Christmas Greetings from my daughter

I work in a non-profit agency. I love where I work and what I do. There are some things however that drive me nuts. We are so concerned about being "diversified" and not offending anyone that we are constantly censoring ourselves. We can't say merry Christmas for fear of offending those that don't believe in Christ. We can't say happy holidays for fear of offending those that don't celebrate any kind of holiday. So much tip toeing about and not speaking our minds for fear. I was at a work party, a white elephant gift exchange. People whispering Merry Christmas to others. I had to go to Target that evening with my daughter. As we were walking in we passed by three ladies. Sofia smiled at them and said cheerfully "Merry Christmas." My brain still in work mode had a minor panic attack as I tried to think of how to explain to her that you don't say that to people you don't know because they might react badly. As I was trying to find a way to gently let her down the ladies turned and smiled at her and said Merry Christmas, and then went on to talk amongst themselves about how sweet that was. As we walked down the aisles the response was the same every time. A slight startle, then a grin and Merry Christmas said back to her. As we went along, my nerves calmed down and I started to enjoy the pleasantly startled reactions of the people she wished Merry Christmas to. She had a few people that didn't respond at all, but since they didn't flinch or react in any way I told her they most likely didn't hear her. By the time we left the store there were many people smiling as they went about their shopping, being reminded by a cheerful little girl about why they were in the store in the first place. It also helped remind me that we need to not worry about what others will think of us.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. When we agree to take on His name we agree to accept the ridicule of the world, for the world does not truly see. I am grateful for a daughter who lives her life as a shining example of what not being ashamed looks like. We need to live our lives as fearless as children do. My daughter knows that this is the time to celebrate the birth of our Lord. She cheerily greets anyone who happens to pass her, spreading her infectious joy along the way. So following my daughters example I want to wish anyone within the sight of my blog the merriest of Christmas's. May the true meaning of the season enter into your hearts and homes this year. May God's choicest blessings be yours this season and in the coming year.
With much love for you all
~Kiersten.

Being online to chat

I love Internet tabs. I like being able to click from one web page to another without having to close one page to get to the next. It is especially helpful when I am chatting with someone on one page and looking up information for that person on another page. I was on facebook and my chat window was open. I have several friends that when we are both online one or the other of us will start a chat. I was going from my profile page to my home page when I saw one of my friends pop online. Facebook was going a little slow and so I went to a blog page while it was loading but I kept watching the facebook tab to see when it would start flashing "new message". A little time passed and it never flashed. I started getting a little annoyed with my friend for not writing so I decided to go back to the facebook tab and see why I was so rudely being ignored. I got back to facebook and saw that facebook was having a hiccup moment and had actually taken me offline from chat. I can see how it would be kind of hard for my friend to start chatting with me when facebook was saying that I was offline.
Then I started thinking about Heavenly Father and prayer. How frequently do we have something to pray about but we get distracted by something else? It isn't always "bad" things that distract us. The blog I was looking at was a good blog, but it still distracted me from talking to my friend. How frequently do we pray for something but before God has a chance to answer we close the chat box and sign off? So many people out in the world say that God does not exist, their reasoning is that they pray for something and it doesn't happen. How can he answer when we shut off communication? He is always speaking to people, but have we gone offline just as He was typing in His answer? Do we ignore His blogs ie. Bible, Book of Mormon etc? How many times have you been waiting for communication from a friend but they weren't able to help us at that moment so they send another friend to let us know what's going on? How many times have we asked a friend to pass on a message for us to someone that they would be seeing soon? The prophets of the Lord are the same as those friends. They bring us a message from our Heavenly Father. We should welcome them into our lives and listen to what they say just as we would listen to a friend giving us a message from another friend. If we want to have communication with God we need to keep the line open, and accept answers from unexpected sources. We can't let good things distract us from something better. And every now and then we need to check and make sure that the connection wasn't unknowingly interrupted.

Book Ends



Stable at Harvat Karta Natural Reserve in Israel



Sometimes a random thought will pop into my head and it won't leave until I give it proper thought and usually write about it. I was doing the dished this morning and thinking about Christmas and Easter and the things they celebrate. I was thinking about how Jesus wasn't actually born in December but in the early springtime. (Wintertime would be too cold for shepards to be out with their sheep) As I mentioned in my earlier blog, the stable in which baby Jesus was born was not a traditional stable as we Americans think of them. They were frequently in the sides of hills, made of stone. That thought led me to the crucifixion of the Lord and His burial in a borrowed tomb. "Jesus's body then was conveyed to the place that had been prepared for Joseph's own body, a man-made cave hewn from rock in the garden of his house nearby." If you look at the pictures at the top and bottom of this post, do they not look similar? I find it interesting that both times Jesus's spirit entered his physical body (birth and resurrection) it was in a borrowed dwelling. The bible does not say much about the years before his ministry. We hear about the wise men coming to his house when he is a toddler, the flight into Egypt and the temple teaching at 12 yrs. Other than that we know nothing. We can assume that he was trained in carpentry, that he was not necessarily poor. Even though it isn't mentioned where he ate and slept, he had places to stay when night came. Sometimes it was a disciples house, but those are only mentioned a few times. It is most likely that he had a house, material things, but those are not mentioned because what is important is that he left those things with great frequency to tend to His Father's business.

He lived and taught by example. The fact that he was born and buried in borrowed places shows us that material possessions don't go with us. It's another example of how we should live. It didn't matter what worldly wealth or prestige he might have had, the only thing he had at the beginning of his life was humility, and the only things he had at the end of his life were his good works, his compassion and the things he learned. Everyone who dies whether they are buried in the Taj Mahal or in a paupers grave goes back to that same God that gave them life. It does not matter where we are born but how we live our lives.

His life has many important book ends. He was born in the springtime and he died in the springtime. His birth was heralded by an angel, his resurrection also. His birth was in a humble dwelling that was not his, so was his resurrection. When he left the stable it was empty, so too the tomb. How beautiful those empty stone walls are.

This time of the year we should remember that Christmas is not about material things. Quite the opposite, it remembers a life of selflessness, of service, of Love. We should take this time to dedicate our lives to the Lord and follow the example of the Master Teacher. The room born in and the room he was buried in are both empty of materials things, yet they held the One thing of greatest worth to the souls of men. This Christmas as you think of presents, think of what you can give to our loving Heavenly Father and our Redeemer and King. Think of what they give you all year round without price, and then think of what you can do for your fellow men. My gift to Christ this year is to open my mouth (or in this case free my hands) and not be ashamed of my testimony of Jesus Christ. In a world that is too concerned about what they say offending other people or hurting their feelings, I will speak boldly. In a world that shies away from public prayers and talk of God, I will shout from the rooftops. We have a loving Heavenly Father who truly did send His Beloved Son to save us from our sins. I know that Jesus is the Christ, that he died for us and still lives today. He is my brother, my friend, my counselor and my Redeemer. This year my gift at the manger is an open heart and willing hands.

" 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" Luke Chapter 2

Tomb in Israel

The Innkeeper

This time of year there is much to think about. I was thinking of the innkeeper that let Mary and Joseph stay in his stable. Luke chapter two relates the story.
1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

 2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

 3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

 5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

 6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

 7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inns*.

Now this does not really give us a lot of information about the innkeeper but we need to bear in mind several things about this story. First of all verse one says that "all the world" was told to go to their own city. Now that did not mean the city they were born in but the city that was for their line.

Matthew 1:17

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

So 14 generations from David to captivity + 14 generations from captivity to Christ = 28 generations. 28 generations means a lot of people. Imagine your typical old testament family has at least 4 sons. If those sons have 4 sons and they have 4 sons and so on by the time you get to Christ's generation that's 72,057,594,037,927,936 people. Now they had a lot of wars and contentions so let's just imagine that only two sons live to adulthood from each generation, that is still 134,217,728 people all descending on one town to be counted and this isn't even counting any daughters of the current generation. If each family of the current generation has two daughters that's another 134 million more people. So 134 million people is a very conservative count. Even if they rotated in and had the count over the period of a few months or even a year there would still be a huge number of people in Bethlehem.
Is it any wonder that with that many people in town it would be hard to find lodging. Especially for a man taking great care of a hugely pregnant woman. I can picture Joseph walking slower than necessary while Mary was probably having contractions. They would have arrived in town later than the rest of the world. The fact that every inn they went to was full was no indication of their wealth or status, just a fact that there were a lot of people there.
Imagine if you will going to the Olympics without making hotel reservations. Imagine you arrive the day of the opening ceremonies. How hard would it be to find lodging? I think the innkeeper that allowed this blessed family a place in his stable wasn't being disrespectful, nor do I think his was the only stable in town where people were sleeping. When we were in Utah this past summer for a family reunion we got rained out of our camp site and all of us converged on my sisters house. 20 people in a modest 3 bedroom house, we were in the rooms, the living room, dining room and kitchen. We were sleeping wherever there was room. I picture Bethlehem that same way. People slept where there was room.
This innkeeper was the one that finally gave them a place to sleep. It may have been compassion, it may have been money or even a little of both, but whatever his reason, he unknowingly chose to be the first person(besides Mary and Joseph) to give place to the Christ child. I think of that stable, the first place people were able to kneel before the mortal Messiah. The innkeeper didn't have much to offer, but he offered what he could and the Lord accepted it. I don't have a palace to offer my King, but if He was willing to be born in a stable, I am sure He will accept the humble home I have to offer.

This Christmas time we should think about what we have in our lives. Do we make place for the Savior of the World? Or do we tell him we have no room available?

"Tell His name, sing His praise in all the world. Till all the world believes. Till every voice is lifted up to praise the Prince of Peace" ~ Sally DeFord

I dreamed a dream

I love the Broadway production of Les Miserables. I love the music and I love the story. It is a story based on a student rebellion in France. It's a story of sadness, heartache, betrayel, but also hope, love and ultimately salvation. The character I can identify with the most is Fantine. Our lives were very similar up to a point. She is abused and betrayed in the story and as she is dying finally finds someone to trust to raise her daughter. Just before she has a conversation with Jean Valjean, a convict who is trying to find redemption, she sings a song titled "I dreamed a dream".

There was a time when men were kind,
And their voices were soft,
And their words inviting.
There was a time when love was blind,
And the world was a song,
And the song was exciting.
There was a time when it all went wrong...

I dreamed a dream in time gone by,
When hope was high and life, worth living.
I dreamed that love would never die,
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
Then I was young and unafraid,
And dreams were made and used and wasted.
There was no ransom to be paid,
No song unsung, no wine, untasted.

But the tigers come at night,
With their voices soft as thunder,
As they tear your hope apart,
And they turn your dream to shame.

He slept a summer by my side,
He filled my days with endless wonder...
He took my childhood in his stride,
But he was gone when autumn came!

And still I dream he'll come to me,
That we will live the years together,
But there are dreams that cannot be,
And there are storms we cannot weather!

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living,
So different now from what it seemed...
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed...

I love this song. I know, for such a perky person as myself this seems like a very dreary song. But I think there are times when every person can relate to this. There are times when we feel like everything has fallen apart and is shattered beyond repair. Struggling to raise a child on my own, in a depressed economy, there have been many times this song fit my life to a T. There have been times when I listened to this song with a tender heart, sobbing as my life was described.
Fantine and I differ in what happens when the song ends. Fantine dies, never seeing her daughter again. I stand up, dust myself off and move forward.
Why is my ending different even though we went through the same thing? Hope.
I have a personal relationship with my Savior. I know that my name is engraven on the palms of His hands. I am purchased at an infinite price. I have the hope of better things because my Lord has promised me that. I have the promise of a large shady tree at the end my journeys. A tree whose fruit is most desirable, sweet above all that is sweet. I also have the knowledge that at every step of my way He is there. Everytime I fall He is there to help me up and dust me off. I have seen the face of God and I know of His love for me. Even in my darkest moments He has been that tiny glimmer of Light that kept me going.
Hope is a wonderful thing "Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. "
Have you ever wanted to find hope? To have a better relationship with your Savior? Talk to me, I know some great young men I would love to introduce you to.