Your name will be remembered as bringing forth the one;

A King. A Savior. A Lord. My Son.

I see your sister and I have a plan for her, too.

But when Jacob chose Rachel,

Leah, I chose you.

You see, fear is a cruel taskmaster. It imposes such a harsh workload on us, the standard of which can never be quite met. It’s a deceptive dictator - it lifts us up just to mock us when we fall... and fall, we will. It draws us away from joy, and instead of a trail of grace, it leaves a trail of torment (1 John 4:18). We are not good enough, so let’s draw near to the One that is - the One who has the victory and gets all the glory (1 Cor. 15:57). Let’s let His grace abound more where sin abounds in us (Rom. 5:20), and let Him fill up our failures with His success.

… Ever faithful, you never waver

Each moment with you I savor

Lord, if I may, can I just touch your hems? (Luke 8:43 - 48)

I know I’ve asked again and again

Forgive my doubting heart and questioning mind

Yet when my heart has to ask, you remain so kind …

Can you imagine if Joshua and the Israelites just stopped marching on lap 7? Oh, how different this story would read if they had given up! Because there was someone very important waiting on the other side of Lap 7 … her name was Rahab.

A woman who was used and rejected. A woman who was seen and valued for only one thing. A woman who was unclean and unfit to be married. A woman unworthy of motherhood. God said, “Oh no, sweet one. I choose YOU to be in the royal lineage of my only son”.

What would have happened if they gave up on lap 7?

But here is what I have learned … Each season has its own time. And each season comes to an end. It is a bittersweet feeling of knowing the holiday season is over but, with it, an underlying anticipation for what is to come next. Because, as we know, when one season ends, a new one begins.

As much as I would love to keep the holidays alive, it is important to recognize when the season is over. I never want to stay too long in a space where I know my time is up. That is a dangerous spot to be - whether we are talking about holiday decor or a job position or a relationship or your kids getting older. When the time is up … it’s up.

This means:

Fear has to take a seat.

Anxiety has to take a seat.

Worry has to take a seat.

Depression has to take a seat.

In fact, tell them all to take SEVERAL seats. Because Jesus said “it is finished”. And His words are finite. Just like when a parent tells their argumentative teenager “This conversation is over. We’re finished”. Jesus says the same — I’ve already handled this. It’s over. We’re done.

I was trying to think of a way to tie this life experience into a spiritual lesson. Some kind of teaching moment, you know? And I’m sure it’s there. But truthfully, this is just a story about a time my husband and I found 31 roaches in the walls of our home. And let me just tell you .. this ain’t no Baskin Robbins, y’all.

Philip got me a new curling iron for Christmas. Ok? And? If you know sweet Philbo Baggins, you know he’s the WORST at gift giving. Like ... the worst. Bless it. So he gets me this curling iron. I open it and I say “a curling iron! Thanks babe. But you know I have one that works fine?” (As I’m clearly confused to why I’m getting a curling iron. Maybe he’s subliminally trying to send me a message. Like, “hey girl. Do somethin wit yo hairs”)

Let me be frank … I love Harry Potter. And yes, I also love Jesus. I am a firm believer I can love both. I adore the movies, the books, the imagination, all of it. It’s captivating to me. I mean, why can’t I live in a world where I attend a magical school and play a glorified version of lacrosse on a broom? I feel like that’s a fair question.

So there you stay .. silent and still, with that beautiful white down comforter pulled right over the top of your head. But can I tell you that this is not the space in which God created you to dwell? One definition of the word “dwell” reads: “to be motionless for a certain interval of time”. MOTIONLESS. Does that resonate?

But what if someone asked you your favorite things about YOU. Would you hesitate before you answered? Would you even have an answer? Yikes. So let’s ask the One who created us, hair by hair, eyelash by eyelash, cell by cell. Let’s ask HIM what HIS favorite things about us are.