In December, “Seasonings with Sarah” was about “Game Changers” - and ironically, not long after that- boy, did our Christmas change! December 23 we enjoyed bell ringing for Salvation Army with our family and some close friends followed by a fun dinner to celebrate, only to be interrupted by a sick daughter half way through dinner! This meant a whole different game plan for Christmas this year. Interestingly, my scrabble tile (read the blog if you weren’t there) was a letter “R” which I immediately determined meant: “Ready”.

Little did I know it would involve being “ready” for the onslaught of sickness in the house for Christmas and all that entailed. But, had I not been “ready” with the gifts wrapped, preparations for travel made, laundry finished- I might not have been able to completely dote on my daughter. And I savored the wee hours in her room, even though it was watching over her poor little sick body.

The unexpected sickness resulted in the “Recalibrated Christmas of 2011.” Instead of Christmas Eve church and dinner at my inlaws, our would-be dinner was delivered to our house. Instead of church, I directed the car to the nearest Walgreens for medications, liquids of all forms and additional kleenex! Hubby took 2 kids to church, while 2 of us stayed home. Our Christmas morning dawned with illness still on the horizon, so we aborted our plans to travel 6 hours by car to WI, thereby sacrificing the cherished “Moran Family Christmas.”

So, with no food in the house, no relatives to join due to our potential contagion, and no “plans”, we had to continue to recalibrate! Despite the sadness, once Mom and Dad made the final, behind closed doors, decision to stay home, everyone was “all in” for our new Christmas adventure.

It turns out, staying home together in MN was a true Christmas blessing. Brothers and sisters showed tenderness and encouragement. Neighbors lent groceries to provide for our recalculated freezer Christmas meal (homemade pizza from frozen dough) Kids rallied to watch the required minimum 1/2 hour of “A Christmas Story” to make their crazy Dad happy. Everyone savored jammie time and new gifts as opposed to jumping in the car for a long trip. And when the light of day finally dawned for our sick one, we experienced an apparently popular tradition (as evidenced by sold out shows and throngs of people!) of seeing a movie Christmas day.

In the end, nothing mattered except that we were all in it together! And perhaps my little scrabble tile had multiple meanings – from Ready to Recalibrate. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gifts, whatever form they come in!

And we are especially thankful for the gift of our Savior. No matter where we are.

The following is an excerpt of today’s live presentation of “Seasonings with Sarah” held at Dunn Bros Coffee in Eden Prairie. Please join us on the THIRD WEDNESDAYS of the month in 2012 at 9:30 a.m.

The last blog, gave 3 reasons Christmas was a game-changing event of epic proportions. We promised to tell you how you could become a game-changer because of Christmas.

Today’s blog is based on the Christmas story as told in Luke 1-2, and Matthew 1-2 (read it!). In these pages of scripture we learn about 3 Game Changing contributions made by three players in the Christmas story who show us how it’s done.

Game changing contribution #1: Encourage

In Luke 1:39-45 we hear about how Elizabeth affirms and encourages Mary. Mary has become pregnant through the Holy Spirit while betrothed to Joseph. Mary is distraught, but trusts God for her future. She leaves her home town and heads to the hill country of Judea to see her relative Elizabeth who is also pregnant (in her old age). The two have an instant bond when Mary arrives, but the real game changer is when Elizabeth affirms Mary. She says to her, “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.” Luke 1:45

These two relatives were both pregnant in very unlikely circumstances that would produce lots of gossip and criticism in their social circles. But Elizabeth changes everything for Mary because she validates Mary’s experience and lets her know that she is blessed for believing God – not crazy like some might have said!

What experience have you had that you could share with someone to encourage them?

Game-changing contribution #2: Testify

As told in Luke 2:8-18, the Shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks at night when a Heavenly Host of Angels appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them…telling them to go and see the King who would be born in Bethlehem. Not only were they compelled to go to Jerusalem to see for themselves, but “when they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed…” Luke 2:17-18

I’m sure that the other shepherds might have experienced distrust, wonder, doubt, even jealousy upon hearing this account. But that didn’t stop the Shepherds from trusting God, praising Him and testifying to the wonder of all they’d seen and heard.

What has God done, big or small, that you need to tell others about?

Game Changing Contribution #3: Sacrifice

It turns out that the quaint manger scenes adorning our homes, replete with Wise Men aren’t necessarily accurate. Actually the Wise Men, or Magi, would have traveled for some time, over thousands of miles coming from the East to Jerusalem. (Matthew 2:1-12) When they arrived Jesus was thought to be one or two years old, living in a house with Mary and Joseph. The Wise men sacrificed much more than their gifts of wealth in the form of gold, incense and myrrh. They first traveled great distance, leaving family and homes. Then they faced Herod, who pretended to have noble intentions when it came to Jesus, asking the Magi to be sure to notify him of Jesus’ whereabouts, when Herod actually wanted to have Jesus killed. Following their gift giving, they sacrificed safety and security, because “having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”

The Magi could have told Herod where Jesus was, but instead, they risked their lives by not reporting back to him and heading back to their countries, (no doubt looking over their shoulders the whole time) by an entirely different route!

Is God asking you to sacrifice by taking a detour, giving of your time, or relinquishing some of your wealth or possessions?

Don’t let another December 25th go by without recognizing YOUR part in the game-changing event of Christmas. Will you become a game changer?

This Christmas, I’m compelled to look at the Christmas story differently. I mean there has to be more to it all than a quaint little family in a stable with animals adorning the hay, doesn’t there?

Even if you’re not a sports fan you can understand the concept of game changing events, people, or actions. With just 6 days till Christmas, we know many things have the potential to be game-changers for our Christmas plans.

Snowstorms, stomach flu, forgotten ingredients, last minute gift requests, family politics. We’ve all been affected by one game-changer or another at Christmas.

But Christmas itself was a “game-changer” of epic proportions. Here are 3 reasons why:

Reason #1:
God made good on his promise.

The Messiah had been promised for thousands of years. And after all those years of waiting for the Messiah…he had come to Earth.

God as man.

Savior of the World.

The game changing event of all time. Think of all those people who “by faith” had been doing the will of God with just the promise of a Messiah. And now, there would be no more wondering.

He was here. At last.

Reason #2:
The Savior changed the game for all of us.

Jesus came to Earth as a man, so we could finally have the chance to be made right with him, for eternity! But he ministered among us, changing perceptions of “religion”, teaching the gospel as opposed to just Law, speaking truth, healing body and spirit, walking on water, feeding thousands – literally and figuratively, preaching to the few, and the many.

Changing lives, one sinner at a time.

Demonstrating love, not just talking about it.

Pretty game-changing, I’d say.

Reason #3:
Christmas creates opportunity for us to be “game-changers” too.

Why did God bring us Christmas?

So we would be CHANGED. So we could experience saving grace. And as a result step out accordingly in faith.

God wants us to shine His light to others. Especially at Christmas.

And lucky for you, we’re going to tell you exactly how in our next post!
Stay tuned…

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In case you’re wondering where I’ve been…I was quite busy soaking up 6 days up North over Thanksgiving. Thankful!

So I opened my site today and saw it had been a long time since I posted. Ahhh! I hope you missed me. Some days you do wonder if the salt is even salty anymore and if anyone is really on the other side of that computer? And then I saw 0 in the blog page views in my handy (not always!) counter screen…and my heart fell.

I know I write for God’s approval, not anyone else’s. But I still want to be SALTY at every opportunity, and my goal is to build up the community of believers. Maybe you want to join me in that endeavor?

Here’s four ways you can clean off your shaker and spread some salt this Christmas:

1. Step outside your comfort zone.
It is easy to fill our month of December with all familiar friends and traditions. But how about inviting someone new to that cookie exchange? Or asking the family or person on your street if they have plans for church this Christmas? Or making time after church to visit with someone new? When we take time to be others focused we can be the blessing someone really needs.

2. Bake the standard. And then change it up.
Do you have a Christmas tradition that involves baking or cooking some special family recipe? If you’re like me, your recipient list is long, and filled with expectant past beneficiaries. How about adding some new folks to the list this December? We make fudge as a family, and many years we fill our mugs with hot cider, load up our basket with fresh fudge and drive around to see Christmas lights and deliver to whoever is lucky enough to be home that night. We might start with a list of familiars, but the Holy Spirit is ultimately our guide as we make unexpected stops along the way. Once we stopped and rang someone’s bell to deliver fudge because we really appreciated their light display year after year. No. We didn’t know them!

3. Serve somewhere new and challenging
Last year we had a hard time deciding where to serve as a family during December. In the end, we were scampering to find somewhere at the last minute. We ended up bell ringing at the Salvation Army…there’s always openings and you only need 24 hrs to sign up! We stretched ourselves as we hadn’t done it before and we were so blessed by our time.

4. Give something of value to someone else
Maybe a friend just needs an hour of deep conversation where you are fully present (I know we’re all busy!) Or maybe you got that holiday bonus and you could give a 10% tithe to someone in need. If the closet needs cleaning, why not donate all those extra pillows, blankets, gloves, mittens or jackets to somewhere like PROP? (People Reaching out to Other People) If you have to think twice about giving it away, whether it’s time, money or possessions, you can bet it’s going to be salty if you do!

Hey, and while you’re being salty this Christmas, why not stop by our facebook page and tell us how you’re doing? Or leave us a comment here!

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Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. And as I reflect on the year spent writing and speaking in churches, the coffee shop and everywhere in between, I wanted to say thank you to those of you who faithfully support Salt and clay ministries.

Your prayers, encouragement and attendance spur us on all year long. Not to mention how inspiring it is to look into your eyes and see God’s love, to share your joys and sorrows, and witness your wholehearted seeking of truth in Him. Sharing in your lives confirms our passion and desire to serve God with all our hearts.

The celebration of our Savior’s birth is just days away, and my heartfelt prayer for you and your beloved is that you make room in your hearts, minds and homes for His arrival. Whatever you need to do, however you need to find “room in your Inn”… there’s still time.

Maybe you are wondering how this babe born in a manger could mend your broken life. Could this person called Jesus be the answer? I can tell you if you’re ready to make room in the inn of your heart for him to come in, he’s just waiting at the door. You will find him willing and able to forgive your sins and redeem your soul. May you seek him now as the greatest Christmas gift you will ever receive. He’s ready to lead your life.

Or perhaps you know Jesus, but feel far from him in this space and time for one reason or another. May you find a renewed heart and allow him to reveal the barriers between you now, so you can let him back in to your life afresh this Christmas. Don’t leave him out in the cold. Make a place for Him in your Inn.

Don’t let Christmas come and go without cherishing the gift He brings on Christmas day -true life in Jesus.

Christmas Blessings to you and yours.

With love and gratitude in the one whose name saves us,
Salty Sarah

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