As I sit, and contemplate this Christmas morning, on the “reason for the season”, I am immediately mindful of how I have experienced Jesus in my life this last week in particular. How easy it is to ignore the little things. How easy it is for us to forget the true meaning of Christmas. Emanuel-God is with us. God loves us so much and He is constantly showing us this love in little ways. Ways in which if we are not paying attention, then we will miss them completely.
It was Tuesday morning as I sat outside the courtroom awaiting the judge’s decision regarding the custody of my daughter. My morning had started off in praise and continued that way until I walked through the doors of the courthouse. I was scheduled for an 8 o’clock hearing but upon arrival I saw that It would not be until 9am, so I sat and waited in the corridor. As you know waiting can be agonizing at times, well; this was very true for me that morning. I remember constantly eying the clock, and I found myself thinking about all the things my daughter’s father had said about me in response to my accusations against him in this matter. I started to feel anxious, and discouraged, and then something wonderful happened.
An attorney sat next to me and said “Don’t be anxious, it’s just words. God be with you.” Then he got up and walked away. At that moment I was so encouraged. I felt like I could breathe freely, and I walked into that courtroom like a boss. I knew God was with me, and I knew everything would be okay.
Once inside I waited for what seemed like hours, and was one of the last ones to be called on. Up until this point the judge had not been very friendly, and was denying the majority of requests, so I started to worry again. He called my name shortly before lunch, and immediately ruled in my favor, making adjustments upon my request, no questions asked. Then as I was leaving he proceeded to thank me for coming in. Wow! My heart was so full of joy and excitement in the outcome that I completely forgot about what had happened before going in. In just a matter of hours I had forgotten how the Lord had spoken directly to me through that kind man.
Was I thankful? Yes, of course I was, and my heart sang praises all the way home, but, I had forgotten about the love He had so thoughtfully bestowed on me that very morning. It was not until the next evening, during communion with the Lord, that I was reminded of it.
My prayer for you this Christmas day is that you remember His love for you amongst all the cheer, and family bustle, as joyful as it can be. How has He shown you His love lately? As one of my pastors put it: how have you experienced Jesus in this season? Lets take a moment now to reflect on the little things, and I assure you, you will see Him in all of it; for He is here with us. As you sit quietly, and ponder these things, imagine Jesus sitting next to you. Reach out your hand to hold His and be ever flooded by His love. Emanuel: God is with us.
Love in Him,
Marjorie Saylor
12/25/15
Merry Christmas
If You Want To Find Happiness Find Meaning
I don’t feel like I have a responsibility to be happy, although with God, He makes a way for me to find joy even in sadness. In truth though, I do find that happiness resides within contentment and God fills my cup to overflow in it. I’m not saying I don’t have times of discontentment, anger, or even sadness, In fact I have it all and more, but, I choose to stay anchored in the presence of God and He fills my heart with laughter. When I find myself wandering into discontentment, it is very easy now to recognize as I become emotionally unstable and even depressed. When I can acknowledge this discomfort, I refocus myself and start in on thanksgiving. I start thanking God for what is yet to come, and the act of doing that changes my attitude. It’s taking a step forward in faith when I do this, and as the belief that things will change turns on in my mind, I turn my thoughts from mourning into thoughts of praise, putting me in an attitude of acceptance and gratitude.
I continue to find ways to be happy and I have found the best way is living a life with meaning. Living on purpose. My happiness is on purpose today. How I do this is by taking what I’m passionate about and I doing something with it. I spend my days trying to be of service to God, my family, my church, my community, and my friends. It brings a great sense of joy and refreshment to do something nice for someone else when needed. To make someone smile or help someone out of a bad situation is most rewarding. The most rewarding I find in this regard though, is doing things that take a lot out of me, like my trainings and speaking events, which are all done for the purpose of helping others, and can be quite re-traumatizing for me, but, because I’m not doing these things for anything in return, I get back so much more than I could ever give in happiness and contentment, as hard as it may seem to understand.
Lastly, I do things for myself today like going to the gym, and practicing self-care. I understand the need to give back to myself now. Loving myself was never a priority, and practicing self-care did not come easy for me, as I never learned how to love and care for myself. Being able to commit to myself to go to the gym, and do what I need to do to treat myself a little without feeling guilty, taking the time to write out my thoughts, and spending time in devotion with my Lord in the mornings, has all been a part of a new routine of self-care. It did not all start out at once and was not easy. It’s very hard to break old habits especially if they are emotionally and mentally blocked by years of negative damage. Have I succeeded at happiness? No. I am a major work in progress still, but, loving myself has helped in my happiness immensely. I understand today, more than ever before, what it means to live on purpose, to love on purpose, and to be happy on purpose, and it brings great joy to my life and my wish for you is the same.
M. Fawn Saylor 1/1/2016
His Precious Daughter 