Picked up a random poetry book From the crowded shelf. Quick easy hour read: Delight and wonder. Then, Found…
Finding My Way Home Part One
My church’s Advent theme this year is “Coming Home to Christmas.”
I cannot help but think of the Little House on the Prairie television episode, “Blizzard”. Sisters Mary, Laura, and Carrie are sent home early from school when snow starts falling. Before too long, the girls are lost in a blizzard and must help each other find their way home (NBC).
They end up finding an old shed. Mary the oldest, has a match and a candle in her lunch pail. Their pa eventually sees their fire and takes them out of the storm to the warmth and shelter of the schoolhouse where their mother waited for them (NBC).
I remember one night when a dense fog impaired my vision driving home. Alone and scared, I prayed out loud for God to lead me away from the fog. My prayer became a chant, “Please God, please God, please God,” and I steered my way through that curtain of darkness surrounding me with no way out. I could not see the road, nor the ditch that I knew trailed alongside. The night seemed to last a decade all in a few moments. When the fog broke and I finally saw the lights along the street and the stars above, I looked up to the heavens filled with gratitude. I made it home safely that night and knew that it was by God’s intervention that I was able to drive through total blindness to find the safety of home.
Throughout the weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas, I am reminded about finding my way home, not just literally as on that foggy night, but my way home to the promise of that stable where one little boy was born to save us all. In John 8:12, Jesus tell his Disciples, “‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,’” (Bible Gateway).This means that for many of us struggling day to day to make a basic living, scrambling to pay the bills and provide for our children, and trying to make committed relationships meaningful and lasting, we just need to acknowledge God’s presence in our life. He is walking along side of us, whether we acknowledge his presence in our life or not, and yet, many of us have let ourselves be so distracted by technology and short-term fixes to long-term problems that we are unable to feel God’s constant companionship. He may not be able to always lead us away from danger, but He is always there doing what He can to lead us in the right direction if we only listen to His guidance by the signs He provides for us.
The Christmas season reminds me each December that God loves us so much that He brought his son Jesus into the world to save us. Unfortunately, after the tree and decorations are put away, God’s gift to us is easy to forget. I for one find it way too easy to pick up my phone and check out my social media apps rather than allow myself quiet time to let God into my thoughts, let alone acknowledge His blessings every day.
Ed Cyzewski from patheos.com says, “Just as technology and consumer culture thrive on being the simple, almost too easy choice, we also need to make space for our spiritual practices so that they become our default at key times each day.”
Making time to acknowledge God who walks beside us, supporting and loving us all of the time, is how we truly come home.
Read more about my faith journey in my novel, Married to an Atheist A Love Story from Idaho, available on amazon.com.
References:
“Blizzard.” Little House on the Prairie Season 3. Written by Blanche Hanalis, based on books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, directed by William F. Claxton, NBC, 1976.
Cyzewakil, Ed. “Facing the 3 Types of Distractions from Prayer”. Patheos, This Kind of Contemplative Life, 27 April 2019. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thiskindacontemplativelife/2019/04/facing-the-3-types-of-distractions-from-prayer/.
Nicely said. I loved your book & promote it as often as I can. It is so raw, honest & loving. I couldn’t put it down. It is a book that any relationship no matter how long you have been in it can benefit.
Thank you Delsa! I greatly appreciate your help promoting my book and that you are one of my avid readers!