You've got two Eve's and two Day's---what's next?

Now that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have passed we are now all focused on New Years Eve and New Years Day. I might suggest this is not a bad pattern to focus on a little bit at a time every now and then, but we must also focus on the big picture in our lives too.
The problem with day to day focus living is that if this consumes us our lives basically involve no planning, just living. This will deprive us of not just needed personal development in our lives, but it will eventually rob us of dreams, hopes and aspirations. There are moments in all our lives that do require us to live and survive but that type of lifestyle will run her course and we will find ourselves empty handed and farther down the road of depression, self respect, and vision.
When you find the need to be singular in focus a few suggestions might be to make sure that you have some friends coming by to visit that are living the dream, and or still pushing toward their sense of self and accomplishment. Another suggestion would be to not stay locked away, but make sure you get out of the house, visit some folks you really like and that are encouragers and see that the world is still moving. Often times when trouble hits our door or difficult times fill our lives we just do the day type living thing and we forget about everything and everyone else. This of course is not good.
Focus living begins with a purpose, some trusted friends for advice and support and a determination to not die without a fight. Certainly to fail is not a failure, to find ourselves against the wall is not the end nor is struggling and having to have assistance the end of the world. These are all facts of life that most of us have experienced, and I am suggesting that we’ve experienced all of these moments too. There is no shame in having help, but there is shame in relying totally on help without our involvement to make the situation better.
Motivation is the drive, determination, encouragement, inspiration or courage to take a step, make a change, or go after something that is before you. In this type of motivational living there will be many hard days no doubt. There will be moments of loneliness and defeat, but the key is the courage to not accept such and become that single focused person, but to keep dreaming, fighting, pushing, clawing, or whatever it takes to keep moving. Sometimes in accepting motivation we are looking for immediate results that put us ahead, and that is not always the end result. Personally, I can feel ahead knowing that I left no stone unturned, that I gave something my all and even though the results I would have wished for or sought after didn’t come my way, I have self respect knowing that I didn’t just stand around and do nothing.
So, while you’ve just experienced an eve and a day with Christmas and now you are ready for another eve and day with New Years, what direction will you head toward after these too pass? For myself I have determined that “life is worth the living because He lives”. I am always someone who enjoys a song and the message is just perfect not only for me but I would think for many that we all know that have questions about life and how to live it.
When you need or want a reason to live---Jesus is a great answer! When you think your hope is gone and the struggles are too great to bear---Jesus is available! When you think that all your friends have gone, and you may be right---just remember that Jesus is a friend that sticks by closer then a brother!
Merry Christmas 2008 and Happy New Year 2009, and if you need more then this to get your life going again, just remember there is more to the Star of Bethlehem then just a light to follow to one destination. The Star is a light for choice after choice and decision after decision.

Until then

My First Christmas in Heaven - Grandfather, C. Hobert Mills

Of all the traditions an individual can be a part of, the publishing of this column, with this poem, is one event that is my most cherished tradition during the Christmas Season. Given to my by a friend at the death of my grandfather, C. Hobert Mills, today I share the thoughts again as a ministry to all who have lost loved ones.
The memories of loved ones, family and friends, floods my mind while my heart is filled with comfort each time I reflect and read. May you too be blessed.

My First Christmas in Heaven

I see the countless Christmas Trees around the world below
With tiny lights, like Heaven’s stars, reflecting on the snow.

The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away the tear
For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear
But the sounds of music can’t compare with the Christmas choir up here.

I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring,
For it is beyond description to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me, I see the pain inside your heart
But I am not so far away, we really aren’t apart.

So be happy for me, dear ones, you know I hold you dear
And be glad I’m spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I sent you each a special gift, from my heavenly home above.
I sent you each a memory of my undying love.

After all, love is a gift more precious than pure gold.
It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other, as my Father said to do.
For I can’t count the blessing or love He has for each of you.

So have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear.
Remember, I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

Until then

The STAR.....your journey....it's in the name....JESUS

The Season of Advent is in full swing and in less then two weeks this Nation will celebrate the finale of the Christmas Season with Christmas Eva and Christmas Day personal and family gatherings. This year I participated in the 37th Annual Lighting of the Star. It is the Pineville (Bell County) Community Celebration of the big shining STAR that is atop Pine Mountain. The STAR is a something that drivers and passengers have been looking up at as they drive and ride the Cumberland Gap Parkway through the Gem City of the Cumberland’s-Pineville during this season of the year.
The STAR is a symbol that represents the STAR of BETHLEHEM, and it provides as it shines the same wisdom and guidance that the Wise Men were following during their journey to find the place of the birth of the Savior of the World-Jesus. Today, wise individuals should be discovering themselves looking for the answer, and it is still found in the only name given among men whereby we must be saved, the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12).
I would be really nice to say that peace can be found at the manager bed, or that confidence can be discovered at the cross, but the manager bed, the cross and the tomb are all just points or details in the story of Jesus. The answer, the peace and the confidence for difficult times is found in a single name, not in a location or a thought. Hymn books are filled with songs about the name Jesus, but many individuals place their focus on certain situations, or moments in the life of Jesus rather then the power of the name. This Season is a perfect time to begin by looking at the STAR, seeing the call of the Father on the life of His son Jesus, and the obedience of Jesus to His Father’s call which included Jesus’ willingness to lay down His life on a cruel wooden cross, experiencing humiliation, pain and rejection so He could continue His journey through the grave and finally back home to His Father in Heaven.
As this Christmas Season has been arriving the journey many individuals have experienced has been a difficult one. We often think of the Wise Men as I have in this column, but they were being served as they traveled and their travels were from the highest of orders and instructions with assistance. Maybe we should think about the shepherds’ who were working that 3rd shift in the night, outside, where the weather conditions hand no effect, work required their attentiveness. Tough times make tough people, but it’s not a stubborn toughness I am talking about, where we don’t listen or care because of the hard time one has experienced in life. Rather, a toughness about where we have our eyes focused and what we our holding on to that pushes us forward and creates a drive filled with faith no matter the outcome.
If you receive no gifts this Christmas is it still Christmas? By the way, I’m not talking about you and your family or friends agreeing not to buy something for each other, but a real no gifts. If you have no ability to have a fancy meal this Christmas is it still Christmas? If you are seeking employment yet finding yourself at the mercy of the folks you know, is it still Christmas? It is easy to sings songs about joy, hope and peace in good times, but the real test is when you are experiencing your worse. What are the thoughts of your heart and the meditation of your mind? We all want to buy gifts, but will you still say it’s Christmas if you have no money to buy a single gift for anyone?
The STAR of Bethlehem is all about us and it is about the gift that was created just for me and for you. Accepting that gift is up to us individually too. The real peace, hope, joy, confidence, and faith one needs to live in all times can only be found in Jesus Christ. He is more then the reason for the Season, He is not just the Season either, but He is the only answer for the being alone, doing without, or cherishing the memories once shared and enjoyed. My prayer is that no matter the status you find yourself this Christmas you will see the STAR and know there is more to this then meets the eye.

Until then