by Alaina | Nov 29, 2020 | Sunday Scripture
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV
The leaves have all fallen here in Pennsylvania. The reds and oranges that burnt bright against the blue sky are now turning brown on the ground. The bright colors that blazed bright on the hillsides have now vanished and we have brown and gray where we once had yellows and reds.
I love fall but after fall comes winter. Don’t get me wrong, I like winter too, but it can be rather gray….especially when it is dragging on into March! The other thing about winter here, is that it is cold. I know it gets colder elsewhere but really who want to go for a walk or run outside when it is twenty degrees?!
I want to be out doing things, working various projects, and enjoying the sunshine- but winter is not a season to be outside working. Instead it is a season to rest. To dwell indoors and work on things inside. I marvel again at how the natural world is such a perfect mirror of the spiritual world.
There is a season for everything the Bible tells us, but in our 24/7 world we try to make all the seasons uniform when they were never intended to be. We want to push harder and make more happen, fill our days, our schedules, our homes, but why do we think this is normal? In nature the ground rests, the animals hibernate, and the colors fade into gray. Colorless. A blank space. We need that in our lives too. If God made the season for all of nature to rest why would we be exempt?
There are seasons of doing, of stepping out, of making things happen. There are also seasons for us to be introverted, to ask what God is doing on the inside of us, to ask Him to work inside of us. How many of us still follow the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy? I believe He intended for us to rest. But we don’t. He made a season devoted to it. What would our lives look like if we followed the tree’s example and focused on what’s inside, and invited God in to do some heavy duty work inside of us and took a season of rest?
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Take a look at more Sunday Scripture posts found here on Essestially EmmaMarie
by Alaina | Nov 23, 2020 | Sunday Scripture
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Philippians 4:12
November is always the month when we emphasize being thankful. It is a time of year that we set aside time, a whole day, to count our many blessings. This year has been a rough one. It has been so easy to complain about all the things this year. It has been a year full of annoyances, and constant change, from day to day, and week to week with very little constant in between. For some it has been a year of tragic loss. One thing though, is true for all of us: we can make the decision to focus on what is good and what we have to be grateful for.
As a lover of history I tend to think about the pilgrims at this time of year. Those brave people. They sailed across an ocean to a land of which little was known. They were scared- and with good reason. Yes, there were those who came to make a profit but it’s important to remember that the pilgrims were not part of this group. They came looking for the freedom to worship as they pleased. They braved treacherous oceans, possible attacks from native peoples and animals, sickness, and starvation.
They did all this for their faith. For their freedom. They felt that they had no other choices. They left their homeland, their families, and their way of life. Then they came to America and nearly starved. Almost half of them died that first winter. Still, they endured. The Native Americans helped the pilgrims. Then about a year after they had first landed on the soil of what we now call America, they came together, Pilgrim and Native American, and held a three day long celebration with the feasting we read about today.
The Pilgrims endured much for their faith. After that first winter they didn’t pack up and leave. They stuck it out for their faith. The lived out what Paul talks about in Philippians 4:12 when he says, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” So this Thanksgiving let’s not dwell on how much isn’t like we want it to be. Let’s remember the strong brave souls who have gone before us, let’s remember God’s promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Let’s gather as much as we are able with the friends and family closest to us, and give thanks to God for all of our many blessings.
by Alaina | Nov 9, 2020 | Sunday Scripture
Moses said to the Lord, Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
Exodus 4:10-13 NIV
I love decorating- that will come as no surprise to you if you read this blog! It’s not even that I just love decorating my own home as much as I love seeing pictures and visiting other people’s homes. I love looking at all the colors, seeing all the styles, being surprised by the ingenuity of others with a DIY project or upcycling something into a different item that I would have never thought of.
I have my own style for my house that I call something like American heritage meets modern style/ meets vintage- with a touch of not so much farmhouse as much as a country air. Sounds specific doesn’t? What this all boils down to is that we live in an area where we have more horses and goats for neighbors than we do people, and I want my house to reflect the pastoral setting. I also love vintage so I want to embrace that in my decor but also include a few modern touches to keep it up to date. I want my home to feel collected but not too eclectic. I am in many homes and see beautiful eclectic styles, perfectly done neutrals, and refreshing minimalism.
I see each of these and my heart beats a little faster and I wish I could be more like them in my tastes. I would love to have the classiness of a totally neutral home, I would love to feel that openness that comes with a hardcore Marie Kondo Minimalistic styled home, but alas this isn’t really me. My home is a reflection of me. I like classy, but I’m not Grace Kelly. I don’t like clutter but hard core minimalism scares me. What I am is a mix. I like neutrals with spots of color to bring everything to life. I like having a tidy house while still knowing everything I need when inspiration hits for a craft project is at my fingertips. I like this. This is me. This is how God made me.
God makes each of us unique, one of a kind creations. While we definitely need to surrender to Him, (a never ending struggle), to polish and shape us we need to remember that He is polishing and shaping us. He is not remaking us. How much time do we waste wishing we were different? We wish we looked different, had a different life and different tastes. How much of our lives and potential to we spend fighting God on what he has given us rather than asking how we can use our uniqueness to honor Him?
Remember Moses? He couldn’t speak well, therefore God couldn’t possibly use him to lead a nation- could He? Instead of God using Moses’s studder to bring even more glory to God, Moses ended up begging God to use someone else, which God ultimately did. What blessing did Moses forfeit by not doing as God asked? What was robbed not just from Moses but from the Israelite people because of this unwillingness on Moses’s part?
The next time you sigh about a part of yourself not being like you wish, think whether this is truly something that needs to be improved, or whether it is in the neutral category. If it’s not a bad thing, then ask God to show you to what purpose He would like you to use this specific thing. The answer may shock you.
by Alaina | Nov 2, 2020 | Sunday Scripture
“Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
Luke 24:39
It is the day after Halloween, you thought you were done hearing about ghosts and all manner of spookiness until next year didn’t you? Well not quite. Halloween in our current culture has become a rather macabre, month long celebration of all things evil- ghosts, demons, zombies, and witches, etc… I’m not against the dressing up and trick or treating for kids, but I think as Christians we tend to pay little attention to how we participate in a day that is dedicated to demonic activity. November first used to be All Saints Day, a day to remember and honor the saints. It was believed that on the night before this day, the lines between the living and dead became blurred and the dead and ghosts could roam about, so people would dress up in costumes to trick anything they may be looking for them. Halloween started thus and has continued to gradually gravitate toward the occult over the years.
Regardless of where you stand on Halloween, or how much thought you give, or don’t give to the rather evil roots of the day there is another spooky subject that I would like to pose for food for thought- what about the ghosts and demons?
I have been in church all my life and have never heard a sermon that took a deep look into the demonic world and how it does, or doesn’t interact with our lives. We read in the Bible that there were many instances of demonic activity, of demons interacting with and causing interference on earth but as a church today we tend to brush off any thoughts of a dark spiritual world interacting with our day to day lives, beyond the point of the devil planting seeds of doubt in our minds.
And then there are ghosts. I should make the distinction that when I speak of demons I mean fallen angels and beings that are their own, and who currently reside in Hell, unless of course they are allowed to wander the earth and interact with us more than we realize. When I speak of Ghosts I mean people who have died, reappearing here on earth. Let me be clear- I believe absent from the body present with the Lord; but what about unbelievers? Yes they go to hell, but are they there now? Or will it be after the resurrection? Or are they allowed out, on special assignment as it were?
We know in the Old Testament Saul visited a medium and called Samuel down from heaven to give him a prophetic word. Samuel was not happy to have been disturbed. Also in the New Testament Jesus appears to the disciples and they are scared thinking he was a ghost. And what does Jesus say? Does he say silly disciples, ghosts aren’t real? No, He doesn’t. He says, touch me, feel me; ghosts don’t have flesh and bones.
In our science based world where things are only believed if they can be tested and reproduced on demand we don’t allow much room for the spiritual realm. The Bible clearly does. We like to think of Angels so why don’t we allow for demons? I bet we all have at least one acquaintance that could tell us a “weird” story that can’t be explained away, something whether good or bad that seems to go against our tidy scientific resolutions. What if instead of ignoring this side of reality we used it as a way to strengthen our belief that while there are many forces at play in both the seen and unseen world, our God is still supreme, and greater than all the rest combined?
by Alaina | Oct 25, 2020 | Sunday Scripture
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:7
I will never forget the lesson my grandfather taught me one sunny Friday afternoon in late summer, when I was fourteen. He and I were heading to staples- joy. He had to pick up something boring, like printer ink. We pulled into a parking spot by the front door- right next to a big white truck in the spot to the left of us. My 82 year old grandfather slowly opened up his car door and proceeded to step out while I climbed out of my seat.
As we stood up we heard a voice from the white truck, “Hey buddy,” said none too nicely. We both turned and my grandfather asked the guy in the truck if he could help him. The guy in the truck proceeded to chew my elderly grandfather out for banging his car door against his truck. Neither my grandfather or I had been aware that my grandfather’s car door had touched the truck, certainly not aware of any banging going on. The guy in the truck told my grandfather how he worked hard for what he had, and how dare my grandfather just bang the door of his truck.
I watched open mouthed- I had hardly ever seen someone chew my grandfather out and the only person who got away with chewing him out was my grandmother. I couldn’t believe someone was talking this way to my elderly, depression era grandfather who, let me tell you, knew the value of working hard to own nice things. Everything my grandparents owned was kept in immaculate condition. I was a little scared of what was going to happen to this guy when my grandfather opened his mouth. When the guy finally gave my grandfather a chance to speak I was surprised to hear my grandfather apologize, saying he didn’t realize he had banged the other guy’s door, he hadn’t meant to and would the guy like him to move. The guy settled down and told my grandfather he would move his truck. We went into the store, me fuming to myself about how my grandfather had just been treated, and when we came back out the guy was gone.
We got into the car to drive away, I mentioned something about the guy in the truck and I’ll never forget what my grandfather said. “You know, you just have to feel sorry for someone like that. What must be going on in his life to make him go off like that.” My grandfather shook his head, “He must really have a lot going on.” That thought hadn’t crossed my mind, I had been too busy being indignant.
My grandfather modeled such grace and compassion that day, the lesson he taught me has stuck with me all these years. We don’t know what other people are going through, we can’t control how they will react to different situations, but we can control how we react to each situation. We can set a good model for others- we can take a poor situation and turn it into a teaching moment- even if the only ones we are teaching are ourselves. We can try to be like Christ, which is the best we can ever do.
by Alaina | Oct 18, 2020 | Sunday Scripture
Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.
James 4:15-17 CSB
It was a month before our wedding when I decided we should take ballroom dancing lessons- because obviously there was nothing else going on in our lives at that time and we had all the time in the world to learn a new skill. I called around and found a place that could offer us classes at a reasonable price and the teacher thought we would be able to learn enough steps to fill the entirety of the song we had chosen for our first dance.
We both enjoyed the classes- I had taken traditional dance classes from the time I was a toddler until I graduated from high school. My husband loves music and likes to dance at weddings and other such events. Once we had learned enough steps to string together so that we could “dance,” we ran into a small glitch.
I was trying to lead. The woman cannot lead in ballroom style dancing. The man’s steps are less complicated, because he is the one listening to the music and signaling the woman on what steps she will take next. The woman on the other hand just has to remember the steps and heed the cues given to her by her partner. She doesn’t have to think about timing or what comes next- she only has to trust her partner and focus on him. The teacher told us what the problem was, that I needed to let him lead, and just do the steps. This system would be good for us because while I can pick up the choreography quickly, I cannot hear music. My husband-to-be, on the other hand, could hear the music and would keep our timing strong. All I had to do was give up control.
It sounds simple- just let go! But it was hard to give up control and stop trying to lead, even though I knew my husband-to-be was better equipped for that role. After several times of running the dance and seeing the teacher flinch as I would ignore my husband’s cue and start to take the lead again I was finally able to surrender to my partner. And guess what happened- I lived! And our dancing improved.
How often do we do the same thing with God? We hear Him gently nudging us to let go and release control and we fight it. We hear Him gently whispering to us that He knows best and we must surrender, but still we try to do things our way. How miraculous, when we relinquish the control that we never really had, into the hands of the One who created us that we then experience peace contentment that had been escaping us when we were so busy trying to do it ourselves. Funny how well things work when we submit to the creator of the world and do what He says.
