do you see Him? He's here with us....

before i begin i want you to know,

i humbly took these images of a gorgeous new home around the corner from my own home.

i contacted a family member related to the home owner & 

asked if i could have permission to write about what i saw.

the images & the poignancy of this site.

these images break my heart...

however i also see HOPE here.

& that is exactly what He wants you to see too...

 

this was obviously to be someone's dream home.

i envision plans & details layed out on a kitchen table for quite sometime

until this gorgeous home came to fruition.

it was stacked stone & gorgeous

a circular drive

a large pool in the back.

i had never gone inside but knew it was to be on the tour of homes

for the highschool my girls attend...

then just before thanksgiving, it burned to the ground.

all those dreams, all the newness

gone.

it's truly a horrific site to see the remains of a fire.

it's frightening and dark

it hurts your heart whether you knew the home owners or not.

years of personal belongings & dreams

gone.

a few weeks after the fire

dan asked if i had noticed the manger scene.

i was quite certain it had not been up prior to the fire.

sure enough, it was built after the home burned down.

the sides of the structure....were the sides of her grandchildren's bed...after the fire.

(the grandchildren also put up the Christmas tree for her after the fire)

the thought that a nativity scene was built

after

the fire.

after the horrific incident.

out of the mess

out of the seemingly hopeless situation

there sat the manger.

right in the middle of all the mess

sat the manger.

 i pondered on how symbolic that scene was.

how powerful.

what a true picture of how He came.

He left Heaven's throne

where angels sing Holy Holy Holy to Him

never ceasing praise.

He left that

to come into our world

your world.

if you have ever thought your sin was too big 

or your past was too dark

your heart was too far gone

or the things you've done are too messy for Him.

it's not.

they're not.

NOTHING

is too far gone for Him.

she was an unwed pregnant teenager

he was a simple carpenter.

he figured he'd honor her & go ahead and marry her

but divorce her quietly later.

she claimed she was a virgin

& that the Holy Spirit came upon her

& that she would deliver the savior.

the one they had waited long waited for 

to free her people.

no one believed her.
of course no one believed her.
what a scandal.

they thought their savior was to be a mighty warrior

that he would come to the golden power city Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was the holy city where the temple was located.

they sure weren't expecting a baby...

in Bethlehem.

nothing good came from Bethlehem.

mary & joseph were traveling & realized she was soon to give birth.

it actually didn't happen in a barn

it was a hollowed out indention in the mountain

where animals could hide for shelter.

there was yuck there, messy smelly animal yuck there.

it was not clean nor was it quiet.

it was dark and messy.

an angel shows up to shepherds.

shepherds were smelly & dirty & poor.

the shepherds were tending to the sheep

that incidentally were being raised and would be taken to Jerusalem

for sacrifice for people's sin.

are you following this?

how amazing is that detail.

the first people that found out that their savior

promised about 400 years earlier

had been born

were the shepherds tending to the sheep

that were the sacrifice for sins.

yet HE was to be THE final sacrifice for sins.

i love that detail.

the shepherds weren't even allowed in the temple

yet

HE came to them.

not in a fancy church with perfect pews & a steeple

but

to them.

out in their filth & dirt.

on a dark night.

THE light came to them.

majesty in the mess.

that's how He came.

if you have ever felt you couldn't make it to God

please know 

that Jesus 

came

to

you

at 

Christmas.

to

YOU

& that my friends

is the HOPE of glory.

the HOPE that all will be made right one day.

the HOPE that you were never alone.

as i drove around the back of this home that dark dreary rainy day

it took my breath away

to see the cross from the church across the street

through the burned down ruins of this home.

the cross, the scene of his death, on one view.

the manger, the scene of his birth on the other view.

the cross

the reminder that HE came

oh He came alright,

not to who "they" thought

or to where "they" thought

but He came

& then He gave His life.

no more slaughtered sheep

no more blood of any clean animals.

He was the perfect sinless one.

He gave His life for us.

freedom

hope

peace

& love

all right there

to view

through the dark charred mess

He was there all along.

 

majesty in the mess

hope in the midst of a storm

or a fire

or cancer

or divorce

or unemployment

or famine

or fear

 

Emmanuel

God with us.

do you see Him?
He is Emmanuel

He is here with you...

& to the homeowners

my prayers are with you

as you rebuild your home & your hearts


my prayer for 2012 is that my life, my words & actions, my home
glorifies the Lord.
that whatever glimpse you get into my life
through reading these simple thoughts i have
while somedays it's a silly thought
somedays it's heartfelt
that He is glorified.

~~


isaiah 61.3
"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."

romans8.38-39

 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

luke 2