Merry Christmas

Christmas holds as many meanings as the stars that our eyes see

To some it's snowmen and gingerbread houses

To others it's icicles and garland wrapped around a Christmas tree

Down south, where I'm from, it's sunny days with just a hint of cold air

Ham, turkey, and barbecue are but a few of the foods there

Are deviled eggs and crab legs, fried chicken, roasted duck, and cane burgers too

We always have cakes, pies, and cookies

But Christmas isn't just about the food

It's card games, bounce houses, and football games shared with family members

from destinations far and wide

It's a hundred or so people on my uncle's front lawn

plus his neighbors wishing we would be quiet

We take so many pictures

1st the kids, then the cousins, and the grands

We all huddle up around each other

cracking jokes until we can barely stand

Around about this time, the DJ begins to spin

Name that tune is a popular game on Christmas

because of the money you win

The dance contest is also always a trip

My aunt Tina does the two-step with her daughters

and occasionally the dip

She usually spends a lot of time dancing throughout the day

Her moves and the smile she greets each person with

adds a certain warmth to the day

But I tell you even these things are not what completes Christmas for me

Besides this year I'm miles away

and I didn't even buy a tree

But I did spend time remembering all the years past

Waking up to Cookie's homemade breakfast

or sitting around with my sister's having a blast

I thought about my grandparents Evora, Ellease, Sarah, Pop and Mr. Boy

But most of all I thought about Jesus

for He is our Joy

He is the reason for each memory that I've shared with you today

Because without Him I wouldn't be here

And that's all I have time to say

Adayinthelife:-)

Rejoice! A Child is Born... BUT No Men Are Allowed

Over the years, I have gone to my fair share of baby showers. Each of them had lots of gifts, food, games and of course women. Female family and friends gathered to celebrate a child being born. We talked, laughed, and had a good time. At the end of each of these events, someone looked at the number of gifts received and declared the event was a success. We had, in our estimation, done all that needed to be done to prepare for the child that was to be born.

What is really interesting is the missing ingredient in all of these celebrations was the same. We had all of the trappings of a good baby shower, but we were missing out on a few wise men.

The original wise men are described as a group of men who travelled to Bethlehem from the far east. They were not summoned to Bethlehem by a paper invitation or card greeting. These men were moved by the spirit of God to go to celebrate the birth of the Messiah.

Matthew 2:11 (NLT) says,

They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The wise men gave us so much to consider when a child is born, but it seems we have forgotten everything except the giving of gifts. We declare that baby showers are for gifts and have serious attitudes with any guest who arrives without one. We forget that the child being born is the actual gift.

The wise men arrived to celebrate the birth of Jesus and to worship Him. Their purpose for traveling was not to give gifts but to be in the presence of God's gift.

We also say things like "baby showers are for women. What would a man do at a baby shower?" This line of thought is out of order. As followers of Christ, His life is our example. His story included the gathering of men to celebrate His birth. How then can Christian families exclude men from a child being born?

Adayinthelife:-)

Accept Me As I Am

Romans 14:1 NIV

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.

One of the most memorable scenes from the movie New Jack City is the moment where Nino pulls a gun on Gee Money. With tears in his eyes, Gee Money asks him repeatedly "Am I my brother's keeper?" Nino responds "yes I am" just as he shoots the man that had once been bonded to him like a brother. Nino killed his brother because he couldn't accept his betrayal. He could not accept that Gee Money had failed to live up to his expectations. Killing him was Nino's way of saying I reject you. I cannot live with you as you are.

Many of us cried for Gee Money because it was a pivotal point in the movie. How many of us realized that scene was simply a Hollywood depiction of the bible story of Cain and Abel? Cain's jealousy and rejection of his brother is one of history's first recordings of betrayal. It is one of the first examples of what happens when we cannot accept people for who they are. Cain could not accept the good that was in his brother.

Genesis 4:6-7 NIV

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Cain was angry. Nino was disappointed. The result was the same. A life was lost because feelings dictated actions. Feelings got in the way of understanding. Feelings got in the way of accepting the triumphs and the failures of a person that God said love.

We cannot accept anyone without first loving them. I don't mean this love that the world is accustomed to that is based on deeds and feelings. I mean the love that God gives freely. The love that comes from being spiritually in tune with the ways and the will of God. The love that begins when we open ourselves to God and accept Him as He is. For accepting God is step one on the path to accepting others.

Adayinthelife:-)

Cleaning House

Matthew 23:25-26 NIV

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

When I was in high school, my father demanded that our house remain clean at all times. We dusted, vacuumed, and mopped so much you could eat off the floor.  It was so extreme that we had plastic runners on the floor protecting parts of the carpet. All visitors were instructed to only walk on the areas that were covered.

I was trained to keep daddy's house clean come what may. At first, my friends balked at me for yelling at them about not walking on the floor or sitting on the bed. It didn't matter though. I knew Herbert Lee didn't play. He expected the house to be spotless so I did what I had to to keep it that way.

I didn't realize then that my natural father and my spiritual father had the same thoughts about how to keep a house. My dad wanted me to keep his house clean just like my Father wanted me to keep His house, my body, clean.

Sadly I did not. I allowed the house my Father gave me to live in to accumulate dirt while I meticulously attended to the house my dad chose for us to live in. I scrubbed and cleaned. Dusted and vacuumed. Not once did I open the windows of my Father's house. Not once did I air out the dirt that I was pushing around from one room to the next.

My daddy's house always looked clean because my Father's house, my body, was the dirt warehouse. All of the grime resided on the inside of me. And though I spent all of those years cleaning up the dirt in my daddy's house, I hadn't bothered to lift a finger to clean my Father's. I hadn't bothered to remain faithful to God.


I used my mouth to curse, to gossip, and to lie. I prayed, but my thoughts were so divided between my wants and God's desires. I used my daddy's house to pollute my Father's temple. I stayed up late reading romance novels or watching R rated movies because they contained sex, but scarcely would my eyes connect with the bible. But there I was, polishing furniture until it shined. So proud that I'd made my dad happy and kept the house clean. My dad was beaming and my Father was weeping because I understood the principle, but missed the real lesson about cleaning house.


1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

Adayinthelife:-)

He Has Made Me Glad

Psalm 100:4 reads:

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

This verse was used in one of my favorite songs This Is The Day. The lyrics are:

"I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart;
I will enter His courts with praise.
I will say this is the day that the Lord has made.
I will rejoice for He has made me glad."

Within these lyrics we find the words thanksgiving, praise, and glad. I point them out for their significance.

The first line says I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart. In this verse we see action. We are walking into the gates of heaven to meet God with thanksgiving in our hearts. This means that thanks must continuously be present. The bible tells us in Matthew 24:36 NIV

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Because we don't know the moment that God will call, each one of our moments must reflect sincere thanks to God. The second line, I will enter his courts with praise echoes the first.  Psalms 34:1 KJV says

I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Continually looks like 24 hours a day 365 days a year of praises being sent up to God.

Let's look at the last two lines of the song, "I will say this is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice for He has made me glad." The bible tells us in

Psalms 92:4 NIV

For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord ; I sing for joy at what your hands have done.

Our rejoicing and gladness is due to the amazing works of God, His allowing us to live, His providing for our needs, and His being gracious and merciful enough to have made provision for us to spend eternity in His presence. We should begin each day with the declaration thank You Lord for waking me and live each day honoring the gift. My takeaway point is simply if you are faced with a moment of sadness say to yourself I will rejoice for with His holy hands God chose to make me.

Adayinthelife:-)