I think I love Christmas so much for memories like these: Craziness, laughter, and childlike fun. We all get a little younger at Christmas, which is what makes it so magical. I wish we had that childlike mindset all the time. I think God wants us to have that too. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 18:

“At that time the followers came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  Jesus called a little child to him. He stood the child before the followers. Then he said, “I tell you the truth. You must change and become like little children. If you don’t do this, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child.”

You know Jesus’ followers were expecting some fancy answer from Jesus on whom the greatest in the kingdom of heaven was (they were all secretly hoping it was them, I’m sure). But in true Jesus form, He surprised them and pulled up a child. A child, of all people, has the right idea. The beauty of these verses is remembering Christ’s humble birth, coming to the world as a small baby. Unexpected, surprising and humbling. Royalty was born in a stable and children hold the keys of faith.

Our God is the God of the unexpected and I love that. Too often we think we have God all figured out. We wrap Him up in a box with a bow and call it a day. But we don’t have Him figured out, not at all. We never know what He’s going to call us to do or where He’ll lead us next. That makes us a nervous, but not having it all figured out is a good thing. We need more unexpected in our life.  So I hope this Christmas for you is unexpected. That it’s magical, surprising and child-like…and maybe even a little bit crazy.

Have you ever seen one of the big TV stands that have a fake LED fireplace built into them? I think they are actually electric heaters too.  I used to laugh at them, but then something changed one fateful day in Sam’s Club – where I saw a giant fake-fireplace tv stand that just instantly made me envision a crackling fire underneath my television at home, while my family watched Christmas movies (or more likely, when we watch 3 episodes in a row of Holiday Baking Championship).

We haven’t bought one (yet). They are kind of expensive. And truth be told, there are only about 5 days a year in Southeast Louisiana for which you would actually need a fireplace. Still, the idea of a warm hearth – crackling embers – all controlled via remote – it’s a romantic notion. But it isn’t REAL.

For one, I haven’t actually had many holidays around a fireplace. I grew up in New Orleans. It’s often in the mid 70s for Christmas. And secondly, the tv stand fireplace doesn’t have a flame. It’s an LED screen with images and sound effects. The electric heat it pulses out doesn’t feel like a real fire. You can’t toast marshmallows or chestnuts (gross) over it. It is simply a cheap facsimile of the genuine article.

Sometimes my heart is more like a fake fireplace. I wish I was always focused on Jesus – celebrating the greatest gift of all time – living out my faith with kindness and love. But honestly, I get distracted by the things of this world. Instead of being a true light in the dark, I settle for less than the best. God wants to be a raging fire in my soul (all year long) and usually I just get by with a daily verse, short prayers and a weekly trip to church.

Those things aren’t bad. They are, in fact, GOOD. But when they become the equivalent of spiritual cruise control, it’s pretty easy to experience a lack of passion in your walk with Jesus. My prayer this Christmas season is that we all experience a refreshing perspective on how HUGE the gift of Jesus is. I love the words of Zechariah in Luke chapter 1:

“Because of God’s tender mercy,

Imagine how bright our corner of the globe would be if our walk with Jesus was more like an Algiers bonfire and less like a fake fireplace TV stand…

Merry Christmas,

PS

This is a picture of the fireplace I’m talking about.

Cute, right?

I ended up getting it for my wife as a graduation/birthday gift.

I can just imagine Joanna Gaines shaking her head at me in shame…

Over the past couple of months, Satan has been throwing everything that he can at me and my family, trying to see what sticks.

My mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, my mother-in-law has been diagnosed with breast cancer, my son developed a bacterial infection and yes, the list continues on. My bank account was attacked, my dream truck transmission is going out – there’s more, but I don’t waste anymore time so I will end there.

Satan is truly throwing everything that he can to take away my JOY and make me have doubt. However, I work for LifeSongs.

I do not have to be, but want to be a little bit of positivity for everyone I come into contact with each day as an ambassador for LifeSongs. So, I pray each night and I truly wake up in a great mood and my JOY gets stronger each day. I refuse to let Satan take away my JOY.

Now to the part where Satan loses again.

My mother is getting better and this has caused my family to become closer and allowed me to talk to them about GOD and what he has done in my life. My mother-in-law’s cancer surgery went really well and she is healing. My son’s infection is getting better. And I received a phone call from my insurance company that they missed a payment and will be sending me a check. This covered all that was lost plus some!

All of these are miracles in my book! If you dig hard enough you may be able to find another explanation – but not for this next miracle…

The warranty claim on my truck was fully denied and I was one day from having to turn in my rental car. My service writer was doing everything he could to make this claim happen for me, but he kept getting shot down. I decided to call the company myself and explained what was going on. The rep that answered asked if she could have a manager call me back, and I of course, told her yes. Several hours went by, so I decided to call back.

This same lady that previously had answered the phone explained to me that the replacement was approved. I asked over and over, “Are you sure?” She keep saying yes. I then called my service writer and he was as excited as I was, however, he had his doubts. He knew that the manager and inspector had called him and denied the claim. However, when he called it was surely approved! He explained to me that no one in that company should have over-ridden the inspector.

And that’s where I received even more JOY! I was able to explain to him that GOD has me and loves me, and knew what Satan has been doing to me.

You see, GOD has the ability to override everything. GOD used what was going on in my life to show others that nothing should ever take away our JOY, and that he truly uses everything for his good (Romans 8:28).

The reason I never lost my JOY through this is because – GOD is GOOD, all the TIME!

One day I was leaving the Westbank on my way to my parents house in Mandeville. I knew the way, but put my GPS on just for an estimated arrival time.

As I began driving in the direction I needed to go, my GPS was telling me to go in a different direction. In a direction that appeared to be the opposite of the actual direction I needed to head. The estimated arrival time at this time was 6:07pm. I continued on my way figuring my GPS would catch up with me, but it just kept rerouting and telling me to turn around.

I then heard Libby and Jojo talk about four different accidents and two specifically in the route I was headed. So I finally decided to listen to my GPS, but with consequences. Remember that 6:07 estimated arrival time? Yeah, no, now it said 6:28. (Insert face palm emoji right here).

This got me thinking about God’s plans for our lives and ironically the verse of the day that day was Proverbs 19:21.  It reads:

“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.”

You think God was trying to tell me something that day? I think so!

Oftentimes, we think we know the plans God has for us, so much that we can at times ignore that still small voice that says, “turn left” or “go in this direction.”  As we continue to ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit. And instead go our own way we are not destined to that wrong direction, but we must make a choice to we allow God to reroute us. We can trust his plans, it is when we take matters into our own hands that we get hurt and have to face the consequences of those choices.

Psalms 33:20-22 TPT says,

Instead of going your own way today, trust in the God of radiant hope who will never fail to guide you.

There were many times this year when it seemed that fall would never arrive. But the unbearably hot temperatures are fading from our memories and we are seeing more and more cool days.

Fall is my favorite! Pumpkin spice lattes, jackets, football, the upcoming holidays!

At the beginning of 2018, I was pretty down. My father and my older sister were both having health issues. I was confident that all would end well, but I was overwhelmed.

It’s hard to even believe all that has happened in this year. My family has gone through radiation treatments, surgery, and more. It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t easy. But my father and sister have both received good reports from their doctors.

And I feel so thankful. Thankful for the good reports. Thankful for God’s strength. Thankful for the friends and family who have been so supportive. Thankful that those down days seem so long ago. Thankful that I’ll be able to spend this Thanksgiving with my healthy family.

I’ve never been good with change my entire life. Whether it be changing schools in elementary school, changing schools in high school, different jobs, etc. I’ve just never, ever been good with change. The anxiety, the uncomfortability just never sat well with me, until I started to lean on God more in my life.

One specific instance of change that gave me peace was choosing to attend my current church, and leaving my old church. The church I was raised in. It was not an easy decision to make, but once I did, I entered with more peace than I’ve ever entered any major change in my life. And thus came career changes as well, still with peace– a once foreign feeling to me in times of transition and change.

Due to an unfortunate series of circumstances, my family and I just found out we’d have to move out of our house for a year, possibly longer, due to some maintenance that needs to take place. Upon hearing this I became anxious. I quickly thought about the affects such a large change would take in my life, even if just for a year. All my routines and comfortabilities now need to be reestablished. Not being in the home that I was raised in, that my grandfather planted three beautiful oak trees on when he owned the house, put a knot in my stomach.

And then I remembered God guiding me through more recent areas of change. I remembered Him guiding me through my career change, church change, high school transfer, and so much more. An immediate peace fell over me. I’m not sure what is in store, but what I can do is trust in Him and remember that He is faithful. If you are going through times of change yourself, I want you to remember this verse right here:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

There are two types of grocery store shoppers. One who is in a hurry and simply picks up the first piece of fruit or vegetable you come across. Or someone who studies and inspects each and every detail of said fruit or vegetable to make sure that it is perfect. Without flaw. No brown spots. No mushy dents. No imperfections.

Which one are you?

I must say that I am definitely an inspector! Perfection is what I look for. It’s who I am. I’m a perfectionist so it’s only natural that I would want the same for the produce I buy!  You may be the same way. You may recognize that about yourself – or as you are reading this, you are thinking, “Yeah, I do that!”

I noticed this want for perfection in the most interesting way a couple of weekends ago. If you ever get a chance to stop by the LifeSongs table at any event, there are a few things you will typically see. (Unless we are out of it!) Bumper stickers, bracelets, and even some LifeSongs pens.  You’d never imagine how much women LOVE pens!  Except one single pen. At the Propel Conference, there was one pen that no one wanted – Jasmine and I even tried to give it away! Here is a picture of it:

Here’s the thing about this pen: it writes. It does its job. It has a purpose. But it didn’t look like the others. It’s different. It has a history. One that would be interesting to find out about.

Why is it that this pen was unwanted? Perhaps the need for perfection? Normally, this type of thing wouldn’t be what I’m naturally drawn to. God used this to show me something.  Look through your Bible. Was there anyone, besides Jesus, that was perfect? That did EVERYTHING right? Nope.

Rahab was FAR from perfect. Many looked down on her because of lifestyle choices she made. (Were they good choices? No.) But God still chose to use her in a mighty way! (Joshua 2)

She may have looked “different” from those around her, but she still had a purpose. A mighty one. And THE MIGHTY ONE saw past her flaws, her bruises, her sin spots. And HE called her worthy.

You think you have to be perfect to kneel at the cross, surrender and for Jesus to forgive you? Nope. Come as you are. Come with your brown spots, mushy dents and imperfections. Let Jesus make you whole.

“Come, let’s talk this over, says the Lord; no matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can take it out and make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you white as wool!”

“I love you guy so much. You can accomplish anything in life if you’re willing to work for it.”

Proud Dad pic.twitter.com/IwLFMMO52Y

— Saints Gameday (@SaintsGameday) October 9, 2018

Now, I know the NFL technically “paused” the game momentarily to allow for recognition of this momentous occasion, but it struck me that Drew Brees still kinda had a LOT going on in that moment (you know, the cheers of a crowd 70,000 strong, not to mention an entire second half of a nationally televised prime time football game to play, etc.), yet he still paused to share those words and that moment with his family.

Our lives may not come with the pressure of Monday Night Football, but they do come with a lot of noise. Maybe not the noise of thousands of cheering fans, but the noise of busyness, bills, grocery lists, job interviews, parent-teacher conferences, homework, etc. etc. (I feel like I could go on forever here, because those to-do lists of life sure do, but I’ll stop there.)

How do you deal with the pressure, busyness and the noise of life? Do you get overwhelmed? Panic? Honk at drivers on I-10? Yes. At times, YES to all of the above. But, wouldn’t it be great if we could stay focused on our family (our Heavenly Father, to be exact) in the midst of the craziness of life? God knows every detail of all that’s going on in any given moment. And He’s there, looking at us, His children, saying, “I love you guys so much!”

It’s hard to be still when there is so much to be done. It’s hard to focus when our task list keeps growing. But Psalm 46:10 says, “Be STILL and know that I am God.” So, the next time life gets “noisy,” can we try to be still and turn our eyes off of the chaos and on to Jesus? I’m going to do my best to work toward that goal. After all, we can accomplish anything that way, right?

So this past Summer, I got to experience an epic adventure of a lifetime with my 18 year old daughter.

We started in Italy and were able to take in some amazing places that l have read about in history books – but to see these places in person is awe inspiring! The Coliseum and the Roman Forum, where the beginning of civilization literally began! I’m amazed at how much our culture followed the Romans in so many areas, including architecture and government. Our nation’s Capitol Rotunda looks exactly like numerous basilicas around Europe. You can’t help but notice that there is a church on every other corner and each one more elaborate than the other. Thinking about that, my daughter (Sophie) and I both kind of were like what’s up with that?

Seemed like in those times there was extreme poverty and yet the Holy buildings were so ornate. Fortunately for us, we were “enlightened“ by a guide while touring the Vatican who shared that the people of that era donated their time and talents because of their lack of funds. This became the artisans way of giving back to the Church – AND it was free advertisement for their skills!

The other fascinating thing we learned is the purpose of the intricate artwork was to tell the story of Jesus. During the time, only the wealthy could afford an education, so what better way to spread the Gospel than with pictures! You can see in the Sistine Chapel Michelangelo’s depiction of Creation, to the Genealogy of Jesus. Each picture was intricately hand painted by an artist who thought himself more of a sculptor than a painter.

St Mark’s Basilica in Venice holds another artful piece of beautiful storytelling. Near the entrance is a mosaic dome that depicts the dove of the Holy Ghost in the center of a halo. That halo extends to the surrounding Disciples representing the Book of Acts. It even recognizes the different countries where the disciples were called to share the good news of Jesus!

Seeing these beautiful pieces, I imagine all the artist, sculptures, architects and carpenters must have had divine inspiration. Imagine each intricate carving, every brush stroke, every tile placed, eventually having the impact to tell a story that world have an eternal influence on someone’s life. Little did these men know as they were just “doing their thing” that generations would be telling stories about their exceptional works.

This got me to thinking, What story am I leaving for people to talk about?

Not that I really care what people think, but introspectively, am I taking risks? Do I make that extra effort to minister? Do I only step out to serve when it’s convenient or if my finances are OK? Am I honestly using the gifts that God has given me to glorify Him?

I’m not a sculptor or painter and definitely not a carpenter, but I know that I can be divinely inspired just by truly looking and listening to people. I think of these gifted men and women that went before us and their amazing works. They each had a small part in a fantastic grand plan. All they had to do was say yes to someone else’s plan and the final product was magnificent. Our Great Creator has written each and every one of our stories and if we just say yes to our Master’s plan we know that it has a very happy ending!

The house smelled like Fall. Cinnamon, pumpkin, all-spice … it was a cloud of autumnal goodness. The air conditioner was set to a chilly 73 so you needed to wear socks. But one look at the window, which was clouded over with steam and haze told me me that I was being lied to.

As soon as Fall hits, my incredible wife (Elena) goes into what cajun clinicians would describe as a river in Egypt – denial! (Get it? The Nile…) It’s Fall – therefore we must have Fall foods and it must be sweatshirt weather. Suddenly the home decor takes a turn for the orange and brown. Everything smells like cinnamon. And dinner is … soup? Come on – you gotta be kidding me!

Even though the calendar says FALL and Starbucks says PUMPKIN and school says MIDTERMS – it is still 90 degrees outside. Because we live in the glorious South.

This is not a complaint. I’ve lived up North. I’ve dealt with snow and snow shoveling and ice and ice scraping. NO THANK YOU. I’ll take 90 degrees in October over single digits in the Winter. But wouldn’t it be nice if there were actually four seasons? I mean, other than Crawfish season, Snowball season, Football season & King Cake season.

Many parts of the country get colorful leaves, chilly mornings and fire pits in the evening. We could have fires – but then it would be even hotter. If you jump into a pile of Spanish moss you will probably get bit by spiders. Chilly mornings? We get those … in January.

What’s the one thing that maybe makes you a teensy bit jealous of the other parts of the country when Fall rolls around?