Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year...

Close your eyes.... Think about this past year...
No matter what your thoughts on 2009 are...
it is now time to put them away- file them into memory...
learn from the mistakes...move forward with the successes.

God makes all things new....

"He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
~Revelation 21:5 Now that is something to celebrate!

God, Thank You for second chances to "get it right" and for still loving us, even if we botch it up again.


In His Dust,

DCC

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Tell It....

When people ask you how your Christmas was...
how about if you and I start telling them what The Birthday Boy, Himself, has done for all of us.

My first reaction is always to tell them what I got, or what I did, rather than what He has given me or what He has done.
I think that needs an adjustment, "Over the hills and everywhere."

God, Thank You for all You have done in my life, especially for coming to live among us, so we are all able to know You better.

In His Dust,
DCC

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Mary's Prayer...

"Mary’s Prayer"
God. O infant-God. Heaven’s fairest child.
Conceived by the union of divine grace with our disgrace. Sleep well.

Sleep well. Bask in the coolness of this night bright with diamonds. Enjoy the silence of the crib, for the noise of confusion rumbles in your future. Savor the sweet safety of my arms, for a day is soon coming when I cannot protect you.

Rest well, tiny hands. For though you belong to a king, you will touch no satin, own no gold. You will grasp no pen, guide no brush. No, your tiny hands are reserved for works more precious:
to touch a leper’s open wound,
to wipe a widow’s weary tear,
to claw the ground of Gethsemane.

Your hands, so tiny, so white—clutched tonight in an infant’s fist. They aren’t destined to hold a scepter nor wave from a palace balcony. They are reserved instead for a Roman spike that will staple them to a Roman cross.

Sleep deeply, tiny eyes. Sleep while you can. For soon the blurriness will clear and you will see the mess we have made of your world.

You will see our nakedness, for we cannot hide.

You will see our selfishness, for we cannot give.

You will see our pain, for we cannot heal.

sleep, please sleep; sleep while you can.

Lie still, tiny mouth. Lie still, mouth from which eternity will speak.

Tiny tongue that will soon summon the dead, that will define grace, that will silence our foolishness.

Rosebud lips—upon which ride a starborn kiss of forgiveness to those who believe you, and of death to those who deny you—lie still.

And tiny feet cupped in the palm of my hand, rest. For many difficult steps lie ahead for you.

Do you taste the dust of the trails you will travel?
Do you feel the cold seawater upon which you will walk?
Do you wrench at the invasion of the nail you will bear?

Rest, tiny feet. Rest today so that tomorrow you might walk with power. Rest. For millions will follow in your steps.


And little heart . . . holy heart . . . pumping the blood of life through the universe: How many times will we break you?

One day,you will find rest. Your hands will be freed, your eyes will see justice, your lips will smile, and your feet will carry you home.

And there you’ll rest again this time in the embra
ce of your Father.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God, thank you for loving us as only a parent can.

In His Dust,

DCC

Friday, December 25, 2009

Happy Birthday Jesus...


You had a rough start....

You had a rough finish...

But You did it anyway.
You did it for love.
You did it for each and every one of us.

Happy Birthday Jesus.
I love you very much.

In His Dust,
DCC

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Santa on Christmas Eve...

"It is written: As surely as I live, says The Lord,
Every knee will bow before Me;
Every tongue will confess to God." ~Romans 14:11
Santa's prayer

The sleigh was was all packed, the reindeer were fed,
But Santa still knelt by the side of his bed.

“Dear Father, ” he prayed, “Be with me tonight.
There’s much work to do and my schedule is tight.
My sack will hold toys to grant all kids’ wishes.
The supply will be endless like the loaves and the fishes.

I can do all these things, Lord, only through You.
I just need your blessing, then it’s easy to do.

I do this only to honor the birth of the One,
That was sent to redeem us, Your most Holy Son.
So to all of my friends, lest Your glory I rob,
Please, Lord, remind them who gave me this job.”


God, please remind them when they dream of Santa tonight,
that You are the reason He is out taking flight.
May his gifts and the presents remind them of You...
and the presence you gave when God sent you.
Merry Christmas everybody-

In His Dust,
DCC

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Gabriel Questions...

Gabriel must have scratched his head at this one.
He wasn’t one to question his God-given missions.
Sending fire and dividing seas were all in an eternity’s work for this angel.
When God sent, Gabriel went.

When word got out that God was to become man, Gabriel was enthused.

He could envision the moment:
The Messiah in a blazing chariot.
The King descending on a fiery cloud.
An explosion of light from which the Messiah would emerge.

That’s what he expected. What he never expected, however, was what he got:
a slip of paper with a Nazarene address. “God will become a baby,” it read.

“Tell the mother to name the child Jesus. And tell her not to be afraid.”

Gabriel was never one to question, but this time he had to wonder.

God will become a baby? Gabriel had seen babies before. He had been platoon leader on the bulrush operation. He remembered what little Moses looked like.

That’s okay for humans, he thought to himself. But God?

The heavens can’t contain Him; how could a body? Besides, have you seen what comes out of those babies? Hardly befitting for the Creator of the universe. Babies must be carried and fed, bounced and bathed. To imagine some mother burping God on her shoulder—that was beyond what even an angel could imagine.

And what of this name—what was it—Jesus? Such a common name. There’s a Jesus in every cul-de-sac. Come on, even Gabriel has more punch to it than Jesus. Call the baby Eminence or Majesty or Heaven-sent. Anything but Jesus.

But Gabriel had his orders. Take the message to Mary. Must be a special girl, he assumed as he traveled. But Gabriel was in for another shock. One peek told him Mary was no queen. The mother-to-be of God was not regal.

She was a Jewish peasant who’d barely outgrown acne and had a crush on a guy named Joe.

And speaking of Joe—what does this fellow know? Might as well be a weaver in Spain or a cobbler in Greece. He’s a carpenter. Look at him over there, sawdust in his beard and nail apron around his waist. You’re telling me God is going to have dinner every night with him?

You’re telling me The Source of Wisdom is going to call this guy “Dad?”

You’re telling me a common laborer is going to be charged with giving food to God?

It was all Gabriel could do to keep from turning back. “This is a peculiar idea you have, God,” he must have muttered to himself.

******************
Are we still stunned by God’s coming? Still staggered by the event? Does Christmas still spawn the same speechless wonder it did two thousand years ago?

Only heaven knows how long Gabriel fluttered unseen above Mary before he took a breath and broke the news. But he did. He told her the name. He told her the plan. He told her not to be afraid. And when he announced, “With God nothing is impossible!” he said it as much for himself as for her.
-Max Lucado"Gabriel's Questions"

God, thank You for using the ordinary to bring the extraordinairy.


In His Dust,
DCC

Monday, December 21, 2009

If We Remembered...

Imagine...
How cool would it be if we remembered.

If we remembered what we were stopping to celebrate for...
What we are taking a few days off for...
What the traffic was all about...
What the parades were for...
What the lights were blinking about...
Why there was no school...
What the giggles were for...
What the wrapping paper wadded up at the curb was from....
Why there were football games on during a work day...
Why the jolly old bearded man is pulling reindeer across the globe...
Why people wearing red velvet hats with a white fuzzy ball on is ok.

If we remembered Who came to live among us...

Us.

He Came Near.

God, Thank You for coming to live among us.

In His Dust,
DCC

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Indescribable...

"Joseph was the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus. Jesus is called the Christ." -Matthew 1:16

In one moment, a promise from heaven came,

that God would use her to send His Son.


Why did God use these people? He didn't have to.

Couldn't He have just laid the Savior on a doorstep.
Would have been simpler that way. And why does God tell us their stories?...

Simple.... He wants us to know He can use all of us...any of us.

No more worries. Time for rest. Time for rescue. Time for a redeemer.

Through Jesus, God announced and is still announcing, to a doubtful world,

"See, I did it. Just like I said I would."

God, Thank You for Your indescribable gift.

In His Dust,

DCC

Friday, December 18, 2009

Presence...

He wants Your PRESENCE...not your PRESENTS.

So, no matter you bring, or if you bring anything at all...
Just show up.
He will be there, waiting for you.

God, Thank you for not asking anything of us- but our hearts.


In His Dust,
DCC
*Cartoon by Cuyler Black

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Christ In Me...

CHRIST IN ME
by Max Lucado

Like Mary, you and I are indwelt by Christ.

Find that hard to believe? How much more did Mary? No one was more surprised by this miracle than she was. And no one more passive than she was. God did everything. Mary didn't volunteer to help. What did she have to offer? She offered no assistance.


And she offered no resistance. Instead she said, "Behold, the bond- slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).

Unlike Mary, we tend to assist God, assuming our part is as important as his. Or we resist, thinking we are too bad or too busy. Yet when we assist or resist, we miss God's great grace. We miss out on the reason we were placed on earth-to be so pregnant with heaven's child that he lives through us. To be so full of him that we could say with Paul, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." (Gal. 2:20)

What would that be like? To have a child within is a miracle, but to have Christ within?

To have my voice, but him speaking.
My steps, but Christ leading.
My heart, but his love beating
in me, through me, with me.
What's it like to have Christ on the inside?

To tap his strength when mine expires
or feel the force of heaven's fires
raging, purging wrong desires.
Could Christ become my self entire?

So much him, so little me
That in my eyes it's him they see.
What's it like to a Mary be?
No longer I, but Christ in me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
God, Thank You for dwelling within each and every one of us.

In His Dust,
DCC

Monday, December 14, 2009

Christmas Fish...

So, I'm driving around with this on the back bumper of my car...

Now, usually, I just embarrass Jesus with my impatient driving with the "regular fish."
However, being a special time of year...I have taken it up a notch and am reminding everyone as I speed by them honking...and glaring because they are not driving fast enough...that I am remembering "The Reason For The Season."


When I roll my eyes in HEB because they are not checking me out fast enough...I walk to the car that has....The Fishes.

Clearly, I need at least the Christmas Fish staring at ME, from my dashboard. I am the one who needs reminding. Not the people behind me.

God, Thank You for reminding me, every time I pass by my bumper, that Christmas requires no rushing.

In His Dust,

DCC

Friday, December 11, 2009

A Place For Us...

At the first ever Christmas pageant...
"Oh, I'm afraid not Jesus, you are too old to play yourself in the manger.
Would you like to hand out programs?"
God, Thank You for making a place for all of us....no matter what.
In His Dust,
DCC
*cartoon by Cuyler Black

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Just Another Month...

Imagine if this month, was just another month.....
If the "25th," was just another day....
If BC didn't mean, Before Christ...
No lights...
No bells...
No Santa...
No Christmas songs...

God, Thank You for what you did on Christmas.
For changing our EVERYTHING...by sending YOUR EVERYTHING.

In His Dust,

DCC

P.S. I am fully aware that Jesus was not born on the 25th of December. Just go with it.

Monday, December 7, 2009

The Throne...


Head to the mall...park....walk...
stand in line...
wait...wait some more....
jump up on Santa's his lap....
Tell him what we want...
Smile for the camera....
or not...

Simple right?
I am a fan and supporter of Santa,which is not always popular in Christian circles. However, I do not care.
I believe Santa is a Jesus fan.
I never forget Who really sits on The Throne.
God, please remind us at all times....YOU are sitting on the throne...
YOU are delivering the gifts. Thank You for all of these things, which we deserve none of.
In His Dust,
DCC

Friday, December 4, 2009

Direction...

"Two wise men and their brother Dwayne."
It sure is easy to get caught up in the sales, the lights and the weather...
make sure you are heading in the right direction this season.
God, Thank You for Your Direction...teach us to follow closely.
In His Dust,
DCC

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

My Momo...


"She gets up while it's still dark and provides food for her family." Proverbs 31:15
"She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue"
Proverbs 31:26
"She watches over the affairs of her household" Proverbs 31:27
"she is clothed with strength and dignity.
she can laugh at the days to come" Proverbs 31:25
"she is clothed in fine linen and purple" Proverbs 31:22b

"Many women do noble things Momo, but you surpass them all" Proverbs 31:29

"Grandchildren are the crown of the aged" Proverbs 17:6

God, Thank You for giving me a grandmother that is stronger than steel...with the gentleness of a feather and the manners of Emily Post. Her generosity and thoughtfulness stand a head above the rest. Her selflessness is something to see. She is my steel magnolia.
She is one of the main reasons, I know, we are surely made in Your Image.

Happy Birthday to My Momo, I love you so much I can hardly stand it.
Thank you for the role model you are to me and for always having room in your "lap" for me.

In His Dust,

DCC