A Different Kind of Christmas

by Delores Liesner

We’ve had all kinds of Christmases. Some years we’d lost loved ones and were grieving. Others were celebrated in spite of financial shortages. I was indignant as a child at Christmas, because my mother would open our gifts from relatives to assess their value, so she knew how much to spend on them. Then she would re-wrap and give them to us. 

I vowed I would have different Christmases as an adult –keeping the focus on Christ, along with fun and gift giving to many.

Our kids loved ‘adopting’ a family each year and hiding after we left a basket of goodies at their door. We had a Christmas tradition where the kids would either put on a play or puppet show to tell the Christmas story or give us a “concert.” My children carried on that tradition with our grandkids. I recall Michael, at 4 (now in his 30s), playing Grandpa’s guitar like a bass fiddle!  We always took goofy family pictures to remember those celebrations.

As families grew and funds grew thin, we exchanged homemade gifts. A couple of those years, we limited the spending to $7.50 for gifts that fit in the stockings hung on the banister. Later we divided papers with name and hints so each person had a gift to open. Older grandchildren helped the younger disguise gifts as objects like a snow shovel, a mailbox, an airplane or even a fireplace the recipient had to crawl into to find the gift.  I miss all that craziness and fun.

2020 changed up Christmas again. There were job losses, health issues, fear of what might be coming next, emotional exhaustion, loneliness, depression. It was hard not to grieve over the difference from prior years.

Hebrews reminds us: “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe” (12:28 AMP).

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” – Author Melody Beattie  

This year we’ve decided to go back to the beginning (of our marriage and our spiritual journey), to celebrate what is the SAME as we spend the day just the two of us.

Looking back to our young love we are amazed we still like each other! We came to Christ within two weeks of one another and that relationship has only grown deeper because Jesus is unchanging. Our children, grandchildren and siblings have also become trusted friends. We have a lot to celebrate after all.

Lord, I revere you, I am in awe of your love and sacrifice. Thank you for being unchanging in my changing world.

This article is brought to you by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA).

About the author: Delores Liesner loves to reveal the dynamic hope and confidence found in the heritage of our personal God. She writes from Racine, WI., is a CLASS graduate, 21^st Century Grandma and Life Tales columnist. She has published hundreds of stories and articles. Check out her Amazon Author page!

Delores’ book, Be the Miracle, will deepen your walk with God, help you to notice others’ needs, and give you practice hearing and answering His call.

Join the conversation: From the ashes of Covid 19 and beyond, what do you see that remains the same, despite the turmoil?  What are you grateful for?

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It Isn’t Over Yet

by Delores Liesner

I probably should have just admitted defeat, but now I am glad I didn’t.

I made a promise to fill a need for someone based on anticipated help from others. Then one by one, the others faded into the woodwork. I confided to hubby that I was losing confidence that God was going to bring all the pieces together and work it out.  But really, God hadn’t refused to show up – just some people did.

So now there was a choice – give up and hope another time, another place, and yep, another person would be called, or step into the “Red Sea circumstance” and see what God would do.

It wasn’t over yet. It reminded me of Habakkuk, whose situation was far more dire than ours when he wrote: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17 ESV).

So we started rejoicing over what God was going to do with this project.

Yet it seemed the harder we tried, the more obstacles popped up, and the smaller our team became. God, we wondered, are you trying to tell us something?

God’s soldier Gideon was feeling pretty inferior in his situation too. God reduced his team until they were greatly outnumbered. Then God told Gideon to leave his provisions and only take what God provided.

Similarly, God allowed our team, our provisions, our resources, and our confidence in ourselves and our original plan to shrink until HE was our team. Then He multiplied our resources and provision, once again increasing our confidence…IN HIM.

Is God teaching you a similar lesson? Has your team or your provision or your confidence been reduced? Yet, when you consider what God has done for you in the past, have you found something for which you can rejoice?

Lord, may I recognize, like Habakkuk and Gideon did, that whatever my circumstances may be there is always something for which to rejoice and give thanks. Open my eyes, Lord, that I may see you in my circumstance.

This article is brought to you by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA).

About the author: Delores Liesner loves to reveal the dynamic hope and confidence found in the heritage of our personal God. She writes from Racine, WI., is a CLASS graduate, 21^st Century Grandma and Life Tales columnist. She has published hundreds of stories and articles. Check out her Amazon Author page!

Delores’ book, Be the Miracle, will deepen your walk with God, help you to notice others’ needs, and give you practice hearing and answering His call.

Join the conversation: How has God overcome a challenging situation for you?

Mix, Knead, Rise, and Roll!

by Delores Liesner @DLiesner

Our Prussian Grandma Minnie’s bread was legendary. Every meal was enhanced by her  delicious bread. She never let a bit of food go to waste. To make leftovers more palatable, she rolled out her favorite bread dough, covered it with chopped up bits from previous meals, and served the freshly baked treat with gravy. Her dough could also hold jelly for breakfast or be filled with ground meats for a savory bread. My favorite kind of rolls were the ones that held sweetened walnut or poppy seed filling. Everything was better when served with Grandma Minnie’s bread.

The filled bread’s original name, Potica, meant rolled up. Her children nicknamed it Roly-Poly, because to feed her family of 16, Grandma’s original recipe produced two long chubby rolls equal to six loaves of bread! Her dough took much of the day to mix, knead, rise, and finally roll out before baking. Lots of time to pray and to thank God for the abundance from left-over bits, Grandma always said.

Grandma taught by example, much as the disciples did. The generations that followed her continued an appreciation of abundance by topping weekend baked potatoes with a week’s worth of meal left-overs. We also considered a long wait anywhere to be a prayer opportunity.

Wait a minute – what was that last one?  Believe it or not, Grandma’s bread baking taught me that having to wait is an unexpected form of abundance! If we have to wait for a light to change, the person ahead of us in line to make up their mind, or a machine to complete a transaction, we’ve been given a gift!

Next time you find yourself waiting, look up and around you. Pray for those in proximity to you and ask God how you can cheerfully show patience in the wait. There’s a great example in Grandma’s baking routine:

Mix – Accept all the ingredients in your life right now as God’s recipe for growth. A mouthful of flour or cocoa may not be too appetizing, but when combined with other ingredients, can be more than palatable – and even becomes desirable!

Knead – Work those life ingredients together with a prayer of patience and hope – these two ingredients are the sugar and yeast of life – without them, the results will be flat and unappetizing.

Rise – While you are required to wait, ask God to show you how to turn what you have into an abundance. Knowing God can use it all to give you something good can change your attitude.

Roll – Use what you have been given to create something new. How can you turn your moments into mementoes?

As for the bake: thank God for the heat of your situation and be ready to learn from it. This response can become a habit.

What have you learned and received while waiting that you can put into practice today?

 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.             Romans 12:12 NIV

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Mix, Knead, Rise, and Roll! – insight on #GodsLove from @DLiesner on @AriseDailyDevo (Click to Tweet)

About the author: Delores Liesner loves to reveal the dynamic hope and confidence found in the heritage of our personal God. She writes from Racine, WI., is a CLASS graduate, 21^st Century Grandma and Life Tales columnist. She has published hundreds of stories and articles. Check out her Amazon Author page!

Delores’ book, Be the Miracle, will deepen your walk with God, help you to notice others’ needs, and give you practice hearing and answering His call.

Join the conversation: How do you use waiting as a positive opportunity?

Pitching Unnecessary Baggage

by Delores Liesner

Packing for a recent writer’s conference in New Mexico was record breaking for me. I managed to get everything into one carry-on suitcase – clothing, toiletries and even an extra empty bag for books on the trip home!  For a clothes horse like me, it was no less than a miracle.

I’d often likened my early life story to baggage that I carried into our marriage.  Now, standing at the luggage carousel watching others haul gigantic suitcases or multi-pieced sets, I thought about the time so many years ago when I left home after high school.

Talk about baggage: I was so emotionally battered, I might as well have been hauling an entire carousel’s worth.  After spending a childhood being told how worthless I was, I carried an unquenchable need for love and acceptance. My brokenness was expressed in an obsession over my physical appearance—on shallow things like makeup and clothing. But any attention I received for my efforts felt shallow and false, which never satisfied my longings. Ironic isn’t it – that I would artificiality try to add to who I was, then be surprised and disappointed with a superficial response?

Ken and I both entered our marriage loaded down with baggage. We wanted something better: a strong spiritual standard for our marriage and family.  We believed the Bible was God’s Word and began reading and applying it to our lives.  The more we learned about the Lord and His love for us, the more we loved him, and the easier it became to trust Him with our baggage.

Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you.” (NASB)

Cast comes from a Hebrew word meaning to pitch over or toss out. Now isn’t that a concept – not just to tell God about my burden, but to toss it over to Him, like using a pitchfork to move dirty hay from a barn!

Our casting began with material possessions, because things were easier to let go of than emotions, fears, hopes, and dreams.  God was faithful to accept those weak offerings and turn them into assurances that He could be trusted with more.

The longer we walked with God, the more we opened up to Him. It was a lot like Robert Boyd’s illustration in his little book My Heart, Christ’s Home. Metaphorical doors in our lives were opened, rooms were being cleaned and aired, and God faithfully led us toward the good and the healthy.

Some days when I read Scripture I felt God saying: Have I let you down yet? Haven’t you figured out that what you have tossed to me I have replaced with abundance? Letting go became easier and easier as I gradually learned that our Mighty Savior is absolutely worthy of my trust.

That trip to New Mexico was a definite time of emotional healing for me.  God opened new doors for me and proved His faithfulness once again. I left the airport carrying less baggage than ever before, thankful for His abundant blessings in my life.

I’m truly lighter– inside and out.  How about you?  Got your pitchfork ready?

About the author: Delores Liesner loves to reveal the dynamic hope and confidence found in the heritage of our personal God. She writes from Racine, WI., is a CLASS graduate, 21^st Century Grandma and Life Tales columnist. She has published hundreds of stories and articles. Check out her Amazon Author page!

Free Book Contest!  Arise Daily will use a random number generator to pick a winner from today’s comments. To enter our contest for Delores’s book, Be the Miracle,  please comment below.  By posting in our comments, you are giving us permission to share your name if you win!  If you have an outside the US mailing address, your prize could be substituted with an e-book of our choice.

Join the conversation: What baggage do you still need to toss?

 

 

Words that Last

by Delores Liesner

Have you ever noticed the words we remember the most?  We hopefully will remember the kind words, compliments, and undeserved words of grace. They encourage us and think in wonder that others see God in us despite the truth of our failings.

But there are other kinds of words also stored in our minds– dark whispers, angry shouts, and words that poke like thorns upon remembrance. Words said to us without kindness or grace. Those words are hard to forget.

Yesterday I hurt someone with my words. What I said did not represent what I truly thought of them. I care for that person! I worry those unkind words may well stick in their hearts the same way others’ thoughtless barbs have stuck in mine. I hope my apology and future actions and words can someday override my thoughtlessness.

Ephesians 4:29 tells us to “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” NASB

My first failing was even before the first word came out of my mouth. It was the first word in that verse… I let.  I could have stopped the cruel words before they ever hit the air waves, instead remembering to use life-giving words. Why? Because I did not go to God before I opened my mouth.  I let emotion, not the Spirit, rule my response.

They say hurting people tend to hurt others. I found that true in myself as I lashed out in response to the hurt I was feeling. The irony was, as I spoke unkindly, I actually was stirring up the same emotions in them that would make them want to respond back in anger to me. Choosing that path will never end well.

Practicing giving God control of our tongues involves remembering to stop, ask for grace, and to determine to speak only words that build up. Words that will last in a positive way. Even the hardest truth can be delivered with compassion and grace.

Imagine if we all made Ephesians 4:29 our standard! How different so many of our conversations would be. What if we took a few seconds and asked God to help us season our words with grace? When I remember to ask for God’s perspective, I can see my potentially damaging words for what they are—an emotional reaction. When we determine to follow His lead, an amazing thing will happen: people will respond with grace in return.

Stopping to ask God what we should say next may cause some quiet (and possibly uncomfortable) moments, as He helps us sift out unwholesome communication. But wouldn’t you rather those speaking into your life take the time to remove the thorn before they hand you the rose?

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1 NIV 

About the author: Delores Liesner loves to reveal the dynamic hope and confidence found in the heritage of our personal God. She writes from Racine, WI., is a CLASS graduate, 21^st Century Grandma and Life Tales columnist. She has published hundreds of stories and articles. Check out her Amazon Author page!

Free Book Contest!  Arise Daily will use a random number generator to pick a winner from today’s comments. To enter our contest for Delores’s book, Be the Miracle,  please comment below.  By posting in our comments, you are giving us permission to share your name if you win!  If you have an outside the US mailing address, your prize could be substituted with an e-book of our choice.

Join the conversation: Do you remember a time when your kind words disarmed a potentially damaging conversation?

A New Identity

by Delores Liesner

Isaiah 62:2 says that … “you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow…”(NIV)

I was the kid who always wanted to be somebody else.  I would practice my new voice, my strut, and my style before the mirror.  When fashion did not make me into something new, I’d change my name – sometimes weekly, on my school assignments.  That abruptly ended when my 7^th grade biology teacher, quietly grading papers in class, suddenly held one up and mused – rather loudly I thought – “Hmmmm Terri – who would that be?  I don’t have a Terri in my class… oh, well,” and let all my hard work glide through her fingers into the trash.

Many adults practice identity deceit as well.  Our tricks are more sophisticated, of course.   Whether hiding our inability to read, pretending financial success, using so many beauty enhancements our spouses don’t know whether to sleep on the bed or the dresser, or ditching the evidence of habits or addictions when caught, there is One whom we cannot fool.

Ironically, this very One– the Lord Jesus Christ – has what we long for –– a fresh new start. Isaiah 62:2 says … “you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow,” and 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new is here!” (NIV)

When God changed my heart, my spiritual understanding changed too. I knew!  Finally, I knew! I had a new identity! Despite who I had been or what anyone else said I was, I was now adopted into God’s family –I was in Christ! God’s Spirit was now living in me and leading my life. Nothing I could do would improve or finish HIS perfect gift. The Bible says wages of sin is death, but Jesus paid my debt in full. It was SO awesome to realize that I did not have to live in guilt or fear anymore.

You know, being convinced that God cares for you will enable you to trust Him through any trial you might face. Life takes on new meaning.  To rightly see myself as God sees me is not about self-esteem, but a reality check: realizing God has forgiven and wiped away my weakness and sin. As I looked into His Word daily, I saw my new identity as clearly as I’d looked into a mirror and seen Justified (legally cleansed of all charges) at the top of the mirror, and Sanctified (set apart for service to God) at the bottom. It truly was a brand-new life.

Have you ever wished for a new start? A new identity has been planned for those who would believe in Christ since the beginning of time. Have you found yours?

About the author: Delores is a storyteller. Her passion, whether writing or speaking is to be the miracle for others. Her grandchildren discovered when they spent time with Gramma, something unusual often happened, resulting in another story.

 Over a thousand of those stories, devotionals, and articles are published in print and online and a compilation of 31 stories and life-changing challenges make up her devotional, Be the Miracle! (Elk Lake Publishing). Many other items are listed on her Amazon Author page.

Delores is often spotted reading (3-5 books at a time), trying on shoes, or munching dark chocolate and orange peel. Her personal ministry is to benefit children with life-threatening illness via Fullness of Life Foundation, Scottsdale, AZ

Free Book Contest!  Arise Daily will use a random number generator to pick a winner from today’s comments. To enter our contest for Delores’s book, Be the Miracle,  please comment below.  By posting in our comments, you are giving us permission to share your name if you win!  If you have an outside the US mailing address, your prize could be substituted with an e-book of our choice.

Join the conversation: What facet of your new identity in Christ do you appreciate the most?