A Story About Opening Your Heart to God this Christmas

To understand how to open your heart to God, to accept His grace, we want to share this Christmas story with you:

"I hurried into the local department store to grab some last minute Christmas gifts. I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself. I would be in here forever and I just had so much to do. Christmas was beginning to become such a drag. I kinda wished that I could just sleep through Christmas. But I hurried the best I could through all the people to the toy department. Once again I kind of mumbled to myself at the prices of all these toys. And wondered if the grandkids would even play with them.

I found myself in the doll aisle. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a little boy about 5 holding a lovely doll. He kept touching her hair and he held her so gently. I could not seem to help myself. I just kept looking over at the little boy and wondered who the doll was for. I watched him turn to a woman and he called his aunt by name and said, "Are you sure I don't have enough money" She replied a bit impatiently, "You know that you don't have enough money for it. The aunt told the little boy not to go anywhere that she had to go get some other things and would be back in a few minutes. And then she left the aisle. The boy continued to hold the doll.

After a bit I asked the boy who the doll was for. He said, "It is the doll my sister wanted so badly for Christmas. She just knew that Santa would bring it." I told him that maybe Santa was going to bring it. He said "No, Santa can't go where my sister is...I have to give the doll to my Momma to take to her". I asked him where his sister was.

He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said "She has gone to be with Jesus". My Daddy says that Momma is going to have to go be with her. My heart nearly stopped beating. Then the boy looked at me again and said, "I told my Daddy to tell Momma not to go yet. I told him to tell her to wait till I got back from the store". Then he asked me if I wanted to see his picture. I told him I would love to. He pulled out some pictures he'd had taken at the front of the store. He said "I want my Momma to take this with her so she don't ever forget me." "I love my Momma so very much and I wish she did not have to leave me". "But Daddy says she will need to be with my sister."

I saw that the little boy had lowered his head and had grown so very quiet. While he was not looking I reached into my purse and pulled out a handfull of bills. I asked the little boy, "Shall we count that money one more time?" He grew excited and said "Yes, I just know it has to be enough". So I slipped my money in with his and we began to count it.

Of course it was plenty for the doll. He softly said, "Thank you Jesus for giving me enough money." Then the boy said "I just asked Jesus to give me enough money to buy this doll so Momma can take it with her to give to my sister." "And he heard my prayer". "I wanted to ask him for enough to buy my Momma a white rose, but I didn't ask him, but he gave me enough to buy the doll and a rose for my Momma." "She loves white roses so very very much".

In a few minutes the aunt came back and I wheeled my cart away. I could not keep from thinking about the little boy as I finished my shopping in a totally different spirit than when I had started. And I kept remembering a story I had seen in the newspaper several days earlier about a drunk driver hitting a car and killing a little girl and the Mother was in serious condition. The family was deciding on rather to remove the life support. Now surely this little boy did not belong with that story.

Two days later I read in the paper where the family had disconnected the life support and the young woman had died. I could not forget the little boy and just kept wondering if the two were somehow connected. Later that day, I could not help myself and I went out and bought some white roses and took them to the funeral home where the young woman was. And there she was holding a lovely white rose, the beautiful doll, and the picture of the little boy in the store.

I left there in tears, my life changed forever. The love that little boy had for his little sister and his mother was overwhelming. And in a split second a drunk driver had ripped the life of that little boy to pieces. "We make a living by what we get; We make a life by what we give."

Open your heart to Jesus today.  He wants to bless you.  

Are You Blessable?

This question was posed to me a couple of weeks ago.  “What are you doing in your life that God would bless?”  “Are you blessable?”  Good questions to think about, right?  When God looks down at you, does He smile and think “I’m proud of her/him,” or to take it further, does He think, “I’m so joyful and proud of what ‘Sally’ is doing with her life. I’m so pleased that she is obeying me and listening to me!”  It really makes me stop and think!  I hope he doesn’t look at me and think, “Oh boy, here we go again, when will she learn!” One way to help you, or encourage you to be “blessable” will come through praying consistently and constantly.  

Prayer is crucial to having a relationship with Jesus.  Ask Him what he wants you to do, and ask Him for His wisdom and knowledge, and a desire to seek him and follow him.  If we don’t have that relationship with Him, how can we know what He wants us to do?  God speaks to us in many ways; scripture, people, the church, Bible classes, even dreams.  We have to be alert and aware, and be open to God’s voice , via scripture…..even dreams.  

If you Trust and depend on God to lead you, you need to be available to Him, so He can use you in ways to bless others. In your morning prayer time ask God, “Lord, I want to please you and obey you.  Please guide and direct me so I can be blessable.  Don’t let me pass up an opportunity to help others.  I’m available to you, so you can use me.  Help me see where you are working in my life, so I can join you and be obedient to your will for my life.”  If you pray this out loud, and actually hear yourself say it, hopefully it will come back to your mind throughout the day.
    
When you put your head on your pillow at night; thank the Lord for what he did for you that day (good or bad) and say, “I hope I did something today that would make you proud of me, I want to be blessed by you.”  

Pray for God’s will to be done, (not what you want, but what HE wants). When you choose well and make good decisions and choices, God will bless you, and reward you.  God wants the best for us, and I know we all want to be blessed by God!

So… are you blessable?  Do you act and speak in a way that would honor God and make Him proud? What are you doing today that God would want to bless you for?

Preparing Your Heart for Christmas

I can remember the thrill of receiving the big shopping bag full of wrapped gifts from my great aunt every year just before Christmas, and the utter delight my sister and I had unwrapping them one by one. Each gift, thoughtfully selected and wrapped, represented a surprise. Our childhood hearts stirred with the anticipation of the unknown. Jesus said that to come to know the Father, we must come as little children. I think Jesus well understood the purity of a childhood heart. Children long for something good. We were born knowing that something good exists.  We all have some happy childhood memory, that may fade over time, but that once brought us great joy.  Much of the joy is in the anticipation, the longing.  

While Christmas can be overwhelming with the lists, events, and rushing about, it's so important that we prepare our hearts for the anticipated joy of celebrating our Savior’s birth. When the virgin received the annunciation, and the angel told her that she would bear the Christ child, she said, "let it be unto me.“ And then she pondered these things in her heart. (Luke 2:19 ) I love the concept of pondering things in my heart. When something exciting happens, particularly when I am able to anticipate it, I try to hit the pause button. One of my favorite prayers during Christmas season is, "bestill my heart, Father." I don't want to miss the joy in my hurry.  It’s important to cultivate the longing, anticipation, and joy.  

The Lord will help us prepare our hearts for Christmas if we seek Him. One thing I’ve learned to intentionally plan is time set aside each day to read the narratives about the birth of Jesus in the gospels.  I often read through them all in one sitting. It simply feels different when I read it that way.  New aspects make the story real to me each time.  There's nothing like the written word of God to thrill our hearts, especially when we ask the Lord to use it for His good purposes. If I just pray, "please Lord, help me to focus on your story of the birth of Jesus. Please nourish my heart and mind, so that I may receive the knowledge and understanding that you have for me," I often recapture that childhood thrill. I love the message translation of the Bible that says, “thrill to God's word. Chew on scripture day and night." (Psalm 1:2)  That’s why I am intentional in reading the bible at Christmas time.  It’s a wonderful practice to read each day of the advent season.  That special time with God, as I read His gospels in anticipation of the celebration, makes me feel like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, with “my heart burning within me.” (Luke 24:32)  Each day I look forward to those moments in His word, like a child unwrapping a gift.  I simply hit the pause button.  The list will still be there, the tasks can wait.  I ask the Lord to multiply my time so that I can ponder His word in my heart.  Every year it seems new, with new insights I’ve never noticed before.  And every year I am filled with gratitude and joy.  

One Year of AmazingGrace.Life

"Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations..."

- Matthew 28:19

When Shannon and I wrote the children's book, Amazing Grace, I had no idea it would end up in countries all over the world! In the past year we have printed 110,000 copies of the Amazing Grace book. It has been printed in 6 languages so far, and more are in the queue. It makes me smile to receive emails from children, one even from as far as Sudan. I can't believe our little books are in the hands of children in Africa, Korea, Albania, Cuba, Guatemala, India and Germany. I felt like the Lord impressed on me to take it to a higher level, and that's when we began AmazingGrace.Life. The educational and informational website came first, then we started with social media. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the driving force of the ministry. In the past year, we've had 50,000 people come to the website! On Facebook, over 3.6 million people have been reached! People... this is ONLY something GOD can do!

Serving the Amazing Grace book with lunch at Village Oaks with Behind Every Door

Whenever there is a disaster like a tornado, hurricane, flood, or even police shootings, we post photos from the area and ask people to pray for the victims. I believe prayer is the most powerful action we can take when a crisis occurs. When large groups are praying for the same thing, I believe it unites people, and I know it glorifies the Lord and brings peace to the victims. 

I feel like the Lord has called me to "enlarge my territory" for the sake of unbelievers. My goal is to expose the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible. If they knew how the Lord can bless them, and change their lives, they would run to Him, seek Him, and ask Him to be Lord and Savior of their life!

My hope is that by this time next year, we will have quadrupled the number of people reached! To God be the glory and may his Amazing Grace fall upon you!

Peace and blessings,

Amy

Give Your Worries to God

Sometimes it feels like I'm watching speed skaters racing down the ice, wondering if they will careen off the edge.  Or maybe it's the horses running the Palio in Siena checking against the corners on the cobblestone streets. Life can feel like a roller coaster, especially when juggling work, friendship, charitable pursuits, and stewardship of three almost adult children. My most important job is answering the summons, "Mama!" 

Launching the first two of my beautiful children happened at light speed. One minute they needed my help with homework, the next minute they were all grown up. It's the baby that brings me to my knees. Literally. He's charming and brilliant and gifted and headstrong. He woke up every morning as a toddler thinking, "I wonder if the rules are the same today? Let me find out."  Now that the culture in which we live has gone off the rails, and profane rappers are the poets of his generation, he doesn't have the balance or grounding to know where the guardrails should be. How do I help but worry about what he sees, where he goes? If there is no right and wrong anymore, are sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll not just okay for his age group, but required? Is life in polarized America full of hate and despair? Will he live the life that God intended for him? 

Now that young men shoot police and police might even shoot a young man, life feels dangerous.   The stakes feel higher.  What do I do with the worries that plague me late at night? If it's approaching midnight and he hasn't come home, how do I reign in the worries that torment me? Has he been in an accident? Has he been tempted by alcohol? Something worse?

I remember when he was a baby and he'd had so many crashes and falls, trips to the emergency department and unusual symptoms, that the pediatrician ordered an MRI of his brain. The doctor paused and held my hand and said, "do you know what we're looking for?" I was terrified.  That's when I learned that worries can paralyze. That's when I learned that when you have nothing left, all you have is Jesus. And Jesus is enough.

I take heart in the words of my Savior. When I stood over my toddler in the MRI, giving him to the Lord, letting go and trusting because I had no other choice, I learned what trust really looks like. 

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" Luke 12:25–26 

I remember saying, "okay, Lord, he is yours, my soul is disquieted. I will yet praise you."  And then I remembered His promise.  "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water and sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17: 7,8

I have a healthy son. Two healthy sons and a beautiful daughter. I envision them planted with deep roots, growing as the mighty oaks, with green leaves and lives that bear fruit. I thank God for the imagery. The 2016 world feels upside down, but we have an anchor. Our hope is in Jesus. Jesus is enough.