This is the last post about the ABC’s of Christmas. I hope that you guys are as excited as I am for what this had in store. I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and did not forget the true meaning of Christmas. I journaled some of these pages a little differently, instead of painting, I dissected the word. With that, lets go through days 20-25!!
The letter T was for town. It was talking about imagining ourselves in the town of Bethlehem during this time. The biggest point that I got out of this was realizing how much time that we were spending time with and praising the Lord. It talks about how the author of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” came up with the song after spending hours singing and worshiping God in the Holy Land. This day, we were to read Micah 5:2 and spend time thinking about the experience it would have been being in the town Jesus was born, and worshiping Him.
The letter U was for the word unsure. It was about questioning God. It talks about Matthew 1:18-25, which is where an angel came to Joseph to help him with finding the truth with Mary. Joseph was not planning on staying with Mary when she found out she was pregnant. One thing it talks about is that when we are feeling unsure, God sends us reinforcements over what is truth and right. God is willing to clarify this uneasy feeling if we ask Him too, He loves when we go to Him for help. A question that is asked is “Have you ever been unsure about God’s direction for your life?” I feel like this is such a big and important question. We all feel unsure from time to time.
The letter V was for villain. In every good story, there’s a bad guy, right? Well in this story the villain’s name is Herod. He was not happy at all about the idea of Jesus. He immediately wanted him dead. Thank goodness for God and His interventions. God kept Jesus safe from Herod. The big catch is that God still loved Herod even though he tried to kill His son. We are called to do 1 thing, and that is to always love others, not just the easy ones. We were to think about if we have a King Herod or someone who is challenging for us to love, and to pray for them for God to intervene in their life.
W was for white, meaning washed pure. Hilary talks about how it rarely snows in Oregon, where she lives. She talks about how they sea a sea of white before the snow plows come and people drive on it. This reminds her of purity, untouched by things like dirt and grime. It’s uncontaminated. She talks about how the Bible talks about snow in Psalms 51:7, how we are washed white as snow when we have Jesus. Did you know snow is actually made of dirt? I had no clue. Snow is created from the crystals that formed around dirt. For this day, Hilary wanted us to read psalm 51 and figure out what verses stand out the most to us from this passage.
The letter X was for XOXO. This stood for two-armed hugs. This day talked about Acts 20:37 when Paul and his friends are saying goodbye to each other. They had no clue how long or if he’d be back. They showed affection and their love to him through hugs and kisses. A thought she talks about is how did elizabeth show her affection to Mary and how did Mary show Jesus her love and affection before He went on the cross?a question she asked this day was “Who do you need to embrace and give two-armed hugs to this holiday season?”
Y was for young meaning the unexpected. Most people know this but it is believed that Mary was around 14 years old when she gave birth to Jesus. I know i definitely would not have been ready to be a mother at the age of 14. But here’s the thing, God uses the young. He uses us as examples for other people. Just because we are young, doesn’t mean we cant do something. god doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. The people you would least expected to be picked, is usually the one that is called. A question it asked was “How are you an unlikely person for God to use?”
The letter Z was for Zzzzz, aka rest. This day, Hilary talks about peace. More importantly she talks about shalom. The Hebrew word for peace. This means “an inner peace or completeness.” This is something that can only come from Jesus and God. There is no other place to get something that satisfies this or brings the same feeling. It doesn’t depend on our outer circumstances but what comes from the inside. A thing to do is to think about ways you can make the next Christmas Season more restful.
Well guys, this is it for the ABC’s of Christmas. I have really enjoyed sharing this with you guys. I hope you have enjoyed it. Happy New Year!!
<3
Madison Rae
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