Have you ever received a gift you weren't expecting or didn't even ask for?
I'm not talking about the Ice Cream Balls or the Seat Pet.
I'm talking about a gift you received that was amazing…better than anything you could have asked for.
And your response? "I didn't even think to ask for this!"
At our house, we have recently been completely amazed by a gift we didn't even think to ask for...a baby.
Yes. You read that correctly…a baby.
In June 2015, our family will welcome baby Messelt #4!
This gift shocked us.
This gift made us nervous.
This gift even overwhelmed us.
But after all that, we can honestly say in the best possible way, "We didn't even know we wanted that!"
And we want the gift.
We are preparing for the arrival of this gift.
We are looking forward to holding this gift and watching it grow!
How like God to give a gift like this at Christmas time.
How like God to answer my questions of restlessness and direction with absolute clarity.
Psalm 126 is a song of ascent. It was written as a song of the Israelites who were heading out of captivity to go back to Jerusalem. I love this psalm and it has been running through my head daily since a dear friend of mine texted a portion of it to me after finding out about our amazing gift!
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. (they were living the dream!)
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:1-3
This baby that I am carrying is this psalm made manifest (made visible): the Lord has done great things for us…and these great things can be seen in the plan of God for this baby.
Our journey in becoming parents has not been easy. As many experience, it has been wrought with loss, questions, tension and doubt. But…The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy!
In this gift, God has shown us how He redeems our hurts, wipes tears from our eyes and how He brings joy out of sorrow.
The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy!
How about you?
How has the Lord done great things for you?
Maybe you're feeling like God missed you when He was out doing great things for people.
Let me challenge you to put pen to paper (or fingers to a keyboard) and document all the ways the Lord has done great things for you.
Despite the hardness of life, how has the Lord shown you His greatness?
I hope you are overwhelmed by the greatness of our God!
I love this song: The Greatness of Our God
When Jesus' mother Mary found out she was going to have a baby…the baby whose birth we just celebrated, she sang:
My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me - holy is his name. Luke 1:46-55 (read the entire thing here…it's beautiful)
Mary recognized two things:
God's greatness doesn't always look "great." Can you relate?
I can think of many times that the greatness of God didn't look that great to me.
Conversations that didn't go as I planned…
Relationships that didn't end the way I hoped…
Employment that changed before being ready…
God's greatness can be seen in all these situations and more when we trust Him and His plan…not our own.
Check out Isaiah 55:8-9! These verses help me see the problem in each one of those scenarios…my plan.
That's where we've landed with the amazing gift of a baby…this gift we didn't even know to ask for!
This baby is God's very best for our family! God's best isn't always easy (in my experience, there is rarely anything easy about having a baby), but we welcome God's best!
As the New Year is upon us and as we just celebrated Christmas, may you be able to genuinely stand back and say, "The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy!"
And may you look forward to 2015, trusting that in whatever comes your way, "the Lord is doing great things for you!"
Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year!
I'm not talking about the Ice Cream Balls or the Seat Pet.
I'm talking about a gift you received that was amazing…better than anything you could have asked for.
And your response? "I didn't even think to ask for this!"
At our house, we have recently been completely amazed by a gift we didn't even think to ask for...a baby.
Yes. You read that correctly…a baby.
In June 2015, our family will welcome baby Messelt #4!
This gift shocked us.
This gift made us nervous.
This gift even overwhelmed us.
But after all that, we can honestly say in the best possible way, "We didn't even know we wanted that!"
And we want the gift.
We are preparing for the arrival of this gift.
We are looking forward to holding this gift and watching it grow!
How like God to give a gift like this at Christmas time.
How like God to answer my questions of restlessness and direction with absolute clarity.
Psalm 126 is a song of ascent. It was written as a song of the Israelites who were heading out of captivity to go back to Jerusalem. I love this psalm and it has been running through my head daily since a dear friend of mine texted a portion of it to me after finding out about our amazing gift!
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. (they were living the dream!)
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:1-3
This baby that I am carrying is this psalm made manifest (made visible): the Lord has done great things for us…and these great things can be seen in the plan of God for this baby.
Our journey in becoming parents has not been easy. As many experience, it has been wrought with loss, questions, tension and doubt. But…The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy!
In this gift, God has shown us how He redeems our hurts, wipes tears from our eyes and how He brings joy out of sorrow.
The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy!
How about you?
How has the Lord done great things for you?
Maybe you're feeling like God missed you when He was out doing great things for people.
Let me challenge you to put pen to paper (or fingers to a keyboard) and document all the ways the Lord has done great things for you.
Despite the hardness of life, how has the Lord shown you His greatness?
I hope you are overwhelmed by the greatness of our God!
I love this song: The Greatness of Our God
When Jesus' mother Mary found out she was going to have a baby…the baby whose birth we just celebrated, she sang:
My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me - holy is his name. Luke 1:46-55 (read the entire thing here…it's beautiful)
Mary recognized two things:
- She recognized that God was mindful of her and
- She recognized that even though this pregnancy would be anything but convenient for her, (a teenage girl who was pledged to marry a man who wasn't the father) the Lord had done this great thing for her.
God's greatness doesn't always look "great." Can you relate?
I can think of many times that the greatness of God didn't look that great to me.
Conversations that didn't go as I planned…
Relationships that didn't end the way I hoped…
Employment that changed before being ready…
God's greatness can be seen in all these situations and more when we trust Him and His plan…not our own.
Check out Isaiah 55:8-9! These verses help me see the problem in each one of those scenarios…my plan.
That's where we've landed with the amazing gift of a baby…this gift we didn't even know to ask for!
This baby is God's very best for our family! God's best isn't always easy (in my experience, there is rarely anything easy about having a baby), but we welcome God's best!
As the New Year is upon us and as we just celebrated Christmas, may you be able to genuinely stand back and say, "The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy!"
And may you look forward to 2015, trusting that in whatever comes your way, "the Lord is doing great things for you!"
Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year!
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