Christmas...Who's Birthday Is It Again?

Christmas is coming and we are always trying to be sure we keep the focus on the reason we have this holiday (aka, Holy Day) in the first place. It's such a challenge...what do we do with Santa Claus, how much stuff do we give them, yada yada. I was praying the other day and it just hit me that it's Jesus' birthday, or at least that's when we celebrate it...who knows the actual day (well, God does:) But anyway, we just celebrated Christopher's birthday and what did we do? We ate cake and bought him gifts. What do you give the King of Kings for His birthday? Well let's ask Him.


“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ -- Matthew 25:31-40

We can give to Him by giving to others...amazing! And of course I remember again what the lady at Walmart said - "I am convinced that every time I do a kindness for someone, I increase His glory." To glorify Him in this sense means simply to give an accurate representation of who He is. And He is so very kind...therefore, we should be kind...at Christmas and at all times. Can you even believe He lets us be His glory bearers? If I were Him I think I would just do it myself...but not Him. He believes we can do it and He enables us to do so.

So I am going to be looking for ways to be kind and generous this Christmas. And you better know we'll be having some birthday cake on Christmas day, too...it IS a birthday party!!

Going Home

I'm on a Sara Groves kick....again :) I LOVE her music, her lyrics. This is "Going Home" --

I’ve been feeling kind of restless
I’ve been feeling out of place
I can hear a distant singing
A song that I can’t write
And it echoes of what I’m always trying to say

There’s a feeling I can’t capture
It’s always just a prayer away
I want to know the ending
Things hoped for but not seen
But I guess that’s the point of hoping anyway

Of going home, I’ll meet you at the table
Going home, I’ll meet you in the air
And you are never too young to think about it
Oh, I cannot wait to be home

I’m confined by my senses
To really know what you are like
You are more than I can fathom
And more than I can guess
And more than I can see with human sight

But I have felt you with my spirit
I have felt you fill this room
And this is just an invitation
Just a sample of the whole
And I cannot wait to be going home

Going home, I’ll meet you at the table
Going home, I’ll meet you in the air
And you are never too young to think about it
Oh, I cannot wait to be going, to be going home

Face to face, how can it be
Face to face, how can it be
Face to face, how can it be

Cuz this is just an invitation
Just a sample of the whole
And I cannot wait to be going home

New Perspective

Yesterday I ran out to pick up a pizza and took Christopher with me. I wasn't feeling all that great, mentally/emotionally. While I was out I ran into Walmart (not my favorite place to be on a Friday afternoon) because we were almost out of milk. I thought it would give me chance to look at booster seats for Riley, too, otherwise I probably would not have set foot in that place.

I walked to the back and looked at seats and didn't really see anything I liked. I started walking toward the milk and thought "well I don't know why I came in here...waste of time." About that time an elderly woman approached. She was walking slowly with one of those walkers with a basket on the front and she took notice of Christopher. He was smiling big as he usually does and she looked like she wanted to stop to interact with him, so I stopped. That happens sometimes when I'm with him...I'm used to it.

She said,"Look at that big smile. Are you going to go to Auburn one day?" I just said, "maybe so." I could see that her eyes were cloudy with cataracts. Then she asked me if I had signed him for a PAC college savings plan. I thought that was a little strange...kind of random. I said that our other kids had savings plans (really only Caeley does) but that we would set him up with one eventually. She said "well sometimes people forget about that or don't even know about it. I just wanted to make sure you knew."

I said thank you and we both started to walk our own ways. Then she stopped and said something I didn't understand, so I backed up and asked her to repeat.

She said,

"I am convinced that every time I do a kindness for someone, I increase His glory." 

She looked at me like she knew I would understand what she meant (I think there are lots of people who wouldn't get that and wouldn't know who the "Him" was). Once it sunk in what she said, I responded, "Oh absolutely...I completely agree."

She smiled and turned around and walked off. I headed to get the milk thinking that whole thing was really random. But I couldn't stop thinking about what she said and I noticed I felt much lighter than when I got there. I decided to go look for her - I didn't know what I would say if I found her - but she was nowhere to be found. I was like, God was she an angel or what - she couldn't move that fast with a walker ;)

Anyway, I got in the car, went to get the pizza, still thinking about what she said. I got in the car and turned the ipod on and Mighty to Save was on - "everyone needs compassion, the kindness of a savior." I started crying and cried all the way home. I'm still not sure why or what happened but I felt like the encounter was a defining moment and a real shift in perspective for me in some way. Something "clicked" inside me through all of it.

 I really don't know how to explain it and it probably sounds like such a benign encounter...guess you had to be there :)

The kindness of the Lord leads to repentance - Romans 2

Just an update...

It's been a busy month at the Pittman house. My colonoscopy came back normal...woohoo! My doctor put me on a gluten free diet for a few weeks, and I am not so much gluten free, but I am gluten lower :) I can't tell if it's helping but we'll see what he says in a couple of weeks when I go back. We have had both the stomach bug and strep throat over the last couple of weeks. And we celebrated Christopher's first birthday. He LOVED his cake and was covered in blue icing...it was so great!

Prayer request...

The weather has finally turned cold...YES!!! I am sitting here enjoying a hot mug of...chicken broth. That's not the way I want to finish that sentence. I would love to say coffee, hot chocolate, mocha or even chicken soup (like with other stuff in it, too). Most of us are recovering from a stomach virus...but by now I could probably eat some real food. I know I could eat some real food. The reason I am drinking broth is that I am on a liquid diet today in preparation for a colonoscopy tomorrow. I am so excited about it, too......not. I haven't been feeling all that great off and on for a while and have lost some weight without really exercising or changing my diet...so, due to our family history I get to have this fun procedure about 15 years premature. More than likely I have irritable bowel syndrome, but it's just wise to rule out other things before making that assumption. While I am not looking forward to it, I am also not afraid or nervous about it (at least not now). Maybe in the morning as the time approaches I might feel some apprehension...after all it's just not a natural thing to go through. Thankfully I will not be aware of what's happening. But what I do know is that whatever happens will serve me...in other words I am confident that it will draw me closer to God, and I will not bend or bow my faith or my heart to my circumstances. I don't serve my circumstances, but rather, my circumstances are servants to the Lord, who is sovereign over all things...including my little individual life. Having said that I still value your prayers, so if you are so inclined, please pray for me. Thank you!!!