Christmas Lagniappe

This post will contain a few different topics, kind of like a Lagniappe. I have decided not to put together an official Newsletter for Christmas, but if I had, this would be what it would include.

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Malachi and I have been married for 4 wonderful years. When we tell people how we met and how long after that we married we get the “deer in head light” look. I had just been moved from the ICU to a Crisis Stabilization Unit after my suicide attempt. I had been committed, so the decision to get mental help was made for me. I must point out that in the state of Mississippi it is illegal to attempt suicide so I only had two options, go to jail, or get treatment in an inpatient facility. However, I was not given the ability to choose this for myself, and was committed to the State of Mississippi against my will. (It all turned out to Glorify God anyways!)

After waking up in the ICU I came to know Jesus…the real one. You see, before I decided to take my own life, I believed in a false Jesus. The Jesus I believed in was one I was taught about from childhood. This Jesus was a fun loving God who didn’t seem to care if we lived in blatant sin even after confessing to be saved. I was never taught Biblical Truths or expected to live by them even if I didn’t “feel” like it. Purity may have been spoken as a Godly virtue that was commanded by God, but never actually displayed in real life. I was considered saved and could now do as I pleased with my “get out of hell free card”. What a lie from the pits of hell that is!

My very first night at the CSU was a long one. I was finally coming to the realization of who I had offended my entire life…God Almighty! Some may try and take ownership over being offended by what I had done, but the offense was to God and no one else. It was HE I would answer to and no one else. This was hard for me to process because everyone around me, family and friends, tried to make my suicide attempt about them. They all wanted to remind me of how it had hurt them and affected them, but NO ONE mentioned anything about how it had offended God. No one offered any Biblical encouragement, nor were they concerned with the condition of my soul. Did they even care that had I died I would be in hell? I am sure some family members would disagree, but only I know what kind of relationship I had with Christ, and I can tell you, there wasn’t one, except that of rejection. Although it may have appeared at times that I was a Christian I can tell you I rejected Him in my heart and by God’s standard I was NO Christian.

A very sweet nurse noticed my distress and tried to comfort me. Shortly after I began to tell her of my trials, she recommended that I speak to someone she felt better suited to help me. A few moments later a young man with long hair and a coffee cup in his hand sat down in a chair next to me. After introducing himself he asked me how he could help. I just began to talk, and talk, and talk. I spoke with him from 12am to 5am, all the while being supervised by the nurse who introduced us. He encouraged me using scripture, not some psycho babble hogwash. This person was Malachi. The doctor’s could not figure out what was wrong with me, and when I mentioned anything about God, they dismissed it. I was eventually sent to the State Hospital because the doctors and social workers determined that I did not have a good support system to return home to.

I spent a couple weeks at the State Hospital and Malachi visited me every weekend. Once I was released and it was determined that all I had was an “Adjustment Disorder”, I had to find a place to live within a week. I did find a place, a little 400sqft cottage facing the beach. It was shortly after this that the Lord began to prepare my heart to be Malachi’s bride. I didn’t mention anything of this to him though. Right before Thanksgiving Malachi proposed and we were married a few weeks later on 20 December 2004. (We met 17 October 2004)

We have faced many trials in four years, but all have brought us closer to God, each other and have brought Glory to God. We both have a heart to reach the lost and proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord over all. The Lord is the reason we live and I know this first hand. It is HE who daily gives me the breath I breathe. He is the One who provides for us and sustains us each and every day! No one can take credit for my miraculous healing except God Himself Who raises men from the dead. No one can take credit for the manner in which I live my life because it was God who revealed the Truth of His Word to me by His Holy Spirit. I am forever thankful that the Lord kept me in His grasp so that I could meet Malachi and become the wife and mother I was created to be. To God be all the Glory!

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The celebration of our Lord’s physical birth is upon us. I am sure we all know that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25^th, but that he was more likely born in the spring or summer time. The reason we know this is because the Sheppard’s were feeding the sheep at night, which would only be done if it were too hot during the day. There are various explanations for why we celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25^th, here are two of the most popular ones and the truth may be somewhere in the middle.

*In an attempt to connect with the pagan people they (The Catholics, only because that’s all there were at the time) were proselytizing to they chose days to celebrate Christians holidays that were significant to the pagans

*In an attempt to “breed out” or “dilute” the pagan holidays, they injected Christian themes into the days that were significant to the pagans.

These are two of the popular reasons that Christians traditionally celebrated Christ’s birth on December 25^th. Are Christians required to celebrate “Christmas”, absolutely not. The celebration of Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection should be celebrated each day by living out God’s Word. There are people who choose not to celebrate Christmas because it is linked with pagan holidays. We all need to keep in mind that the names of our days have pagan origins as well. We cannot simply change the names of the days now can we? What we can do is continue to live a life that Glorifies the Lord regardless what day it is. If you are interested in more information about the origins of Christmas you can go here.

With all that said, if you choose as a Christian to celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25^th, then make it ALL about Him. Do not incorporate anything else that would distract from celebrating our Savior’s birth. As I have stated before, Santa Claus has no place in Christmas, as far as the Christian life is concerned. Lying to children for the fun of it is in no way bringing Glory to God. You can read what I have to say on the Lie of Santa here and here.

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There are a few more articles I would like to include in this post. One is about Christian women in the military. I can speak from experience that this is not the place for Christian women, especially if they truly want to live a life pleasing to God. It is just not an environment conducive to Biblical Womanhood and I don’t think it was ever intended to be. Another article that I would like to share is about birth control. I whole heartedly agree with what is written in this blog and encourage those who read it to follow the links to the medical studies.

If you are looking for some yummy recipes for Christmas I have the perfect one for breakfast! I made the best muffins last year and am sold on making them every year! (so is Malachi!) You can find the recipe here. The place where I got that recipe has other recipes for Christmas if you would like to check those out too.

The Hillbilly Housewife has some great recipe ideas for Christmas cookies. I always enjoy her recipes. Crystal over at Biblical Womanhood has a great recipe for Christmas Morning Biscuit Twists. They look so yummy, I think I will make these too!

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We can all start feeling less than perfect during the holidays. You may visit family or go to a friend’s house for Christmas day or New Year’s Eve and feel guilty that your home isn’t all festively beautiful and in order. (I am feeling this way these days) Jess wrote a great blog of encouragement on this very topic. Everyone leaves things undone, so “don't heap on guilt because you don't have whatever someone else has or aren't doing what someone else does.” Crystal over at Biblical Womanhood also comments on Jess’ blog post. You can read it here.

Mrs. Fuentes has written an awesome blog on The Perfect Christmas Gift. We are all in need of Salvation, so we should always live a life that reflects Christ in us for the goal of winning souls for the Lord.

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If you are like me, you aren’t out of the house much to listen to the radio. I do enjoy listening to Christian music, but also value listening to the Truth being spoken on the air waves as well. Because I am a stay at home mother and hardly ever go out by myself in the car, the internet has been a huge blessing to me. I recently started listening to Dr. Albert Mohler online. He has a wonderful program that touches on many current affairs within the Christian community. If you are interested you can download the podcasts here. You can also check out his website and blog.

If you have plans of taking in a movie over the holidays, then you will benefit from checkingout Plugged In Online. Malachi and I use this all the time to make sure that movies are Christian friendly. This is a great resource to have bookmarked.

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If you are a “Homemaker” like me, then you sometimes become discouraged by how our culture demonizes us. My very good friend Sarah has written a wonderful blog on being “Happy at Home”. I encourage every Homemaker out there to go over and read it. Thanks Sarah for posting it!

I have many blog posts on this very subject. Feel free to rummage through them.

I do pray that tomorrow when you awake that you will make every effort to make Jesus the focus of the day. If you have incorporated Santa and now find that you should, not to worry. Teaching our children humility is also a wonderful Godly virtue. God honors those who honor Him. Each day is a new day to Honor God, so let’s all get crackin’!

Serving God and My Family,

Crystal <>< (SAHM)