Blog

Life gets so busy during the Christmas season and sometimes we might not notice when God shows Himself in our lives. There will be days in each of our lives when God shows Himself in our lives. Here is how God showed Himself in my life one December day.

This post is in memory of our dear friend, Travis, who lived his life acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with his God (Micah 6:8) and in honor of our sweet breath of Heaven, Grannie Annie, because she would love this the most.  We miss you both everyday.

It was an ordinary day.  A day just like any other, in my little house at the top of the hill.  Nothing exciting was happening…and then God showed up. I will tell you the attributes of God as He revealed them to me.  I hope as your read this you may see Him in your friends and family, too.

When God Shows Himself in Our Lives…

God came to my house in a way you would never expect.  He came running up the hill in a bundle of light, laughter, fun, and energy.

The first characteristic of God I noticed coming toward me was my friend walking up the hill in all of her Goodness and Fear of the Lord.

She brought some of her family with her. You see once upon a time the Fear of the Lord married a man of Knowledge and Understanding. Knowledge and Understanding and the Fear of the Lord had a daughter, Wisdom and a son, Loving-Kindness.  Their daughter, Wisdom, was walking with my friend that December day.

Wisdom is young and beautiful in all of her simplicity, yet as old as time itself.

People are drawn to her because God’s Wisdom is so rarely seen or heard these days in someone so young.  She married a man with the Fire of the Holy Spirit and they have three little ones. Wisdom brought her little images of God up the hill to visit me.

The littlest one shines the Light of the Glory of the Lord so brightly you can barely look at her.  

She is so fresh from the lap of God that you can almost smell God’s breath on her because He had breathed life into her not so long ago.

God’s Glory came running to me first to show me her “treasures”.  She had brought me her offering of big, beautiful leaves that had dried into the perfect china for a fairy tea party.  Her bright, blue eyes sparkled as she told me of her simple, little treasures. She couldn’t help but point people to the miracles of God created in nature because she can see every tiny one.

Wisdom’s middle image of God is a picture of who God is as Creator.

He ran up the hill in a stained, yellow t-shirt and blue jeans with something like chocolate on his cheek covering some of the freckles that spoke of fun days spent playing in the sun.

Creativity knows how to make something wonderful and fun out of nothing.  You can see his brain constantly clicking away as he problem solves. Creativity can create something totally new or take something old and broken and give it new life. Creativity can’t stop himself from creating.  It is just who he is and what he does. His life is an exciting adventure full of laughter.

The oldest bearer of God’s image is harder to get to know.

He stands off to the side happily letting the others shine.  He is that Still Small Voice of God.  Don’t get me wrong, he can be loud when he wants to be heard but most of the time, you have to work to get close to this one.  There is an effort involved, a searching, he is present but waiting for you.

He is so beautiful and interesting that he draws you to him.  It is as if there is something in you that NEEDS to hear him.  There is a wonder about him that is intriguing.  He truly wants to be known but it is your choice to be his friend or not.  He will not force a relationship on you.

Once you do accept the gift of his friendship, it is a glorious thing to watch his beautiful face light up when he knows you are starting to understand who he is and how much he wants to speak to you. This Still Small Voice loves his siblings Glory and Creativity.  He is usually watching their silly, cute antics from a distance waiting for those around to quiet down enough to notice him. This one is an enigma that few ever get the pleasure to know. Most people rarely take the time to find him and put the effort into hearing him.

These little ones wanted to share their piece of God’s Kingdom with me.  I was curious about this place where such miraculous creatures were growing.  They were so excited to show me all of the beauty of their paradise so we went over to see this wonderful place.

Now if you expected what we here on earth call a kingdom or paradise, you would be disappointed.  There was no gold or jewels or fine carriages or princesses in beautiful dresses. However, there was something even better and much more valuable, love and time well spent.  Genuine, unconditional love poured out on anyone who came near this piece of Heaven. Wisdom and the Fire of the Holy Spirit had created a wonderful place to grow God’s Glory, Creativity, and to hear God’s Still Small Voice.

The little images of God began to talk all at once, longing to show me all the things they love and treasure.  Creativity, who is the most boisterous of the bunch, showed me a little nativity he made from rocks and twigs and pieces of hay he had gathered.

The crowning piece was a tiny baby Jesus he had created and placed in a miniature manger. It was complete with a stable made from twigs, framed in to cover the pretend baby Jesus.

Truly simple yet wonderfully perfect.  It was a sweet replica of the nativity God had made over two thousand years ago. It wasn’t covered in gold and glamorous as we might see depicted today with lights and pomp and pageantry but a humble birthplace for God Himself who had come to earth to be the sacrifice for our sins.

Creativity was so proud to show me the pretend baby Jesus and explain about the manger he had created to lay the precious stick-baby.

I imagine that this tiny replica must be how it might have looked from Heaven when God sent His only Son to be born of a young virgin girl in a stable in Bethlehem, on a day much like this day and I’m sure God is just that excited for all His creation to know His Son.

We couldn’t linger here long because God’s Glory needed me to see the ornaments they had made and placed on a tree in the backyard for the birds.  The ornaments were made from cranberries and peanuts and cereal so the birds could feast on them. She garnered my attention to the miracles she was observing of how the birds came to eat and how the cranberries had shrunken in the sunshine. She saw the little miracles most us miss each day.

From there they brought me to see the pond God had made for this family to enjoy.  The oldest wanted to show me his tree that hung over the pond that he loved to climb.  Then the Light of the Glory of God showed me her tire swing while she spun around in circles leaving trails of light in her path like a sparkler on the 4th of July.

It was getting dark and I would have to leave all of the sweetness and laughter of this little family behind and head back to my ordinary house at the top of the hill.  God did not reveal Himself as I would have expected that day.

However, I would always treasure the day God came running up the hill to visit me and turned one winter day from ordinary to extraordinary through His people and His creation.

I think God wanted to remind me Christmas isn’t in store-bought gifts, technical devices, fancy meals, shopping, Christmas shows, Santa, elves, or even religion.

God made Christmas so simple.  On the first Christmas, God came in an unexpected way, in the form of baby in a dirty stable to a young girl and a carpenter. The Kingdom of Heaven came down not as we would have thought, nothing fancy.  But when we look closer we can see the miracle of the extraordinary in the ordinary.  His Glory, His Creativity, and His Still Small Voice beckoning us to know Him through a relationship with His Son, Jesus.

I pray you will slow down this Christmas season to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation and the way He shows Himself to us through His people, especially His littlest people.

We are after all created in God’s image, each of us are His masterpiece and has something to teach about the Creator.  Watch for Him this Christmas.  He might surprise you.

Have a blessed Christmas season and New Year.
Love,

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Shawna Novak