December 2 The Angels Explained Things…

Affirmation: I am at the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.

Today marks 52 years since my dad died. Life brings hard things. Things we don’t understand. But in my experience, you can hold on to God even through your anger, confusion, loss, heartache…through it all. I gave up on God when I was 13, but He stuck with me & loved me. I am so grateful that God never gave up on me. —-Jacque

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Ponder, Personalize, Practice: Spend time today pondering John 1:5. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” God is that light. Talk to Him about His light. Ask Him your questions.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.1.5.NIV~~~~~~~~~~

Wholehearted Guidepost from Brené Brown

Guidepost 8: Cultivating Calm and Stillness and Letting Go of Anxiety as a Lifestyle

CREATE A CALM MAP

Select a photo that represents calm or stillness for you, and map out your calm practice. What kinds of environments and strategies help you cultivate a feeling of calm? 

RECOMMENDED MATERIALS

Your journal, pens, pencils, markers, a camera and photo printer, or scissors for cutting out an image, old magazines, watercolors, and double-sided tape or glue. 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To begin our creative exercise for cultivating calm, stillness and letting go of anxiety as a lifestyle, find a picture (online, in your own photo albums or in a magazine) that represents calm or stillness for you. Print out that picture or cut out the image you found. Then, turn to a blank set of facing pages in your journal and tape your picture onto one side. You can also watercolor around your image or decorate your page any way you like.

2. In the margins around your image, answer the following question: What about your picture makes you think of calm and stillness? For example, your reason might be water, quiet and being outside. Determine the words that represent calm and stillness to you, and write them around your image.

3. On the facing page, you will create a "calm map." First, select a background decoration for your page. This could be an image of an old map, a collage or a picture that represents a journey toward calm. Feel free to decorate your page how you like, but make sure you can still write over it.

4. To get started on your map, it might help to think of a time when you were stressed out and what helped you to get calm again. On the bottom of your map, write a "map legend" or "foundation" for calm. What simple guidelines help you hold calm as a practice in your everyday life? For example, this might be cutting out caffeine, exercising, getting enough sleep and avoiding violent images.

5. Moving up your map, start to write out the core strategies that help you to decrease your anxiety and cultivate calm. Breathing and asking questions are important parts of Brené's practice. Add as many steps and strategies as needed.

6. Finally, write, "Repeat this practice, screw it up, circle back and start again" to complete the circle of your calm practice!

7. Remember, mapping out your calm practice is something you can continue to add to over time. Feel free to return to this map throughout the course.

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Mastering the 7 Decisions from Andy Andrews 

The Joyful Decision 

5. TODAY I WILL CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY.

Happiness is a choice. I am enthusiastic about each day. I am alert to its possibilities.

I will become the master of my emotions.

I will greet each day with laughter. I know that enthusiasm is the fuel that moves the world.

The world belongs to the enthusiastic, for people will follow them anywhere! My smile has become my calling card. It is, after all, the most important weapon I possess. I am the possessor of a grateful spirit. 

Joyful Decision

Today, I choose to be happy.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

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Reading for Today

Walk in Grace. Live in Love. by Bob Goff

December 2The Angels Explained Things to Joseph After He’d Talked To Mary, Not Before. Be Patient When You Don’t Understand.
“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God, and saying, “Glory to God, in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.””Luke 2:13, 14

Do you ever feel like it would’ve been so much easier to follow God if we had been alive when the Bible was written? We sit in silence for long periods of time, hoping God will say something, but we are often left wondering if we are just hearing our own thoughts. We go on retreat at cabins in the woods and fill up the journals, but it’s hard to know when you have heard from God. It is easy to wish you could’ve been one of the people in the Bible, who God spoke to through angels or thunder, or burning bushes or clouds, or even a donkey once.

A relationship with God has always required faith. Sometimes we reimagine the stories in the Bible, and it seems easier to follow Jesus in our revised version, but think about what it must have been like to be Joseph. When Mary told him she was going to have a baby, he had not heard anything yet from the angels. There was no sign from God that the virgin birth was all God‘s plan, no awareness of the miracle to come. I bet it just felt like a big mess to Joseph. Be patient when things get weird. Joseph held on for the ride when things did not make sense, because he loved Mary and he trusted God.

Unfortunately, life is full of open loops. We never have all the answers we want when we need them or think we need them. Trusting in God when you don’t have all the answers is exactly how Joseph welcomed Jesus into the world. We can welcome Him every day in the same way—with patience.

What are you trusting Jesus for this season?