Marilyn's Mussings

Many years ago, a dear friend of mine sang a Christmas chorus while we were busy about a task. I had never heard the song but the simple chorus caught my attention and touched me deeply. Some time later, we moved and became a part of a church whose tradition it was for the entire congregation to hold hands across the isle and sing a chorus of benediction at the end of each service. It was there that the same Christmas song came into my life again. We sang it every Sunday from Thanksgiving to the New Year. For all the years we worshipped there, tears rolled down my face each time we sang the chorus. Oh how precious Christmas is to us as believers! Click here to hear the whole song. CHRISTMAS ISN’T CHRISTMAS (Chorus) by Jimmy and Carol Owens Christmas isn’t Christmas Till it happens in your heart. Somewhere deep inside you Is where Christmas really starts. So give your heart to Jesus, You’ll discover when you do That it’s Christmas, Really Christmas for you. I love that chorus and while

Have you ever watched someone with a baby? Oh, the faces, voices and sounds! The love that wells up in us for an innocent baby tends to make our response honest and vulnerable.  What then is our response to baby Jesus? God lovingly placed a star in the sky the night Jesus was born. Far away in the east, the Magi saw it.  Much of what they did involved the stars, so God put that star where they were looking. He meant for them to come. Scripture says they went straight to Jerusalem and asked where the baby was. It must have puzzled them that the religious leaders did not know about the birth of the new King. By now Jesus was no longer a newborn. The religious leaders knew the scripture but were unaware of the Savior.  With new information, the Magi headed to Bethlehem. As they began, that same star reappeared! They followed the star to the exact house in which Jesus lived. There, they bowed down and worshiped the Christ Child.  "Worship" in the ancient Orient, paints a picture

I love nativity sets. I love each artist's depiction of Mary and Joseph with hearts to follow God, and the sweet baby they both look at adoringly. As we gaze with them, we are acutely aware of what Mary and Joseph knew then, and what the world did not yet know. This baby was the Son of God, Immanuel, Jesus the Christ. There was no fanfare in the city of Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. Mary and Joseph slipped in so unnoticed that there was not even a place for them to stay. Our Savior's first bed was a manger. It was a non-event for the city. People went about their everyday routine interrupted only by the activities of the day.  The fanfare happened in a nearby field with shepherds and sheep. It was unexpected and sudden. The shepherds found themselves standing in the midst of great light - the glory of the Lord, the manifest presence of God Himself. An angel appeared with a message. It was good news, the best of news, news of great joy for all people. "For Unto you is

Have you ever thought that if God would just call you by name and tell you what to do, you would do it?  That’s what happened to Mary. She was a young, innocent teenage girl when God sent His angel Gabriel to her with a message. He called her name, eased her fear, and told her that God had chosen her to be the mother of the long awaited Messiah. She got important details. The pregnancy will be a work of the Holy Spirit. The baby will be the Son of God. His name will be Jesus. Mary's response was simple and full of peace. "I am God's servant. May it be as you have said." She got some personal information too. Her relative Elizabeth, who was way too old to have a baby, was six months pregnant. "Nothing is impossible with God." So Mary went to see Elizabeth. It was there, through Elizabeth, that God lovingly confirmed what He was doing in Mary. With the confirmation came more peace for Mary, so much so that it propelled her to song! God still speaks today. Not

Did you have plans? Then something unexpected happened? Joseph had plans. He was going to make Mary his wife and they would have a life like those around him. Yes, he was of the line of David, but so many others were as well. He surely had no idea how that detail would play into his future. And then he found out his anticipated bride was pregnant. In kindness he prepared to remove himself from her quietly, but before he could, an angel came to him in a dream and stopped him. The baby Mary carried was from the Holy Spirit. This was the sign Isaiah told us would come. Imagine the intimacy both Joseph and Mary felt when God revealed that long awaited sign to them personally. Oh, the hope that must have swelled in their hearts! And now that God-given hope would empower Joseph through the coming hurdles. With purposeful obedience amidst the hushed voices around him and the questions within him, he proceeded. He journeyed to Bethlehem with Mary, full term, and found there was no place to

Have you ever pondered exactly when Ruth became a believer? Naomi had two daughters-in-law. Scripture is clear that they both had a good relationship with Naomi. She was special to them in that she was the mother of their husbands. But upon the death of those men, they were forced to walk together through a tragedy like none other. The shared grief must have fostered a unique kind of closeness between the three women. When Naomi decided to go home to Bethlehem, she encouraged the two young women to go back to their own homes in Moab.  "May the Lord show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband." (Ruth 1:8b-9 NIV) Scripture says that she kissed them but they wept aloud as they protested. After some discussion, the one daughter-in-law, while weeping, kissed Naomi and left. She loved her and maybe it was hard, but she left all the same. Ruth stayed. Scripture says she clung to Nao

When Ruth said to Naomi, "Your people shall be my people," neither of them were thinking about where they would spend Thanksgiving or which traditions they would hold on to for Christmas. But those decisions have the potential to crumble mountains in some families. Decisions about the holidays may be the hardest "in-law" test for new couples and their parents. From what I have observed, the mothers-in-law that navigate holidays the best are those who had the most heartache as daughters-in-law. The difficulty they experienced seems to make them the most gracious to the new couple. Holidays are hard. My first thanksgiving with my husband's family was a bit of a shock. Everything was completely foreign to what I knew and I wanted to cry. Every couple's prior holiday experiences are different and both assume that what they came from is the right way. They will need time to adjust and figure out what their own holidays will look like. I came to appreciate the Joh

Entreat me not to leave you, Or to  turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people  shall be  my people, And your God, my God. Ruth 1:16 The many years of history you shared with your son have built the relationship you have with him now. The years were full of happy, caring and loving experiences, as well as hard experiences. You went through them together. You also had misunderstandings the two of you wrestled with and resolved. That combination fostered the strong, trusting relationship you both enjoy. You know his heart and he knows yours. Communication at this point in your lives is easy.  Your time with your son's wife is obviously quite a bit shorter and is at least in some part filtered through your son. As much as you may want it, your relationship with her will never be what she has experienced with her own mother. You just don't have that history. Still, your relationship with her has its own uniq

Autumn is peeking in my window and while the air is crisp and cool, my heart is warmed at the sight. The beautiful trees that have been slow to cooperate with the calendar show vibrant colors that contradict the loss of life within. It is the rhythm of the seasons and it reminds us that our sovereign God controls the universe.  There is a rest in Autumn unlike the other seasons. It is as if the activity of summer stops to regroup and shift gears, carving out a time of quiet that is full of expectation. The stores declare that Christmas is nudging its way in, but we refuse to listen. We need the sabbath of Autumn. The change in season doesn't last long but if we want it, Autumn offers a time of relative calm, and renewed perspective. The season itself prompts us to look outward, beyond ourselves, and forward to all that is coming. The sights and smells stir up the heart's memory and bend us toward thankfulness. One of the constants in our life, no matter how we have celebrated i