CHRISTMAS DAY : HOLYDAY

Auto-correct doesn't want to accept holyday! Probably because it is not "politically correct".

Earlier this month I came across the term in a Carol Mead devotional. Her reference was to the "gift of peace" from Psalm 122:6-8. The passage resonated with me as I often pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

But God....in His love and mercy showed me how easily it is for the holidays to become crazy busy with worries about perfection....aka all about me. Will others appreciate my gifts or see them as hokey? Will my food at the Sunday School party be a hit? Will it look festive? Will no one even taste it? 

Conviction---the holidays are not about me. God showed me in a very clear way. 

In order to "de-sensitive" (a Mead word) transitory things, I need to take the I out of holiday.

H o l I d a y. My focus has been on myself. A substitution is needed.

If one exchanges the I for a Y, the focus changes & the substitution is worthy.

H o l Y d a y

Y is the Hebrew word for Yeshua or Jesus the One whose death was our substitutionary atonement and whose birth Christians celebrate at Christmas! My Jewish friends might substitute their Y as for Yahweh but they would not say it aloud.

One of my greatest joys is to see family, friends & others seek God's perfect 's gift of Jesus......

and to rejoice when they find Him. I know no greater joy! (3 John 1:4)

Today to my family friends and blog readers, I pray that there will be peace within you---a deep, abiding peace from Jehovah, the One True God.

Happy Holyday!

It's all about the........

For "most" women "it's all about the shoes." Designer Shoe Warehouse makes sure we know, "Shoes Say a Lot About You - Say Something Great." In line with my lone pair of Skechers I was welcomed as the "next shoe lover" in line, though all the ladies behind me with their teetering stacks of 6+ shoe boxes, fit the bill better than I. 
Shoes. So many styles. So many specifications. Athletic---running, racquetball, golf. Dress--stilettos, pumps, flats. Casual---wedges, flip-flops, boots. 
OK, so I don't "do shoes"---I "do comfort" and most styles, especially new ones, are beyond me. Regardless, shoes are "all about" an individual's choice. Some more important than others.
"Dance" shoes are important choices, especially in the "dance" of life. Some shoes are better left in the closet. 
Today's choices....

• ballet---white silky slippers of grace 
• tap shoes---black patent capezios of impatience
• zumba gray laceups---for pounding out frustrations
• walkers---with pink laces for pounding God's truth into my head to keep me spiritually "in the pink"

....which will I choose? Actually, before noon today, I had tried on all of these and had to make myself throw a pair deep into the back of my "cluttered" life closet. (I like neighbor Lynda's reminder, "gallimaufry--an exhuberant hodgepdoge." (CA 5/10/15)

The dances may change and the shoe wear may vary..... but our "Partner" is steadfast, unchanging, eternal.  (Lamentations 3: 22-23, Jehovah the Eternal One) Because....it's NOT all about the shoes, it's all about Him!