Wonderful Counselor is WHO Christ IS

Last year my friend, Kim, took this picture of the nativity I set up as part of my Christmas decorations.

Last night as she came over, she was surprised that it wasn’t up this year. Well, it is up, but just a different location and a different decor. Things for me, as a woman are ever changing, right down to the decorations. Truth is, this year I couldn’t recall exactly how I set it up last year, so I tried something new.

One of the main things I am celebrating as I write this is the TRUTH that Christ, and the Christmas story that revolves around the real nativity, never changes. I am pondering the truth of the story and it’s reality played out in my personal life…all month.

Life is full of the beauty of reflection. But, for most of us, life is kept much too busy for that. Not just at Christmas, but especially then. Our pace snaps along and we can lose the beauty of  the moment, if we are not careful to preserve it.

There is much to preserve in life. A child’s first step, a husband providing for his family, a teenage child showing appreciation as they get older and see you for who you are. There is the laugh of a friend, the joy of a movie, the treasure of a gift. There is the taste of chocolate, the crunch of your favorite cookie….

But, we will miss even the simplest pleasures, if we don’t stop to observe and appreciate them.

Yesterday I stood at the graveside of a friend. Peter was 79 when cancer took him last week. And, under umbrellas many of us stood by his casket as we said our good-byes…for now. The rain was soft but steady, his wife’s tears were soft and steady too. He is gone from this life and loss is hard, on all of us. In the past I would not have wanted to linger in a moment of pain, but yesterday I realized the beauty in feeling the loss while remembering the beauty attached to it. Friendship and caring for someone is a very beautiful gift. So to feel the pain of loss, is to live and love.

In my opinion, loss is the hardest part of living. We would rather hold on to all that we have and all whom we know and love. But, life, as it is here on earth, has loss. And, yesterday I viewed loss a little differently than normal. Maybe it is because it’s Christmas time and I am reflecting on WHO Christ is and came to be, or maybe it’s because I am getting old….not sure which. But, this I know for sure, loss is an acceptable, though painful part of life, because at the center or our life story is the promise of the Christmas story…the entrance of Jesus Christ into our life.

This morning I am celebrating, ” Wonderful Counselor”!  Isa 9:6

Wonderful: Astonishing or marvelous

Counselor: Comes from the Hebrew, yaats, which means to advise, resolve, guide, purpose.

With those definitions, I can say, ” He is my wonderful Advisor, my wonderful Resolver, my wonderful Guide, my wonderful Purpose!

Today as I reflect on Wonderful Counselor, I am hoping that God will make TRUTH bigger to me than ever before. I am going to write the definitions on an index card, so that I can look at it several times in the day.

• Advisor
• Resolver
• Guide
• Purpose

Do you need any of those four things? If you do, Jesus Christ, the baby born in the manger, the heart and reason of this Christmas season, came to be those for you. Let’s come to him over everything we need guidance on today and thank him continually that He IS WONDERFUL!

Father, I thank you that you came to earth to redeem us. Thank you that because of you we don’t have to live stuck in self for one moment longer. Thank you that you are wonderful, and your wonder is working in our lives this very moment. Guide us, Advise us, resolve the things we have questions about, and be our purpose today and each day as we wake to a new sunrise and a heart to follow after you. If we lack that heart to follow, change our heart Lord. For you came to be the center of our life, our redeemer, the God whom nothing is impossible with.  I ask that you give me a heart to believe the impossible. Amen

Christmas Blessings!

Debbie