Christmas 2013, a Day Late and a Dollar Short as my Mama would say:)

As usual I am a day late and a dollar short:)

Is that the sound of reindeer hooves or is it Presley and Willow pitter-pattering around while I am trying to have my quiet time? As usual I am running way behind, so for those that I didn't get a Christmas letter sent to, here it is:

 

Happy, Happy, Happy!

 or

Ho, Ho, Ho! It’s Christmas, Either Way

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 NIV

Happy, happy, happy! I have to say I agree with those words from the Duck Dynasty clan and it sounds just as good as “Ho, ho, ho” for the season we are in right now. Happy is what I want our Christmas to be all about, but sometimes life just gets in the way of that. Sometimes, we want to be more of a part of someone’s life, but life gets in the way. We overlooked something, forgot a special date, and got too busy, life gets in the way. Christmas season gets hectic and we get behind with all those good plans we had and find ourselves at the point of the “tyranny of the urgent.” *

Christmas events heighten the urgency and our dreams of making it the perfect family holiday may bring more stress than happiness. We ruminate what we need to do, want to do, have to do and the tension that shows up in our physical bodies makes it hard to slow down and have the peace that Jesus is known for. Perhaps this is the first year that you are experiencing the pain and grief of losing a loved one and you are finding it hard to even smile this Christmas.  We are, in my family, and navigating a new kind of normal is not easy. We pray especially for those who have lost spouses or children. We are grateful for the memories that help us to bear the loss.

We look forward to the time in heaven when we will all be together, again. Memories of good times help us to smile as we remember the love we were privileged to share with them while they were here on this earth. I’m so proud of my mother-in-law, Edie, who is coping with loss and yet doing it with a smile on her face. I think giving someone a smile can sometimes be a sacrifice and the Bible says to give a sacrifice of praise as an offering. To do that when your heart is breaking is a beautiful and precious thing before the Lord. A smile can lift the spirits of those around us and sometimes we smile amidst tears. They may stream down as we think about the way we wish that things were, yet no one can steal that joy that abides because of Jesus and His presence in our hearts.   Happy, Happy, Happy! Or Ho, Ho, Ho! It’s Christmas, either way and I pray a great big blessing for your day.  Donna Collins Tinsley 2013

"I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid. John 14:27 NLT

*A booklet by Charles Hummel, Tyranny of the Urgent, describes that there is always tension between what we believe is important and what is right before us that seems urgent. My opinion is that usually the urgent wins, especially around the holidays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZBYa_YGE5Y

Navigating Christmas this year is hard with the loss of Grandpa Del Ce Cato. Many prayers are needed for Mom Del as they were married over 50 years. He was a very precious man and is sorely missed. I also ask for continued prayers for family peace. A day at a time, progress not perfection, keep it simple (I'm not sure how when I don't know how many I am cooking for?:) and "Let go and let God." He is the reason we celebrate!

First Christmas In Heaven

I wrote this poem the year my Mama passed away. It is a very simple poem, but it comforted me. The first holidays without your loved ones can be the hardest. It seems so many people near to me, have lost a family member. I pray that you will be able to have peace and blessings although there is that empty place at the table that could only be filled by them.

 

First Christmas In Heaven

 

It’s my first

Christmas in Heaven

And oh,

What a sight!

 

The angels are singing

This is not a silent night!

 

On the throne sits

The One who

Died for me

From the Pain

Of my body

I have been

Set free.

 

He’s not a babe

In a manger

Anymore

He loves you

He wants you

For your soul

He will war.

 

This life you live now

Is fleeting

At best

I trusted

In Jesus and

He gave me rest.

 

 

Donna Collins Tinsley 

 

 

A Constant Image

 

I had a hard time wanting to post another blog as the “happy, happy happy,” of Duck Dynasty is so appealing to me. But because blogger is part of my “job description” I am putting a devotional I wrote on here until I can get really inspired to blog.

 

Sometimes the image in our minds of our past hold us back from the future. Sometimes it holds us in turmoil, holds us in pain and prevents us from pressing on to what the Lord’s true plan for our life or ministry. That is part of the enemy’s plan and he gets great pleasure from reminding us of our past, of causing great havoc and devastation in our families. For these things, though, we have Jesus. Let Him be the constant image in your mind.

A Constant Image

For my part, I am going to boast about nothing but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate. Galatians 6:14

The Message

"In the front of my mind

In the back of my mind,

 To the left and to the right,

There’s an image of a man on a cross."

 

These are the words to a song written by Dallas Holm that really moved my spirit. This is how I want to live my life, with the Lord in the front of my mind and in the back of my mind. As I go to the left or the right, may his image never leave me. May this picture in my mind help me to walk differently in the world I live in. I need to walk worthy of the calling God has put on me.  Let me walk in a way that would not shame the one who is my Lord and Master. Jesus was born in a stable---yet He is the King of Glory.

     He lived a simple life. He amazed His mother, confounded his neighborhood, (could anything good come from Nazareth?) called together a group of outcasts to disciple and write about His story.

     He carried a heavy cross on which He was crucified for my sins and yours, years before we were ever conceived. He knew what pain was like. He understood how it felt to be rejected by friends and family alike. He wept. He understood what it was like to lose a loved one. But for the joy set before Him, he endured the cross. That joy was giving life to us.

Prayer: Lord, please keep the picture of what You did on the cross for us, ever before us.

Thought for the Day: What I allow myself to think on may control my day for good.

Prayer Focus: The Cross of Christ and his compassion towards His body of believers.

I’m ending with a new favorite quote; I borrowed this quote from my daughter, Regina's page:

"She could never go back and make some of the details pretty. All she could do was move forward and make the whole beautiful." Terri St Cloud

If your past wasn’t pretty, join me in trying to move forward and make a beautiful life. Someone out there needs you.

They’re not the Waltons but They Make Me Smile Or How Some Crazy Duck-calling Family Won my Heart

Happy, happy, happy gets my attention as that is what my main dream is for my own family. To be happy, happy, happy.

Then the title “A Dynasty Built on Family and Faith” also got my attention and I figured I needed to find out how the Duck Dynasty family got so happy. It is a story in Guideposts magazine written by Korie Robertson about their life.

Along the way to a happy, happy, happy family I have taken a long detour. Maybe you have, also. What got in the way of your happy family? What came in and took your dreams. What stole the heart of your children and perhaps even your grandchildren?

Did addiction rear its ugly head and everything that you thought your adult child would become just seem to vanish one day? Did you lose a loved one, a spouse or a child and think you will never be happy again. Does someone in your family wrestle with mental illness and you wonder if all hope is gone? Did cancer invade the body of someone you love? Do you have a loved one in prison?   Life can seem anything but happy at times like these.

What can you do to get your mind into a mode of happiness again?

My first and best answer would be to find a word of hope to hold on to from the Bible. You know the kind, a scripture that just jumps out at you; instinctly deep within your heart it seems as if it was written just for you. Written for such a time as this. While you are searching for a word of your own, find one for your children or that adult child that is breaking your heart. We have to know and believe that the God who created them has a plan and it is an even better plan than you, as a parent, could even dream for them.

“O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
 I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.” Isaiah 54:11-13

My next thought for happy, happy, happy,  is give it over to prayer. Perhaps you are saying, I do that, I pray. We all have had to come to the point of not only praying but then letting go. Let go and let God is more than a slogan said at recovery meetings. It is the real deal. As a mother, though, I have to admit, I sometimes have to let go again and again, but that is OK as the Lord looks at the heart. He knows exactly the timing that we can yield that burden to Him. He is a protective God and He knows what we can deal with and when and He won’t push us or shove us to dealing with something when it is too painful for us. He deals the same way with our families.

I’ve found that what might make me happy, happy, happy will have the opposite effect on my husband or children. Sometimes I want to scream, “Let’s just all get on the same page.” But the story written from one person’s viewpoint will have a different slant and timetable in another family member’s life and so I must yield again.

What does all this have to do with the Robertson family and their Duck Dynasty? Take a comedy break as often as you can and watch their programs and reruns. It will do your heart good to see people interacting in a loving and kind way. The way families used to interact. No they aren’t the Walton’s, they don’t live in Mayberry, but they have something to teach us. 

The main lesson is God first, and then family. In my view that is a winning combination. No, my family isn’t the Walton’s, the Griffith’s or the Robertson’s but I can learn to lighten up, smile more, listen more and embrace the unique family that the Lord is building, one day at a time. My favorite quote that I say is “There is enough love to go around.” Our family is a work in progress but one day I know I will be “Happy, happy, happy” just like the Duck Dynasty family.

http://www.guideposts.org/inspiration/inspirational-stories/a-dynasty-built-on-family-and-faith?page=full