Carmen Horne

So, I’ve been working on Christmas decor this week and I have encountered the most obstinate piece of garland ever created. When I picked it out at Paul Michael’s store, it seemed so minimalist. It was not dense or heavy. I had dreams of it winding around thingies on the mantel. You know, kinda like sugar plums dancing in my head.

My head was dancing alright. When you must resort to using your head to hold the middle of the garland on the mantel so you can use your hands to hold the ends, every bit of grinchiness hidden deep within your soul emerges. I wanted to snatch that stuff off the mantel like the Grinch jerked Cindy Lou Who’s tree up her chimney.

How can I find any kind of spiritual morsel out of such aggravation and craziness?, I thought. It’s Christmas time. I need to be good for goodness sakes. My first spiritual thought was the verse in Ephesians 4:26, “Be angry and do not sin…”, as I stood there with the garland on my head and my arms growing numb,

I learned:

- - Just because something seems easy, it may not be a good fit for our life (or mantel) in this season.
  - Just because it’s a new process, opportunity, or relationship doesn’t mean the process, opportunity, or relationship from the past was wrong.
  - We may need to use the tools we have until we get the kinks worked out on how the new tools work.

Y’all, when what we are changing too brings more confusion to our soul than what we changing from, Stop – Pray – Wait.

Pray about it, a lot. Peace follows decisions that fall into God’s plan and His timing. If our heads are heavy and our arms are numb from the load we are carrying, I’m thinkin’ we have the wrong definition of peace.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28, ESV

I don’t want to craft this picture of perfection when I’m speaking of peace. The list is too long of peace stealers. Jesus told us we would have lots of troubles in this old world. Our hope comes from the knowledge that He has overcome this cranky, troublesome world and we will one day be with Him in Paradise.

Peace, to me, means that although I may be filled with fear as I step forward into a new direction, I have a calmness within my quivering soul, shaking knees, and pounding heart.

It’s that calmness that can propel us forward and it’s the absence of that calmness that should be a check within to Stop – Pray – Wait.

Waiting is tough. Fluffing our old life and dusting off the cobwebs of days that seem to never change is so mundane. Ugh. But, I have also felt my heart sink into my tummy when the shiny new thing I was running after turned real dull, real fast. Anxiety rushed over me like a cold wind. Ever been there?

In a peace-seeking state of mind, we can see sparkle when it begins to flicker. Peaceful sparkle. Breathing is deep and restful instead of shallow and hurried. Peaceful sparkle. I like that.

Are you wondering what happened to the garland? Here’s a picture of it on my mantel. There have been a few additions since this picture, but not much. It seems to be scared of anything getting near it. I have embraced its unruly disposition and continue to pray no one touches it or even breathes on it during picture-taking time. Because it has its own idea of where it should live and obviously it is struggling to accept life sitting pretty on our mantel.

Hey friends, welcome Ellen Chauvin to our porch. I wrote for her a few weeks ago, Learning to Listen. Hop over there to remind yourself of how Ellen and I met. Ellen has an amazing Christmas e-book that she is gifting to her subscribers and she wants to offer it to Y’all too.

Ellen is a joy to be with and a steady, calm voice to my heart when I need it. Enjoy the words she has written for you today.

You. Hey you! The one with the pumpkin spice candle burning. The one holding a pumpkin spice latte. You in your boots and all your fall colors, and a scarf tied around your neck! Yeah, you.
I have a reality check for you: there are only sixteen more days until DECEMBER! Yes! Only sixteen! You know what that means, don’t you?

Frasier Fir candles and air fresheners! Ummm, they smell so much better than pumpkin spice! Oh, yeah, there’s also this: Christmas pillows EVERYWHERE! Along with holly and pine garland and poinsettia!

Sadly, it also means rushing around. RUSH, RUSH, RUSH from church parties to company parties to family get-togethers. You shop until you drop for just the perfect gift, you bake until you can’t stand to see another dessert in the house. You run, run, run until you can’t go anymore.

I know. I’ve been there. It’s EXHAUSTING!

Matter of fact, I was there last year. I was so frazzled with the frenzied, frantic, fast and furious pace that I made a decision. I would spend a few minutes each morning, quietly reading the scriptures that told the story of Jesus’ birth. I took just a few passages each day and soaked in them. It calmed my heart.

I figured if I needed this slowing and calming, maybe you do too? That’s why I turned all my notes into a 21-day advent devotion called Abiding Joy. My prayer is that it will help YOU slow down and ponder the birth of Jesus.

It will take five minutes or less for each days reading. But DON’T! Don’t rush through it. Ponder what it was like to stand with the shepherds in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks at night. Imagine what a sight it must have been to see the multitude of heavenly hosts and hear them singing “Glory to God in the highest!”

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:13-14 (KJV)

Let your imagination smell the hay in the manger, and watch while Mary and Joseph gaze upon their newborn babe for the very first time! Put yourself in the story. Linger over it!
Ask yourself this: Do I need to slow down this Christmas season? Do I need to get back to the basics of the Christmas story?

If your answer is YES, I believe Abiding Joy will help you do just that. You can click here (Sign Up For Abiding Joy) to receive at no cost, my 21 day PDF devotion in your inbox on December 1. It’s my gift to you. Click here for a sample of Abiding Joy. Just a little bit of Christmas to prepare you for the complete e-book delivery after you sign up. I pray it blesses you tremendously!

Thank you! And (ahem!) may your home be filled with the fragrance of Frasier Fir this Christmas!

Ellen pens her stories from the Bayou Country of South Louisiana, but her heart and birthplace are in Mississippi. She’s a Southern Belle through and through. When not writing and digging into God’s Word, you can find Ellen digging in her flower beds, relaxing on the back porch, hanging out with her grandkids, or traveling with her husband John.

Ellen has loved writing since high school, but this passion lay dormant for many decades. When her mom passed away in 2011, Ellen felt the Lord urging her to write her stories, stories that help her see the story of His faithfulness He is writing in her life.

Ellen has a passion to see women grow in the yearning and thirst for God’s Word. She is passionate about scripture and shares the truths she finds there at Ellen Chauvin (dot) com. Ellen encourages her readers to soak in God’s Word and sprout seeds of faith.

She has contributed to Deeper Waters, Word Nerd Wednesday, The Laundry Moms, Sweet to the Soul, The Consilium and The Message, a study magazine published annually by the women’s department of WEGOM, a non-denominational evangelistic organization in Nigeria.

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