When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter....

I'll admit that amid the joys of parenting there have--from time to time--been moments of frustration as well.  Moments that remind me of that line in the Christmas poem "when out on the lawn there arose such a clatter".  Literally.  Like the boys are actually fighting in the front yard.  Moments that have driven me to shut myself inside the laundry room (no one ever looks there) and eat a chocolate bar.  Sometimes when my kids call my name--"MOM!!!"--I reply, "She left!"  It doesn't work, just so you know.  They know too well the sound of my voice.

John 10:4-5 says, "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."

Ah, to know the voice of the Shepherd.

Can I be honest that I started the Christmas season this year a little grumpy?  I don't know why exactly.  The weather.  The traffic.  The calendar.  On December 1 I got down on my knees and poured it all out to God, that I desperately did not want to be this season's Grinch and I most certainly was not interested in a whole month of a fake-it-till-you-make-it attitude.  That evening we attended the Christmas party of some dear friends and there--amid the clatter--came the voice of Christ.  It wasn't anything huge or expensive or glittery.  It was simply His presence lived out in those around me, the reassurance in that time and place that He was there.  My head turned and I followed immediately.

That's my prayer for you this season, that you would hear the voice of Christ.  Beyond the lights that sparkle and the trees that gleam.  Among the crowds in the stores and above the joyful noise of each holiday party.  As you look over your calendar and plan your menu....

His voice.

Let us follow it, each and everyone of us.  Amen.

XOXO...Kelly