Wednesday, December 23, 2009

So Blessed

We traveled all the way from California to Arkansas on Friday to see our wonderful family and friends that live here. We have been very much looking forward to some time away from the crazy life we have been leading these last few weeks and just resting our weary little feet, hands and heads ;)

Flying is such a great time to reflect. You see the world so differently when you are looking at it from so many thousands of feet up. It's amazing to think about how incredibly small we are. Little people living in our own little worlds. We often forget to gaze upward and see things from a broader perspective as we go about our day to day affairs. We get so ingrained in our own lives, our families, our friends, that we see only a small portion of what I believe the Lord is often whispering for us to see.

It's also amazing to me that the God who formed and fashioned the earth, who breathed life into all living things, who is all knowing and all powerful, desires to know the ins and outs of each of our lives. It's such a simple fact and truth, yet such a profound one.

I'm so glad He knows my anxious heart and desires to see peace in my life. I'm so glad that He sees my often discontent heart and desires to bring about an eternal contentment. I'm so glad He sees my sin and covers it with Himself. I'm so glad He sees my aching heart and rather than overlooking it, He comes in to mend it in the places it's broken. I'm so glad HE IS!

As tomorrow marks six months since Tyler made his new home in Heaven with the Lord, I also reflect on the very hope and wonder and significance of celebrating Christ birth in two days. We often focus on the baby in the manger, but sometimes we have to remind ourselves that that precious baby was the Lord over all creation and the King of Kings. That baby would grow to be a sinless man that would die for you and me. He is so much more than a baby laying in the hay.

I am so blessed in so many ways, but I especially see with much more clarity than years past, the preciousness of Christmas. I am so grateful to a God who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but He humbled Himself to the position of a slave, becoming like men. He was and is God, but just as He came to live among mankind 2,000 years ago, He longs to dwell in each of our hearts and be invited in to each of our lives today and everyday.

Come Lord Jesus, come! Come dwell among us today and fills the gaps where our hearts ache, come make us whole where we are empty, come provide peace where we are restless.

I am so thankful that because of Jesus and His work on the cross, none of our stories end in death. I am so glad that Tyler's story does not end in death, but in life. What a hope it is we have! So this year, I celebrate not only Jesus' birth, but the life we all can freely partake in because of Him. May we all feel richly blessed because of this truth!

5 comments:

  1. Jen, I am praying for you and your family today and in this season. Thank you for sharing your heart. Be blessed.

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  2. I've read your blog before, and I must say I've been a lurker here for some time. Today I decided to come out of the woodwork and comment here.

    I'm so, so deeply sorry about the loss of your precious little Tyler. How my heart breaks to know that this grief that we carry is carried by you also!! He was a beautiful little baby and I imagine the hole left in your heart is large indeed...

    But thank God for Jesus Christ, without Whom there would be no eternal hope! I'm so thankful that you hold Him so dearly in your hearts!! Grief would be unbearable without Him.

    I adore that cross in your picture. It is beautiful.

    Anyway, if you want to come over to my blog, I always welcome new friends, especially Babyloss Mamas.

    Take care and take courage in the knowledge that indeed, He does come to make every broken place whole again! Praise Him!!

    You can find me at www.mysupplications.blogspot.com

    Merry Christmas, fellow Mama.

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  3. we heart the rumleys BIG TIME! and we've loved getting to see you guys this christmas!! you are dear friends!

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  4. Jen, you don't know me, but I ran across your blog that was linked to my friend, Katie. I am so encouraged by your words. You have such a wonderful heart and it shows in your family portrait. I am so sorry to hear about your son, Tyler. Your little boy Cooper is adorable and I am glad that you have the promise of seeing your precious boy again because of our wonderful Savior.

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  5. Jen,
    You have such a beautiful way with words. I love your thoughts and reflections. <3

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