Hello Dear Friend,
I’m guessing you’re probably knee-deep in late Advent busyness, so I’ll try to be brief. Because there’s always just one more thing screaming out for our attention, isn’t there? 😱
How do we resist the clamour of consumerism, the temptation to spend, spend, spend, and getting sucked into a vortex of feeling exhausted, unappreciated, and overwhelmed? There is a way that is counter-cultural and can seem a bit antisocial.
Although they are limited and restricted a lot this year due to covid-19, invitations to get together still exist, and it’s hard to refuse those we love and want to please. It can feel like the whole world wants to party and all we want to do is go to bed early. Or is that just me?! 😏
How about celebrating Christmas with stillness and quiet? Could we seek to offer Christ house room in our being rather than by doing yet one more thing? What might that look like for you and me?
Jesus has taught us that only one thing is needful. Like Mary from Bethany, we can learn to have the better part by sitting at His feet and yielding up our hearts. Though our hearts are fractured and flawed, it is our hearts that Christ wants most of all. 💔
Not the brightly decorated house and tree, lovely as they might be. 🎄 Not the stars, candles and lamps, symbolic and beautiful as they seem. 🌟 Not the thoughtfully wrapped gifts, though we all love opening them. 🎁 Not the elaborate meals, cakes, chocolates, and snacks, enjoyable as they are to eat. 🍫🍪
Not the rush and hurry, strain and stress. Definitely not the states of exhaustion we often push ourselves into because it’s hard to cut back. 😟 While it’s good to promote joy, celebrate, and feast, we mustn’t neglect to stop and sit at Jesus’ feet.
God longs for relationship with us, for our heart’s devotion above all. He wants you, my friend, just as you are. Bring Him your worries and cares, your listening ear, your worship, your heart.
We can seek joy in stillness by slowing enough to receive the gracious gift of God’s presence filling our soul. It will help bring us peace, calm our fears, and lift us into a place of Hope, when life brings us loss, heartache, pain and despair. 🕊
Savouring the sweetness of God’s presence requires us to quieten in every way, as we factor in rest, bible reading and prayer to replenish our strength. 🙏📖 Time spent simply sitting in His presence will refuel and refresh us enormously.
We can actively resist the urge to consume, cram and collect, turning instead to the 3rs of Reduce, Rest and Reflect. Won’t you join me in refusing to be rushed? In wanting to wait on the Lord more because that’s what Advent is all about.
This year, I’m finding Advent pause for thought by dipping into ‘Lean Towards the Light this Advent and Christmas’ by Christine Aroney Sine and Lisa De Rosa, and slowly savouring ‘God’s Joyful Surprise: Finding Yourself Loved’ by Sue Monk Kidd, as well as joining my church in reading through ‘Fixated: Advent Meditations from the Book of Hebrews’ by Tim Chester.
PS: This is an edited version of a newsletter sent from Words of Joy a few years ago. I’m still in great need of rest and recovery so I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a healthier, Happy New Year until I return here on January 11th. Do let me know how you are seeking to savour Advent and Christmas differently. I love to hear from you. 😊❤💜
Words of Joy 
Dear Joy,
Oh, yes, I am hearing these same kinds of thoughts from the Lord, especially this:
“God longs for relationship with us, for our heart’s devotion above all. He wants you, my friend, just as you are. Bring Him your worries and cares, your listening ear, your worship, your heart.”
Your words and images here are all just so peaceful today. Thank you for sharing this re-post, and for confirming again the prodding that His Spirit is whispering. I pray that He will bless you with those 3rs my dear friend! May He show you how to reduce, when to rest, and on what to reflect. You are a precious gift to so many of us here! Blessings, love, and hugs to you this Christmas! xoxo
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Dear Bettie, I love how in tune we often are as we receive similar thoughts from the Lord. It re-emphasises the message to my heart. I’m also thankful for the gift of peace you can perceive in this post. I definitely need those 3rs and the way they help us slow down enough to appreciate the better and best which Advent has to offer us. Thank you for your Christmas blessing. After writing over at Poetry Joy on Thursday, I’ll be ready to relax and rest more than I have done recently. Love, blessings and hugs to you, too, dear friend! xoxo 💜🕊
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Thank you for these words, Joy. Yes, these are strange times and yes, I too wish to retreat from the madness. Be Still has been my word for 2019 & 2020. It has been a reality or a dream depending upon the day, week, or month. A Blessed Christmas to you my dear Sister💜
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Michael, being inwardly still can feel impossible when there’s so much that stirs and deters us, seemingly succeeding in pulling us away from that posture. But I think being still might be an act of deliberation mixed with an act of faith. God knows our hearts and their desires, and how they are often thwarted by the circumstances of life. And I believe He applauds every effort made in His direction, each tiny step towards Him especially when we are struggling. May you rest in knowing you have done your best in a year that’s been so hard, horrible, and horrendous. Perhaps those gentle inner nudges to be still have helped you more than you know? May your Christmas be blessed with joy, hope, and peace as you enjoy special, quality time with your beloved. x ❤️
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Thank you, dear Joy!!
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You’re welcome, Michael! We could all use a bit of encouragement, couldn’t we? 😉❤️
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Joy,
Please pray for me. I am feeling so deeply depressed. Little things make me hurt worse—telephone problems, Facebook problems, poor-not caring editor and publisher, tired of everything. I know you understand.
Jim McReynolds
Minister of Joy to the World
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Oh, James, thank you for entrusting me with your need for prayer. Please feel free to email me if you want to add anything else. And be reassured that not only will I pray for you, but God knows and better understands the weight that is dragging you down right now. Too many difficulties all at once is just too much for our souls to easily cope with. Please give yourself grace to feel sad and out of sorts for a while. Hope and joy will eventually return to you, my friend.
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So much of this resonates with me, Joy. Yes, God longs for our heart’s devotion to Him. I love the 3rs – Reduce, Rest, and Reflect. I do need all three. 🙂 I agree with Bettie that you are a precious gift to so many of us here. 🙂 Love and blessings of a rest-filled and hope-filled Christmas!
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Trudy, I had to smile at the thought of us responding to one another’s words simultaneously. Such timing! And I’m grateful you have found something helpful and hopeful here. As often happens, when I was wondering what to post this week and came across this previous subscriber newsletter I wrote, God used it to speak to me, too. Looks like the 3rs are timely for many! Yes, please, to having a “rest-filled and hope-filled Christmas.” That sounds heavenly, and the rest part might just happen if our government decide to cancel the proposed get togethers it had allowed. We’re expecting our younger son and family to descend on us because we felt unable to travel to theirs. Now we’re not sure if it’s going to be possible for us to mix due, once again, to an upsurge in Covid-19. How are you likely to be celebrating? We hear that cases are rising in the US. Blessings, love, and hugs! xo 💟
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