I am honored and humbled to be invited to speak at upcoming Baptist Women’s Banquet. These women do some amazing mission work! If you are in the Charlotte area, please come out and support their ministry.
Category Archives: For Women
Christmas Day Reflections
Christmas Day.
That day of the year when all the excitement, anticipation, and expectation of the recent weeks comes to fruition.
Families and friends will gather. Songs will be sung. Stories will be told. Gifts will be exchanged. Meals will be shared. Common family traditions, held each Christmas season to honor of the memories of Christmases past and to hold on to the hope of those that are to come.
Friends and family have left to go back to their homes and their own celebrations. With the last good-bye the voices and laughter are gone, replaced by an unwelcomed quiet.
The beautiful bows and wrappings lie crumpled on the floor. The sink is piled with dishes. Only a couple glasses and some used napkins remain on the table as a reminder of the meal that was lovingly prepared and excitedly enjoyed. The Lady makes her way back to the kitchen, to the pots and pans waiting there for her. She will stand at her sink and wash each one; almost with the same love as when she filled them with the makings of the meal she prepared just hours earlier. And, as she does so, she reflects and remembers other years, other Christmas meals. There are some tears but mostly smiles. More likely than not, a chuckle or two as she recalls a funny word or the antics of a child.
With the last pot scrubbed and put away and the dish towels hung to dry, she will look around, hoping to spot something more to do; not yet ready for her hands or her mind to be idle. She is not ready for the total silence she knows is waiting for her – not yet. Just as with the shopping, decorating, gift-wrapping and all the planning, this is part of her own Christmas Tradition. It is a tradition handed down from her mother and her mother before her. More than any of the traditions, this is the one most difficult to let go of, because it is the one that bonds her to her cherished memories of Christmases past.
But, as with all days, this one too must finally be allowed to end. The Lady takes the stairs toward the world of sleep. With her head resting on the pillow, she realizes, with some surprise, just how tired she is. A few more moments of reflection lead her to offer up a prayer of praise and gratitude for her many blessings and a petition for her loved ones; especially those far away or for some other reason were missing from the celebration.
At last, though somewhat reluctantly, she gives in to the quiet and allows the sleep to come. As her mind drifts into it’s slumber, one final thought remains – “will there be another”?
Merry Christmas 2018
Sandra
Advent Study
PREPARING FOR ADVENT
For those of you who are in the Charlotte area: Heart2Heart Ministry is offering the Max Lucado Advent study “BECAUSE OF BETHLEHEM”. The study is open to all women. See registration information below.
“No one expected God to come to this earth the way He did. The One who made everything made Himself nothing. He experienced hunger and thirst. He went through the normal stages of human development. He was taught to walk, stand and wash his face. He was genuinely human.”
In the midst of your hectic Christmas season, Max Lucado urges you to remember these truths and to rekindle your connection to the Christ of Christmas. To lay down your Christmas to do list and receive what Jesus has already done. And to heal your heartache by embracing the God who is always near you, always for you, and always in you.
Because Of Bethlehem is a four session study designed to help us prepare our hearts for Christmas.
Study Group meets each Wednesday
Calvary Baptist Church – Fellowship Hall
10301 Harwood Ln, Charlotte, NC 28214
10:30 AM until Noon
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE REGISTRATION FORM
Heart2Heart Ministry is not a ministry of Calvary Baptist Church. Our thanks to Calvary Baptist Church for making facilities available to us for this study.
