Loving Your Single Friends at Christmas

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Twinkling lights, our favorite carols sung by candlelight, delicious treats.

There can be so many fun and special traditions around the holidays, but they can also be painful, especially for singles. The year might have held a painful divorce, a tragic loss, or the crushed hope of a broken relationship. It might have included a move and a new job, taking them away from family and friends.

Whatever the case, there are single people around you who need a little extra loving at Christmas! Here are a few ideas:

  • Include them. Find out if the single people in your life have somewhere to go for Christmas, and consider adding an extra chair at the table for them. Christmas is such a family-centered holiday, which can make it especially lonely for those who can’t travel to be with loved ones. If you are serving overseas, make sure that you include your single teammates in your parties or family celebrations.

 

  • Send them a card. Your single friend might be hesitant to mail a picture of themselves at the holidays, but that doesn’t mean they won’t love filling their wall with cards and family pictures from others! Get their address and include them on your mailing list. For those living in another country, consider scanning your card and emailing it, or sending it extra early so it gets there in time!

 

  • Let them love on your kids. Let your single friends be an adopted auntie or grandma by inviting them to your kids’ Christmas programs, or plan a holiday movie party at your house. Kids can bring so much excitement to Christmas and it is a gift to let your single friend experience that with your family.

 

  • Consider giving them a small gift ahead of time so they can stick it under the tree. It doesn’t have to be big, but a little something to unwrap on Christmas day could mean the world to them!

 

No matter who we are or where we are, we need connection with others. Who in your life might need a little extra dose of hope this Christmas?

What are some practical ways you have found to include and love the singles in your life? Or, if you are single, what would you add to this list?

Photo by Sean Wells on Unsplash

Other Christmas Thoughts:

The Pain of Christmas

Surviving Christmas Overseas

 

That Time I Learned to Take a Vacation

My family didn’t really take vacations growing up, so it wasn’t a habit for me when I went to the field. My teammate and I pushed hard until we figured out we needed to create some better rhythms. It started out by taking Saturday mornings off of language study, instead sipping lattes in an air-conditioned coffee shop and talking to our families on good internet.

Several years in we realized that we needed to actually leave the country every once in awhile. Sure, we went back to the States for home assignment but those weeks were full of travels to visit supporters and fill every moment with precious family time (and important grocery shopping to pack those suitcases for the return trip!).

About two years ago, my teammate and I intentionally left Cambodia and flew to Bangkok. We stayed in a five-star hotel, the kind with a big bathtub and fancy breakfast.

I’m almost afraid to admit this out-loud. I want to give you all the justifications—it was a sweet discount on a booking site, during a hard season. We needed to be in the big city anyway to meet with doctors, and our usual guest house was full. We had to stay somewhere, right?

But honestly, it was glorious. We walked to Starbucks and people-watched, marveling at the way our names written in Thai on our cups matched the language we had grown to love. We walked through the large park nearby full of green grass and tall green trees, watched runners and walkers and weight lifters and cyclists. All things absent in our little rural Cambodian town.

After mornings drinking decaf coffee with a view of the city, sleeping in icy AC, and celebrating successful doctor’s appointments, I found myself echoing the words of David Tenant’s 10th Doctor: “I don’t want to go”. That’s a Doctor Who reference, in case you’re curious. I wanted to stay in the comfort, stay in the place where life-giving activities and amenities were easily accessible. Getting back on the plane was hard.

But that’s the thing with vacations. They should be refreshing and fun and lovely, and then they are done. They don’t last forever and that’s a good thing. We step away for a time, find space for our souls and our bodies to breathe. Then we step back into the fray, into the battle, into the ordinary.

I hear justifications related to periods away from our fields all the time. And rightly so, we all want to be good stewards of the caring financial support of our partners. The time is short and we want to do our very best for the people we have come to serve.

But we need a different model, and Jesus gave one to us. He got away. Mark 6:30-32 says, “The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.’ He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.”

Not every attempt for quiet was successful, and Jesus was full of compassion even when his alone time was interrupted. But I think in his humanity, in the need for sustenance, he gave us a pattern to follow.

Our souls are precious and they need to be fed and nourished. Introverted or extroverted, in a hot or cold climate, in a place you love or a place you dislike, we all need this space. We all need to experience rest, to find those places where we can do all the life-giving things and have fun and laugh and sleep.

We are better Kingdom workers because of it.

Vacation

Photo by Jessica Da Rosa on Unsplash

  • I’m joining in the discussion this week on Velvet Ashes for the theme of Vacation

When My Yes Impacts Others

Last year, I wrestled with the Lord over what He was calling me to do. It involved major changes, shifts to what I thought I would be doing for the long haul. The process was unlike any other move of obedience I’ve experienced. I had to open my heart to say yes to whatever He had for me, which meant letting go of dreams and watching doors close. Slowly He showed me the next step, and little by little, what He had next for me emerged out of the fog.

Saying yes meant a lot of goodbyes. It meant closing out a house, selling furniture, and even the end of some really sweet relationships. It meant that some things were left undone. Promises of my return, of what I hoped to accomplish next were not kept. This was difficult.

My yes to the Lord, my obedience to Him, in some ways meant suffering for others. They didn’t ask for this goodbye. They didn’t ask for the challenge of finding someone to take my place, for the holes that were left and the projects they had to take on themselves. Perhaps these changes were for the good as they had to watch the Father provide someone who was an even better fit, or trust Him for their own next steps as things shifted.

I’ve been in their place too. I’ve watched others in my life obey God with their whole heart, seeking to honor Him and glorify Him. Sometimes this has meant a painful goodbye or a change I wasn’t anticipating.

We take these steps of obedience as we keep up the lines of communication between the Father and ourselves, but we are not alone in this life. Our decisions, our actions, impact those around us. This is the joy of life in community, but it is also the messy, crazy and sometimes painful part.

How can we encourage each other when our yes or someone else’s yes impacts the relationships with those around us?

God is their God, their leader and director too. I can trust that even as I take a step of obedience, He will also show them their next step.

We can be open in our communication about how our decisions might impact someone else. We can listen well and ask questions to invite honesty. Inviting others into our grief or joy over what our obedience means, and sharing in their grief or joy, can be a sweet gift we give to each other.

Allow the Father to take care of the things we cannot. I don’t need to control or micromanage every aspect of change. I can take responsibility for my part and trust God to work in the ways I can’t.

We can remind each other, challenge each other to look through eyes of faith and expect God to move. When doors close and we walk through painful goodbyes it can feel like God is finished with us. We can feel overwhelmed by a sense of abandonment. But God is still at work, even when things feel dark and still. He is at work in the foggy, murky middle of transition and He is there when we come out on the other side. Sometimes we need that nudge from a friend when we can’t see His goodness for ourselves. We can be that voice of truth for each other in each step of obedience in this journey.

Impact of My Yes

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

The Pain of Christmas

We sang “What Child is This?” in church this morning and I started bawling. Now, it isn’t uncommon for the tears to flow but today this favorite carol brought on an ache as the memories flooded.

I’ve spent 4 of the last 5 Christmases in a foreign country, away from family and friends, carols in English and familiar traditions. There were no Christmas Eve services to attend, baking cookies was next to impossible with humidity and my tiny oven, and for most of the people around me it was just an ordinary day.

I had to fight especially hard for joy. I dreamed of snow and real Christmas trees, cozy sweaters and peppermint mochas. But most of all I longed for the laughter of my siblings as we stayed up talking on Christmas Eve, “Silent Night” by candlelight, playing games and trading memories with cousins and aunts and uncles, and the sweet sense of togetherness of time spent with family.

Loneliness was my constant companion in those years. There were special moments and new traditions, but this morning it was the painful parts I remembered. The sickness, the grief, the longing. Christmas carols have become a battle cry for hope, a declaration over the country I long to see understand the joy that has been made known but they haven’t accepted yet.

Maybe this year has been full of new adventures and delightful moments. Maybe it has held loss- of precious family, routines, a dream. Our hearts can hold both the beauty of the season and the pain of Christmas too. It’s okay to acknowledge this hurt, to run to our Savior, the light of the world. I’m over here weeping along with the carols, grieving as I remember and hanging tight to hope in the midst of it all.

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Happy Birthday, Kristin!

Today is my teammate Kristin’s birthday! I won’t tell you how old she is, but people are often surprised to learn she is older than me. 😉 Most of our birthdays the last five years have been spent trying to find air conditioning and a few treats to enjoy while far away from family in Cambodia. This year is different, but I thought I would post some favorite memories and blessings for this new year.

We’ve shared so many adventures over the last 5+ years! These have included exploring different countries:

Paris

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Every kind of creature you could imagine:

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And opportunities to fall in love with a new culture:

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We’ve squabbled and hurt each other’s feelings, worked through clunky conversations to fight for understanding, surprised each other with gifts, cried in sympathy and compassion, celebrated and cheered each other on. We’ve leaned hard on each other when there wasn’t any one else, praying like crazy and pushing back the darkness that pressed in heavy. There were probably days when we wanted to give up on life overseas and each other, but I’m grateful for the deep friendship forged and strengthened by the joys and sorrows and trials.

Happy birthday, Kristin! I’m grateful for you and the ways you challenge me, encourage me and help me learn more about who God created me to be while you dive into that discovery yourself. May you continue to know God’s tender care for you in the hidden places this year, as you are amazed at His sweet gifts and challenged by the leaps of faith He calls you to.

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The Gift of the Middle

The summer before my junior year of college (yikes, 12 years ago!), I traveled with a group to Ecuador for a summer study abroad experience. We were mostly based in Quito but spent almost every weekend visiting the coast, the jungle and exploring other parts of this beautiful country.

On one of our adventures, our group crowded into a little suspended cable car to take a ride over a valley. Halfway across as we enjoyed the gorgeous views, that little car stopped.

I am NOT a fan of heights and really have a very small heart pocket that thrives on adventure. Stepping into that cable car and leaving the safety of the canyon edge was pretty risky, and getting stuck part way across was not exactly my idea of fun.

I’ve been thinking an awful lot about transition lately. In many ways I have left the safe and predictable edge of life as I’ve known it the last few years. Most of my ministry commitments and relationships have paused or ended, leaving me with a blank slate and a lot of unknowns. But I haven’t gotten to the other side of the transition where I can put roots down again and establish routines, finding the stability that steadies my heart. I’m right there in the chaotic middle, and it can feel pretty scary.

I’m learning that this messy middle of transition can also be a gift. Even though I knew how to handle the stability I was leaving, it was also becoming unhealthy and I know that this change has been really good. I have no idea what is coming and yet I have been granted a season of rest. I don’t yet have new responsibilities and demands on my time. I can seek God’s heart for this season and the one to come, letting His peace reign right there in the middle. In His perfect timing, He will lead me to the other side and establish His purposes for me there. In this, I can rest content, safe, held.

That cable car in Ecuador eventually began moving again, but while we hung suspended over the valley, my fellow classmates and I were able to laugh about the situation and enjoy the view. While I’m here in the middle of the transition process, I can strive to do the same.

Middle cable car

Lesson from a Twisted Clump of Wires

I want the beautiful without the messy.

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Like this picture. Poofy, white clouds were building up over the palm trees and we were getting ready for a non-rainy season rain. Humidity was thick and the air desperate for just a little relief. I love this view, and I stood at our front door trying to imprint it all on to my memory.

I tried to capture this scene, but all I could see was the messy tangle of electrical wires and the sharp barbed wire and glass on top of our fence. They are reminders of some of the things that frustrate me the most and steal the beauty of the creation around me.

I’m getting ready to say goodbye for awhile to the place that has been my home for the last five years. Part of me wants to say, “So long and good riddance.” The last few months have been hard and it is easy to zoom in on the messy. Hot season has been in fully swing, dehydrating both my body and my soul. We’ve had some crazy electricity issues (remember all those clumps of wires?), and through different situations I have been reminded that human beings are far from perfect, myself unfortunately included.

Yet, just like our life, the messy and the beautiful come all together in one package. When I take a moment to look up, the tangled wires are still there, sure, but I don’t want to miss the brilliant colors of bright green against pure blue sky. I don’t want to miss the fact that even when we were trying to navigate how to fix our electricity at 7:00 pm, God sent a man we hadn’t met to be waiting outside our gate so he could make calls and explain complicated concepts outside our vocabulary bubble- and who knew those words in English too so he could help us feel more at ease. When my heart felt desperate and dejected this week, God breathed life again with a story of hope, a story of a part of our labor bearing fruit in souls transformed by our Father.

So I can’t separate these two, and together, they are a sweet gift, one that I will carry with me as I say goodbye, for now.

When You’re Ready to Call Off Valentine’s Day

Could we just cancel Valentine’s day this year? I’d like to propose a ban on heart-shaped candies, red roses and stuffed animals the size of a full-grown adult.

Okay, I admit that my heart is aching a bit this February as I think about the celebration of love. I try to ignore the longing in my heart when I see yet another friend with a sparkling engagement ring and remind myself that if God hasn’t answered my prayer for a husband yet, it probably isn’t going to happen (I mean, I live in the middle-of-no-where Asia). I head to the land of pessimistic reality where longing is a bad thing and dreaming is not for me.

There is kindness in the gaze of our heavenly Father for these moments when cynicism and bitterness fight to take over my single soul. There is tenderness in the way He opens my eyes to a love beyond anything I can comprehend, unlike any romance this world has to offer. He pulls me close in the hiddenness of intimacy with Him, speaking my name softly in the moments no one else sees.

I tend to think more like Martha, the older sister who was Jesus’ dear friend but knew how to organize a dinner and keep busy. I’m not like Mary, yet this is where He is drawing me. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. There was no rush in her encounters with Jesus, not like when I speed read through a passage and then ask for my marching orders for the day from my Heavenly Boss. I wonder what it was like to own something so precious as the oil that she poured out, to willingly lavish it as a symbol of her love. My love is not like Mary’s, but Jesus praised her.

So maybe when I’m done throwing a pity party, I can think past the love that is missing to the love I can give. Mary knew a love that spilled over just as Jesus’ love for her poured in to all the cracks and dry corners of her heart. He wants the very same for me, for us. The longing and dreams in my heart can be molded and shaped by Him and that precious gift can be my offering at His feet, my offering to the world.

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Top 5 Books of 2017

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I’ve had grand plans to write this post for about 3 weeks now, and I’m sure you are dying to know about my favorite books from 2017! I cannot disappoint you faithful blog readers, so even though we are already 21 days into the new year, here’s my top 5 list, in no particular order.

Beautiful Battle: A Woman’s Guide to Spiritual Warfare by Mary DeMuth

This is by far the best book on spiritual warfare I’ve read- and it’s not just for women. The author is balanced, hopeful and centers the whole discussion around Scripture. Instead of ending feeling intimidated or afraid, I was encouraged.

Favorite quote: “Spiritual warfare has more to do with the state of your heart before a holy God than a list of things to do or avoid. It involves interaction, sometimes confusion, falling down, getting back up. It involves your willingness to look foolish, to take crazy steps, to trust God’s voice. While there are principles to know and practice, it’s your ability to trust in God’s power and authority that will bring about the victorious life”.

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile

This book introduced me to the Enneagram, a diagram that helps understand our motivations, fears and how this impacts relationships- basically why we do what we do. It is one of my favorite tools for learning more about how God created me (and you), and this book was a great basic overview. I’m a type 6, in case you are curious.

Favorite quote: “May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique, that you have a special destiny here, that behind the facade of your life there is something beautiful and eternal happening. May you learn to see your self with the same delight, pride, and expectation with which God sees in you every moment.”

A Million Little Ways: Uncovering the Art You Were Made to Live by Emily P. Freeman

I love the poetic way Emily Freeman tells her stories, the hope she inspires in me and her honest vulnerability. This book isn’t so much about art, but finding the ways God has gifted and filled us, and learning how to offer that to the world in a way that nourishes our souls and the souls of others.

Favorite quote: “Cashiers and cellists are capable of making art because they both have the power to influence, to be fully awake to their Maker, and fully aware of his making of them. I can’t imagine anything more dangerous to the enemy of our hearts than people who know who they are.”

Dust Bowl Girls: The Inspiring Story of The Team That Barnstormed Its Way to Basketball Glory by Lydia Reeder

It was fun reading about some of the first women’s basketball teams, the stereotypes they had to deal with the how this underdog team from Oklahoma Presbyterian College ended up winning the national championship at the height of the Great Depression.

Favorite part: learning how the coach, Sam Babb, was able to provide scholarships for these girls to not only go to college when their families wouldn’t have been able to send them, but also continue their basketball careers.

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I’m slowly collecting the books in the Little House on the Prairie series and revisiting these favorites from my childhood. I read this one during the Cambodian cold snap right before Christmas and loved it (way more than I did as kid. This wasn’t my favorite back then).

Favorite part: the creative ways the people in De Smet, South Dakota stretched resources and helped each other out to survive the winter of constant blizzards.

A few more honorable mentions:

Katharina and Martin Luther: The Radical Marriage of a Runaway Nun and a Renegade Monk by Michelle DeRusha

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud and John Townsend

Looking for Lovely: Collecting the Moments that Matter by Annie F. Downs

What was your favorite book in 2017?

The Story Isn’t Finished

I’m not sure I have the best track record when it comes to perseverance. Speaking of track, I could never run the whole mile at our homeschool track and field day. I studied violin in high school but never actually learned to read music and haven’t played much since my last lesson before heading off to college. I have attended graduate school but will probably never get my doctorate, I studied ballet for a whole 16 weeks, split between when I was 10 and my senior year of college.

My organization has audacious goals and big faith to see God work in the hard places around the world. I get to hear stories of those pushes of the Spirit to birth disciples and churches and movements. They give me goose bumps and fill up my hope tank. But I live in a difficult place. Nothing is happening yet. I feel like I try and fail, give up, beg God to send me home or give me an out so it doesn’t look to the whole world like I have been unsuccessful. Perseverance is hard.

One thing I realized recently though, is that all those amazing stories started somewhere in darkness. The beginning was messy and uncertain, and the middle was long. I get to hear the end, the summary, and I can marvel and praise my Heavenly Father. But the story was pushed forward with perseverance, with seasons of joy and hardship. In those moments before the breakthrough came, I’m sure there was hesitation and despair. Or boredom. Or disappointment.

On an ordinary night near Bethlehem, a bunch of shepherds were going about their business. I don’t know what they were waiting for, if they were happy in their work or longing for more, looking for a way out or a better life. Maybe they were sad or just tired.

But then God showed up. He came in bright lights and angels singing, His glory brought forth in the most amazing proclamation. And He came as a little baby in a manger, when no one on earth could have known all that was still to come. The wait for the Savior spanned centuries, and the story wasn’t even finished yet. Yet everything changed because God moved and He moved in to the space that felt heavy with a reminder to never give up. The story wasn’t just about those breakthrough moments. It was about the waiting, the preparation, the darkness before He came.

My story, the story of the place I live now, isn’t finished, praise Jesus. Someday, and oh I hope it is soon, the light will break through and the unfolding account of glory and transformation will be told. Do I have to wait to share until it’s all over? Can I reveal the story right where it is now, unfinished and broken and beautiful?

I hope we can do that, all of us together in the beginning and middle and end of the stories God is writing in our lives. I think it will help us to persevere as we hear the stories that are ongoing, the glimmers of hope that shine because God is faithful in the darkness too and we can trust that He will show up. The story isn’t finished yet.

Story Isn't Finished