Category: Joy

Are you finding it difficult to get into the spirit of Christ-mas? Me, too.

Consider this an intervention.

Take a few minutes to watch these preschoolers answer questions. (I dare you not to smile.)

Charming young children, unscripted answers, what's not to love? Oh sure, they were a bit fuzzy on the details.

Still, in their innocence and simplicity they have the essence of the miracle of Christmas: Jesus came.

Jesus Christ, truly and fully God from before Day One of Creation, chose to come to earth as a human child, born to a human mother.

Jesus, born as a baby in a stable in Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-20.) Born like any human infant to a human mother. Mary, who was a virgin and chosen to be his mother. You see, Jesus was the Son of God. (Luke 1:26-38.)

Joseph's part in the story was that the angel told him he would be Jesus' earthly father and he then married Mary (Matthew 1:18-25.)

Have we heard these readings so often we forget it's a miracle story?

What gets into us adults that we lose our marvels?

Blame it on thoughts of shopping and decorating and keeping up with family traditions. They shout so loudly they drown out the quiet meaning of Christmas.

Do you recognize these questions?

What will I give her? And him?

How much will these gifts cost? Am I spending enough to show I really care?

Will they like what I give them??

I simply have to cook and bake all the family favorites when they come home because that's what they expect. That's what makes it Christmas.

Christmas cards and letters! I need to get them written and mailed in time! And what about photos?

I'm exhausted already. How will I ever get it all done in time?

It's that last question that gets us down

Here's what I've learned over the years–with help from friends and family members.

The best and most lasting gift any of us can give is our love and encouragement. These cost zero dollars.

What we spend–or don't spend–is unimportant. Even young children who clamor for the latest toys on TV always lose interest in any item after a few days.

Recognize that adult and young-adult children are adults and young adults. They will manage to cope even if we don't fulfill their favorite gift requests. (We do, don't we? We know their gifts come with love.)

Cooking everything from scratch does not prove love.

It's a sure thing that this will not be the only chance our loved ones will have all year to eat a good meal.

We can decide to start a new family tradition. Making it easier on ourselves will make it calmer when we're together. (No guilt because Mom looks exhausted.) That makes it more fun for all the family.

Truth flash: Our kids don't come home for the food

Whatever the ages of our children, they come home for the love.

What they long for most of all is affirmation as individuals. The reminder that they belong. The confirmation that we, their parents, love them as they are.

We say it aloud: We love them as they are. That's the biggest gift we can give our adult children.

Are they perfect? No, they're human. Like their parents.

Do we like them as people and/or appreciate their sense of humor or whatever? Then we say so.

Are we pleased or proud about something they've done or are doing? Let's commend them and cheer them on, even if we've said the same thing before.

Are they going through a hard time or a scary passage in life? Let's reassure them that they're not alone. Jesus is with them, every step of the way. (Even if/when they know it, it's good to hear us speak it.)

First, last and always, let's tell them we pray for them every day and we know God's watching over them. (Then let's keep our promise.)

But nobody ever did that for me

Sadly, that's true for many of us. We still may long to hear such words from our own parents. Some of us never will, either because our parents have died or are out of our lives, or because they're incapable of opening up about their emotions.

Then we have a choice. We can grieve and bemoan what we lack.

Or we can forgive our parents and start fresh. Their ways don't have to be our ways.

We give our children and those that matter to us a great gift when we simply say those words of love we ache to hear, not just once, but often.

And in the speaking will be the healing for us and a blessing for them.

God still uses ordinary people

God used ordinary people, Mary and Joseph, carry out His plan. People like you and me.

Jesus told us we are to be salt and light in the earth. We ordinary people are to "season" the world around us and shine the sunshine of God's love where we are.

That starts right where we are. Married or single, with or without children, there are folks around us who need us to live true to who we are in Jesus.

Christmas is more than a season. It's the miracle of God come to earth to live among us.

Christmas is all about God's plan

It's about Jesus, God come to earth in human form, to be our Savior and Lord.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. –John 3:16 ESV

Dear reader, this year when you hear the Christmas story may you feel the awe and wonder of a little child. Jesus came for you!

And for me,

Lenore
Learning about Christmas from a few preschoolers

November 29, 2017
Most of us could use a transfusion of smiles and energy about now. So sit back, put your feet up and watch these beautiful children. You won't want to miss a move.

Even if you've seen this before, I promise it will make you smile all over again and give you an energy lift.

Fifth-graders who live in the Yupik Eskimo village of Quinhagak, Alaska, pop. 555 at the 2,000 census, put this together as a school computer project, intended for other Yupik villages in the area.

By now more than 1,200,000 people have viewed this performance of the "Hallelujah" chorus from Handel's Messiah.

Take a moment to marvel at what God can do with the work of one individual.

In 1741, George Frideric Handel considered himself something of a failure. Then he composed the entire score of Messiah over a period of 24 days. He is said to have felt God gave him the music, but he could not predict how this music would endure.

He could not have imagined that 360 years later, Eskimo children in a small Alaskan village would treat us to this creative performance accompanied by a choir singing the "Hallelujah" chorus.

Tthe teacher of this class in that small Eskimo school could not foresee anyone in any other place would ever see this video.

There's a lesson here for you and me

As individuals and as moms and dads we cannot know what God will do with our work–or our child's work.

Handel composed many other musical works, but only his "Hallelujah" chorus is sung and hummed all over the world. His Messiah is performed every Christmas season by choruses and choirs in huge cities and in tiny villages on every continent. At the time he could not have guessed the value of his work.

I can't help thinking of this Bible verse.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. –Ephesians 2:10

That verse wasn't aimed only at Handel and other famous people. It speaks to you and me, too.

Think you're on a treadmill and going nowhere?

Perhaps today you question the value of your life. Maybe you're facing your first Christmas alone after losing a loved one.

If you're a mom, your family most often notices what you do when you don't do it. Put a positive spin on that. Being taken for granted also means your family knows they can count on you.

Forget looking elsewhere to find your particular "good works." You're living with them. What's more, the family life you create, the love you pour into your days will live on in your children. Every day you are coloring their lives–and their picture of life.

Joy comes from giving ourselves fully and from knowing that what we do matters, whether we see the end result or not. God is faithful. What we do in faith will live on, one way or another.

Believe it. Let that truth put fresh energy in your tired body.

Then look again at the smiles on the faces of those Eskimo school children and sing Hallelujah! in your heart.

Someone needs us, needs our kind words, needs our encouragement. Those are gifts, too.

Now, let's enjoy this wonderful Christ-mas season of giving ourselves,

Lenore

Declare a “joy break” and refresh your heart

December 16, 2011
Around this time of year, as we look at our To Do lists, I expect some of us long for a "shot of Christmas," to get us energized.

I don't have a magic potion, but this YouTube should do the trick. You may have seen it, but if you take time once again, I promise you'll find yourself smiling by the end.

Are you smiling?

Some of us have been hearing or singing Handel's Messiah for years, especially Hallelujah. Not so many know the story of how Handel came to write this glorious music.

Picture the scene. It is the summer of 1741, in a small house in London. Discouraged and miserably in debt, 56 year-old George Fredric Handel considered himself something of a failure. Not long before he had given what he thought of as his farewell concert. Then a friend passed on a libretto based on the life of Christ. Its writer hoped someone could write music to go with his script, all of it quoted from The King James Bible.

Handel, a strong believer in Christ, read it through and was deeply moved. So on August 22nd, he set to work composing. After that no one saw him except the servant who faithfully brought him food, then every day removed the untouched tray.

One day the servant opened the door to find his employer with tears streaming down his face. Handel said, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself."

George Frederic Handel uttered those words just after completing the movement that ever after has been known around the world as the Hallelujah Chorus.

He wrote the entire work in an amazing 24 days. In that short span of time Handel not only personally inked each note of the four-part vocal score, but also the music and every instrumental part for the orchestra. (If you've sung the Messiah, you know just the choral arrangement plus piano accompaniment runs to more than 250 pages.) Whether we call it genius or divine inspiration, for more than two centuries this piece of music has been performed all over the world.

Handel died April 14, 1759, eight days after his final performance where he conducted his mansterpiece, Messiah. If you visit Westminster Abbey in London, look for his statue. He's shown holding the manuscript for the solo that opens part three of Messiah, "I know that my Redeemer liveth."

It seems to me we can draw some lessons for ourselves. At the time, Handel would have been considered elderly and people around him considered him finished. So did he. It seems he never said, "Well, I can't do that because . . ." Maybe we, too, need to set aside our labels and our familiar thinking and step out in faith. Otherwise, who knows? We might miss out on doing something great.

As for getting in the mood for Christmas, I know what I need to do. I need to take my eyes off how much I have to do and focus on what Christmas really means. The Joy-Giver is just as capable of giving meaning and joy to our work as He was back in Handel's time. Sure, our "tune" may be small, but the world around us needs to hear it. So let's smile and give thanks, then go for it!

Comments?

Here's to letting our JOY show in this most wonderful time of the year,

Lenore

Need an injection of Christmas spirit? Find it here . . .

November 30, 2010
I met the most amazing woman the other day. She unexpectedly dropped into my Email inbox and once she told her story, I couldn't forget it.

I think it's safe to say you won't forget her, either. For one thing, how often do you meet an individual who is age 106 and still plays Scrabble? Yes, you read that correctly. Alice Herz-Sommer is age 106. In fact, she turns 107 this month.

She is . . . But why not let Alice tell her story in her own words? I encourage you to settle back in your chair and prepare to be entranced. If at the beginning you find her accent difficult, hang in there. After a few seconds you won't notice it. Now just click on the arrow and float away.

For all of us, sometimes life, with its obstacles and challenges and disappointments, seems discouraging, even overwhelming. From now on I'll only have to think of Alice to realize how blessed I've been–and still am.

Although Alice's story is unique, I think she has a message for all of us, for all time: Life is beautiful!

Those three words apply, no matter what's going on in our lives. Let's have the good sense to really understand this now. It's as the Psalmist said, centuries ago:

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. –-Psalm 118:24

Here's to "living it up" and making the most of every day,

Lenore

Question for you: How did Alice's story touch you?

(Late addtion: My apologies, but the (better) YouTube clip I originally included was suddenly "withdrawn by the user," whatever that means. It seems to be inaccessible from any site. So I'm including a new link here, from The Guardian in London. This one is not as long, but you can hear Alice speaking and also playing her piano. Onceit ends you'll notice other YouTube video thumbnails are shown, such as a two-part BBC TV interview. You can read Alice's story in print at http://nickreedent.com/ which is the website of the maker of the soon-to-be-released documentary about Alice Herz-Sommer.

Of music and hope and seeing the beauty in life . . . no matter what

November 6, 2010
Isn't it easy to look at someone else's life and think they have it easy?

You've heard that old saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."

Here's what never gets said, "Yes, but you still have to mow it."

I confess. Early on, I spent a lot of time looking around at other people's lives and thinking, "If only … ."

Maybe you're familiar with that swamp, the one filled with, "If only my life were easier. If only I were a better _____ ." Etc.

I could have filled in that blank with at least a dozen ways in which either my life or I could be "better." After awhile I got older and smarter and recognized the obvious. No one lives an "easy" life and no one is perfect. Every one of us deals with stresses and problems and difficulties in relationships.

Some people think daydreaming is harmless and costs nothing. Not true. While we have our heads in the clouds we miss out on the day and the life we actually inhabit.

It's good to stop and now and then and take stock. Try making a list of what's good in your life. Oh, and forget "perfect." Concentrate instead on what's "good."

I discovered it helped to pretend I was someone else, a reporter, perhaps. What would I write about the woman in the mirror and the life she lived?

I used that list as a starting point for giving thanks to the Giver every day or so. By the time I worked my way through that list I'd be adding to it.

You can guess what happened, can't you? That little exercise became a habit, a way of thinking about my life. Each time I read it and thanked God for these blessings, I felt more blessed.

Before long when I realized I was happy. I liked myself better, too.

Did anything change about my life? Nope. Only my perception. And that made all the difference.

Like so many others before me, I learned the truth of Proverbs 23:7, as translated in the King James or Revised Standard Version. Here it is, slightly paraphrased.

As a [woman] thinks in [her] heart, so is [she.]

So, dear reader, here's my challenge for you: Try it for yourself. Then share your findings with the rest of us by using the comments form below.

Blessings and joy,

Lenore

Looking for happiness? Take a fresh look around

May 26, 2010
I confess. I have Christmas cards and letters still waiting to be mailed and gifts to be wrapped. (And please, could we not talk about my list of neglected everyday chores?)

If you're sharing this uncomfortable boat with me, you may be thinking, "Now if I can just get through Christmas…"

That's a trap. As soon as we do that we rob our days of the joy that comes with reading letters from friends and thinking how to please the people we love. I think it's time for a vision adjustment and a transfusion. (Sorry, I can't produce an extra five or six days…)

Pause for breath and let's drink in some energy for our spirits:

Probably the reason we all go so haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don't quite know how to put our love into words. Harlan Miller

It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself. Charles Dickens

This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ. Frank McKibben

Take Christ out of Christmas, and December becomes the bleakest and most colorless month of the year. A. F. Wells

The Light that shines from the humble manger is strong enough to lighten our way to the end of our days. Vita-Rays

God rest you merry, lovely readers. Let us rejoice-in-the-midst of the rubble all around us. That same Light will power our personal "energy cells," one day after another.

Question for you: What's your biggest hurdle in this wonderful Christmas time?

Lenore

Are you running out of steam before Christmas?

December 17, 2009
I saw Santa yesterday, but this one didn't look like the pictures you see. First I saw his decked-out van. If I had the presence of mind to remember that my fancy-schmancy new cell phone has a camera, I could show you what I saw. This will have to do.

Imagine a nondescript old gray work van, elaborately decorated from stem to stern with roping of fresh evergreens. The roping extended down from the roof over the hood, too, plus battery-operated Christmas lights. Small stuffed animals adorned every door handle. On top stood a figure of Santa Claus, maybe eighteen inches tall. After I parked on the other side of the row of cars and faced this marvel, I sat staring in fascination, wondering what and who…

That's when the driver walked up.

As he stuffed papers in the back pocket of his well-worn blue jeans, he smiled, then rubbed his forehead. For that moment I got a good look at the grizzled, fifty-ish man with leathery skin. He stood tall and skinny and wore an old, plaid wool shirt, jeans, a red wool cap with ear-flaps drooping and battered work boots. Then he climbed into his van, slammed the door and threw the truck in reverse. Only then did I understand he was Santa.

That's when I could see that the back of the van was crammed with toys, from top to bottom. They even peeked out from the passenger window side of the van. All I saw through his rear window was packed-in toys. Clearly, this Santa was making a delivery and sooner or later, many kids would be whooping with delight.

Then this morning's Sacramento Bee ran the story of an 82-year old Santa, a woman who watched a television show about the homeless and started knitting. Because of her talking to friends, who talked to their friends, a network of older individuals picked up their needles. Now this Santa can deliver hundreds of hand-knitted caps, scarves and to our local Loaves & Fishes.

Christmas brings out the best in all of us, doesn't it? As individuals and through our churches, we collect food and pack baskets. We reach out through countless charity organizations that bring joy to children and families. Our sensitivity radar picks up and we glimpse needs we were blind to before.

There's a special joy, I think, when we give a gift and don't identify ourselves. Part of the fun is knowing a secret. Sometimes we even hear the recipient(s) speculate about who might have done this. That's when we get to practice keeping a straight face.

Here's the question: Do you know any Santas like this? Or have you ever played this part?go

Why not share that joy with the rest of us? (Just go to "Post a Comment" and follow directions.)

In the midst of the wonderful Christmas bustle, may you feel the Light of Christmas,

Lenore

I saw Santa yesterday, but…

December 10, 2009
What makes some people maintain that spunk and feisty spirit into old age? Is it a temperament they're born with or do they choose it?

I've wondered about that for years,. The other day I got an e-mail from a relative with a photo of my aunt, who lives in Minnesota. Aunt Elsie is my father's baby sister and the only one of those five siblings still living on earth.

At age 101, she maintains the spirit and humor I always loved as a child. Now she lives in an assisted-living residence and walks with a walker. When someone commented she gets around very well, she said yes, she does. Then she smiled her old smile and said, "And I would dance, too, if I had a partner!"

That doesn't surprise me one bit. I haven't seen Aunt Elsie for years, but I always delighted in how she seemed to have fun wherever she was. I remember so well her laugh and her sparkling eyes.

Yet that didn't flow out of getting all the breaks in life. She and her husband worked hard running their own business. Childless for many years, they adopted a daughter and shortly thereafter had three kids of their own. At age four their oldest boy received a brain injury as the result of another driver hitting him while he crossed the street. He came out of the coma, but never was the same, never able to keep up with his siblings.

But life went on and so did Aunt Elsie and Uncle Earl and the rest of the family. That catastrophe took awhile for all of them to take in and get used to. Mostly they coped. They never doubted that God let their son live for a reason and they wouldn't look back. They suffered through all the usual emotions and grief, but they survived…and kept on believing, kept on loving.

These two lived through the usual ups and downs of rearing children to adulthood–and much more, besides. Aunt Elsie dealt with illnesses and the death of two husbands. But she never gave up. She lives on and laughs and jokes.

All along the way, she had choices to make. Would she become a harpy? A bitter woman, angry at God, perpetually expecting disaster? And who would have blamed her if she had.

But she didn't. She chose to go on believing that God loves her and her family, and watches over all of them. I'm betting she has read Psalm 139 over and over, sometimes looking for answers to her whys and sometimes soaking up reassurance.

Since my mom died before she reached age 55, I look at older women for role models of how to do it. I look at Aunt Elsie and all the others who choose to go on living with gusto and faith every day of their lives.

To me they're shining examples of the truth of Psalm 92:12, 14-15:

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree…They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The LORD is upright' he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

Let's choose to be ageless…fresh and green every day of our lives!

Here's wishing you JOY in your journey through life,

Lenore

Your comments welcomed!

The secret of youth–and it doesn’t come in a jar

October 21, 2009
It's only September and already I miss the early morning sun. Ever since I was a little a girl, something within me rebels against getting up in the dark. I remember saying, "But nobody should have to get up in the dark, it doesn't even feel like morning yet!"

Even then early morning sunlight gladdened my heart. It still does. As Grandma used to say, it "gets me going."

But hey, I'm a big girl now. I know the routine. So I'll get up in the dark like most people do and I'll "get going" on my own. Still, as shorter days and longer nights press in, I need pansies. We discovered them as winter bloomers when we lived in the Northwest, with its long fall and winter seasons of cool, cloudy and rainy. Pansies don't care about the weather. No wonder I got addicted in no time.

We're in (drier) northern California now, but we read the handwriting of the seasons all around. That signals it's time to plant our annual guarantee of dependable winter sunshine: pansies. For me, their smiling faces brighten the shortest, dreariest day. We always plant some at the front door and also the back, so we see them all day. The other day while I ran errands, that terrific guy I married bought a bunch of them, then planted window boxes for the front railing and a pot for the back deck.

Whatever the weather I look at these blooms and see a visible symbol of hope. Nothing keeps them down, not clouds nor rain. Not even snow, as we discovered while growing them in the Northwest, where we sometimes had snow that lasted a day or two. Pansies may hang their heads for awhile, but then they pop back up, smiling. During cold spells they sort of fold into themselves. But then the sun shines and there they are, still blooming and brightening their corner of the world.

I look at these bright blooms and feel joy, even in dim light and on dark days. Does that sound over-simplistic? Maybe it is. On the other hand, it makes sense to train ourselves to savor the joy in simple everyday things. Otherwise, if it takes, say, a huge diamond ring to make us happy, we probably will wait a long time.

My grandmother was good at finding joy in life. I thought she had a gift for it. Now I understand it's a habit she developed. Like you and me, Grandma had the choice whether to see the light or fasten on the dark. Every day we choose to take joy in what's in front of us–like pansies–or clump around feeling deprived because we want something "special."

Truth is, every day is special, a gift. Every morning arrives with a fresh supply of joy and hope…if we choose to see it. If we run out by day's end, tomorrow we begin again, with a fresh supply.

The question for you and me is, how observant are we? Besides, beyond surfacey things like pansies, in this messed-up world where can we look for joy and hope?

I found some suggestions…

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

                                                                                    –Psalm 90:14

For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

                                                                                    –Psalm 92:4

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.

                                                                            –Psalm 62:5

Here's wishing you JOY and hope in the midst of life, a fresh supply every morning and may you know the Giver.

Lenore

Question for you:   What brings you joy and hope? Your sharing can bless the rest of us. (Just click on the word "comments" in the small print below, then follow directions.)

Find joy and hope, in every ordinary day

September 22, 2009