to be several beats that we hear throughout the day and yet we adjust to them as if there isn't a real change in the beat. We are able to flow to the music and gradually move through the day, and perform all that we need to do at the moment. This tempo keeps us moving, it almost gives us energy as we perform at home, as a parent, a lover, a friend, and as a child of God.

This tempo is different for all people, some are always running fast and others tend to run a littler slower. Yet, we all work together to accomplish what it is that we need to do during the day, and we are able to smile, laugh and cry when the time is right. We are able to show our emotions, be true to ourselves when we follow the tempo that is right for us. It is when we get caught up in the world and feel that we have to do more, be a better person, accomplish more goals or even keep up with the Jones that we throw that natural tempo off beat. When we tamper with that tempo for long periods of time we start to question where that original tempo was set. We then tend to reset the tempo to where we think we need to be, we move the inner beat to something that it was never intend to be set at, and then everything changes in our live.

Everything changes the seasons, neighbors, friends, relationships and all that is around us is always changing and some up hear that tempo to follow and others who have tampered with it are looking around for the right beat to follow. Yet that inner tempo is set before our birth, by the heavely Father that knows us from the moment of conception. He is there forming us in the womb of our mother and sets the beat that we will follow throughout our lives. That tempo, if we follow and truly listen to it will help us draw near to God, since He is our creator and knows all about us and is always with us. The Bible states that He will never leave us nor forsake us, that His love is always there if we listen to Him and follow His ways in our lives.

When we set that tempo back to the original setting we find that life works better fir us, there is less questioning and chaos that surrounds us, because we are following the tempo that is from Heaven. We are moving and living according to the ways of God, we are able to flow and groove into that tempo. We may find that our faith will grow, that we lean toward God and his ways when we move to the natural tempo that was set in us at birth. We may find that we long to be in the presence of God more then just Sunday morning.

We may find that God is real and He is there in all that we do, He guides that tempo to which we move, but sometimes we just want what we want and God gets pushed to the sidelines. It is then that we go off that path, and wonder in the desert for a spell till we start to listen once again and find that inner tempo, that leads us back home to the God and his ways. It is when we allow God to adjust our inner tempo when things happen that we are able to find that inner peace and solitude within our soul. It is when we follow and grow n God, that the tempo changes and we strive to do his will in our lives that we find that we are living the way that we are supposed to be living. That the tempo is just right for us and there is no need to adjust it.