I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t go looking for it.  But He kept bringing the ideas to me. And kept confirming it through random conversations I would have….

~”The girls in this school really need women pouring into their lives.” one staff woman says to me.

~Out of twenty kids, when asked what their favorite Christmas song was, not one named a song that was actually about Christ.

~Moms in the neighborhood struggling to piece together Christmas gifts that are actually from them (instead of some toy give-away at the fire station.)

So two weeks ago, He brought it to mind again and I pulled a Moses. God was calling me to do something, and I had every excuse in the book.

“But, Lord, I’m not organized enough!”

“But Lord, I will just make a mess of it, because I am terrible at coordinating things!”

“But Lord, have you seen my overflowing email inbox? I will surely let details fall through the crack!”

“Normal people, organized people,  plan this stuff months in advance…and now how am I gonna pull this together last minute?”

But His Spirit kept at it, and a few people came alongside to help support me in it….So here we are…with the most disorganized-mom-on-the-planet coordinating 3 different Christmas events, all with six children in-tow.

And if this doesn’t flop it will truly be a Christmas miracle.

But the funny thing is….that when God calls you to do something, he doesn’t just send you along your way to hope for the best.

No. If it was His idea in the first place, then it will be His strength pulsing through you to accomplish it. And it will be His mighty hand coordinating all the details.  My only job is to be available for the next task on the to-do list…not my to-do list…but His.

Christmas itself reminds us that this God of the universe is really good at coordinating details and times and locations and having people show up at the right place at the right time.

So that Jesus may be welcomed.

Welcomed by a virgin. Welcomed by a confused fiancé.  Welcomed by filthy shepherds. Welcomed by wise men from afar. Welcomed in the City of David. All specific details prophesied about hundreds of years prior, linking historical events with His divine plan of redemption.

And if He is able to do that, then He can coordinate the details of these events…

events, not for the sake of “Christmas cheer” or “holiday events” or “a family service project”…

but events so that…

Jesus may be welcomed.

So would you join me in praying?  Praying that God would move to coordinate each specific detail…all the ones that I could never juggle in my own strength, with my own scattered brain?  Would you pray that those details will fall into place so Jesus may be welcomed.  In my heart. In my kid’s hearts. In the hearts of every person that will attend these events?

I believe that “knee labors” are the key for preparing the way for the Lord, making a straight path for Him (Mark 1:3) We spend time crying out to Him to move, to come, to visit us and those we come in contact with and then we find ourselves walking in a  way that He has already prepared.  If I remember correctly, organization is not the key, but rather repentance and neediness manifested in prayer, is the key in preparing the way for the Lord.

This Christmas season as we celebrate the way He was birthed in a stable, as Emmanuel, “God with us”, may we have the joy of celebrating Him being birthed into the lives and hearts of all those who attend these events…

that people would know He is still Emmanuel, “God with us”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**If you live in the Atlanta area and would like to help in some capacity: volunteering, buying craft supplies, donating items, etc. please leave a comment and I will get back to you….as long as it doesn’t get lost in my overflowing inbox 🙂