If anyone knows me for even a fraction of a millisecond, they will know that I have a deep, unending love for Christmas. I’m sure it stems from my childhood. Coming from a family that didn’t have a plethora of material things growing up, Christmastime was the one day I could open presents! Not just one present, either. Many times I got three to five presents all in the same day! Consider my mind blown.
As a kid, I couldn’t help curb my longing for Christmas to arrive. It was like Christmas was calling on a private phone line to my soul, beckoning me to come, and the sooner the better.
I’m not admitting to this, but I may have started my Christmas paper ring countdown 100 days out.
Now, for any of you that hold this same tradition, you know cutting 100 strips of paper, taping them together and then finding a place to hang your amazing Christmas countdown garland is a challenge—but not insurmountable for me. Nothing made me more excited than that big day.
It wasn’t just the presents, though, it was everything about the season that I loved. The lights that twinkled and glowed on each home late at night, dangling in the bitter breeze of winter as if to say “there is hope” and “spring is coming.” Then there are the Christmas songs.
Does anyone else find Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby some of the best, most relaxing artists
of all time? If my heart could smile, it would beam ear to ear when White Christmas plays on Spotify. Throw Harry Connick Jr. and Michael Buble in there and you’ve got enough classical Christmas hits to last you months—not to mention their voices feel like melted butter on a hot piece of sourdough bread freshly baked in the oven. And who doesn’t love tossing in a little Justin Bieber on their playlists here and there?
Speaking of Christmas, do you remember making a Christmas list? You know that time in October or November when you could write down a list of all the things you were hoping to receive for Christmas? It was almost like a magical piece of paper, where no request seemed too big. The sky was the limit. No boundaries. One requirement: just dream.
As a kid, puppies and ponies were frequently found on my list. Every year that list changed. As I grew older, I had different desires in my heart; my priorities and needs changed, but that list was a place of hope that maybe, just maybe, this would be the year that I received those gifts—no matter how big or outlandish the request. It was my opportunity to dream big.
As a kid, and even a teenager, it was easy and exciting to make that list. But as an adult, a Christmas list didn’t seem all that important anymore. Be real, when’s the last time you made a Christmas list? We’ve got bills to pay, problems to solve, and too much stress to take time to think about our wants and desires. Even when we do have time to make a list, we know something is terribly wrong when towels and washcloths make it as our number one request.
Those thoughts of the impossible that we once relished as children, gone. And many times, they are replaced with doubts and determination to live within our means, and within reason.
But it doesn’t stop there. We begin to believe that what we see with our eyes is our lot in life, and we bring that same attitude into our walk with God. Now don’t get me wrong, contentment is a beautiful thing, but that’s not what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about how we often lose that childlike faith in our Father by simply accepting our norm. I believe that this blog post is going to serve as a catalyst for divine reversal in your thinking.
God wants to shift the way you’ve been doing things, to grab ahold of you, sit you down, transport you back in time, and rekindle that desire for the impossible. Oh, and your Father, He’s asking for a list.
You see, I believe God takes into consideration the desires of our heart. God says in His word,
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” The key to this verse is to first delight in God. Delight means to have “a high degree of pleasure, enjoyment; joy; rapture (Psalms 37:4)."
Delighting is like taking a bite of your favorite ice cream sundae. Let’s just say this sundae is gluten-free, carb-free, fat-free, calorie-free and vegan, but with all the real flavor. Let’s go a step further and say if you eat this sundae, you will actually lose weight instead of gaining it! A dream comes true! Vanilla ice cream, warm brownie, peanut butter cups and cookie dough all in one blissfully blessed spoonful. Now take a bite and just savor it. Now multiply that by 100 and maybe it will scratch the surface of delighting in God.
It’s not a chore. It’s not a duty. It’s what you love to do and Who you love to be with. It’s the joy of your heart. In food terms, it’s what you drool over! With delight in place, God then puts desires in your heart. Things you long for. Hopes and dreams. Have you ever thought that God placed those specific dreams and desires in your heart for a purpose? But how good are they if you never ask Him for it? Is a Christmas list of any value if you never make it?
Think about it in the context of your family. Step one for my kids is expressing what they want or need from me on the Christmas list. The worst is when they say, “I don’t care what you get me, Mom” or “I don’t know what I want.” Okay, so that’s never really happened with my kids, but if it did I would know my kids well enough to be able to get them something that would bless their hearts. How much better is it when you know exactly what your kids are wanting?
They make it clear and they write it down. Sometimes they even list it in level of importance, how great is that? Now, in the end it’s up to me and my husband to decide what’s best for them in this season, but at this point they just need to do the work of making that list.
In the same way, each season, every year, God is asking us to make a miraculous, faith-filled list. Except in this instance it’s not a Christmas list, it’s a God list.
It’s a List of what’s in your heart. It’s a list of the impossible and insurmountable things that, if there were no limits, you would like to see God do in and through your life. Make a list of your hopes and your dreams.
Make a list of your wants and desires. Make a list of things that have to do with God, label it as spiritual, then make a list of the things that are so far out there you aren’t even sure if God cares about them!
God’s not asking for us to determine what He will or won’t do for us. All He is asking us to do is take the first step, have faith in a good Father and simply ask.
In all honesty, I think we need that list more than He does. As we present our list before Him, He will decide, as our Father, what’s best for us in this season of our lives.
"You, my friend, are marked for miracles. May God restore your childlike faith in Him. It's time to make your list."
Photo Credit: cottonbro
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