HOPE

We did rock, paper, scissors, or something a few weeks ago to see who would go out in the rain right before dark to feed the "shop" cats and put up the chickens. I don't even remember if I played or not, but I won the honor of an evening walk. On my way back from the shop, I heard a bird still singing, chirping, whatever you want to call it even though the rest of our little chunk of land here seemed to be going to bed for the night.

The little bird made me smile. (I am a self-confessed bird nerd anyway and have been known to talk to my purple martins and even understand them when they answer back. I promise you they still knew me the year I was half-bald from my chemotherapy when I walked out to welcome them back home in late February. They knew it was me!!!)

Why did the bird make me smile? I could not even see it. I did stop in the rain and look back into the trees for it, but I could not find it. I questioned my sanity until I heard it again because it was no where in sight. The sweet bird reminded me of the HOPE we have when we know the Lord in a real, personal way.

I thought of the singing bird again today when we read our Jesse Tree Devotional book and put the new ornaments on our Jesse Tree. It was day 13 (yes, we are behind a bit) about the green shoot from the stump of Jesse. This devotional series traces the lineage of the birth of Jesus back to creation. The really cool thing is that the lineage does not only need to be traced BACK. It is still going forward daily as well. We can write our name in the line too when we accept the free gift of grace and salvation. His family line is not complete. It is not only about a baby born many years ago and a nice story to read over the holidays. What happened in that stable was a gift that is for us to take part in now and that is where the HOPE comes from!

The stump of mentioned in Isaiah 11:1-5 is Jesse. Think about an old, dead stump. That is really the human race without a close walk with the Lord and without salvation. The stump's life is over. It is dead. There is nothing pretty about it. Does the story end there? No, the green shoot is Jesus. He is life. He is the second chance no matter how many mistakes you have made and how bad life may be, Jesus was born for you. He is the gift of Christmas and is not just a gift of Christmas pasts. Jesus is the promise that even when we see failing economies, more and more cancer, families split up at Christmas, and children in need, there is new life and there is HOPE! Jesus is the bird that still sings when it is nearly dark. Jesus is the bulb hidden deep in my flower bed just waiting to bloom again in the spring. It will happen! There is life even in the midst of the dead weeds and leaves that need to be raked.

If you look up today and you see your life kind of as a dead stump, please know that there is a fresh, green shoot ready to bloom. There is HOPE and we may not always be able to find happy, but we can find JOY. He was born in a manger, crucified, and rose again. He is not finished! You may be, but He is not. Go and forgive today. Go and give today. Go and tell today. Do not sit at your window and stare at all that has not been or all that went wrong, there is a new thing going on today everyone can be a part of it!

This "thing" is Christmas.
It is the birthday of our KING.
His name is JESUS.
He is HOPE!
Do you know Him?