Merry Christmas from the Long's 2018

Merry Christmas from the Long’s!

What a year it has been!  It feels like just yesterday that I was writing our last holiday letter.  Actually, that’s a lie.  I barely remember what actually happened yesterday let alone a year from now.  Kids kill brain cells you know….

Speaking of kids, ours are great!  Michael is in 6^th grade and handling middle school like a champ.  He’s in beginning band this year, playing percussion.  On top of soccer and piano lessons that means he makes a whole lot of noise and beats on stuff a bunch.  His other favorite hobby is asking for a phone.  Our favorite hobby is saying no. 

Blake is in 5^th grade and ready to move out of elementary school.  We can tell because of how often he refers to everyone around him as “idiots”.  He enjoys guitar lessons and also playing soccer.  His first love is hunting, though, and if we’d just let him move to the deer lease like he’s asked he could do it all the time.  And be around less idiots.

Zachary is in 3^rd grade, is teaching himself the ukulele (seriously) and still loves playing, well, anything with a ball.  Or without a ball.  Did you know you can even compete at blinking?  It’s true.  I bet you’re losing right now.  Zachary is smart and bright and funny and caring.  And currently beating you at blinking.

Parker is in 1^st grade.  He loves reading and not following directions at home.  This fall he played on a flag football team and did not love it.  We can’t blame him.  Have you seen some of those flag football parents?  They are crazy.  Lots of talent out there, but also lots that can’t tie their own shoes. 

Kevin (still bearded) is still with his firm, Oldenettel & Long.  He says and does lots of important lawyer-y stuff.  In his free time he scoops leaves and small snakes from the pool.  We celebrate 15 years of marriage this month!  The magic is still there, folks.  I mean, when I hear him argue with people on the internet he may or may not even know, well…..  I’ll just stop there.  This is a family letter after all.

I am still on staff at our church, Foundry UMC.  In my free time I’ve really committed to Netflix.  I don’t mean just watching an occasional show, but really connecting with several fictional and non-fictional characters I will never meet.  It’s a whole different kind of rewarding to lose yourself in the drama of Britain’s royal family when you’ve been listening to the sideline commentary of 1^st and 2^nd grade flag football parents for several weekends in a row.

And so in the middle of all this madness and joy we come to Christmas!  I love what my devotional said this morning….”Advent is an invitation to perceive. Christmas calls us to look again” (Matt LeRoy).  We look again at the year behind us—remembering the good with the bad!—and see Christ at work in so many ways.  And we look again to the future—always hoping & sometimes questioning—and are assured He will be there.  May you and your family rest in this same peace now, and in the New Year ahead!

XOXO….Kevin, Kelly, Michael, Blake, Zachary and Parker

Pictured from left to right:

Zachary (currently winning at picture-taking)

Parker (tied his own shoes...JK...they're velcro)

Michael (so much 6th grade swagger we don't even know where to begin)

Blake (solely responsible for the 15 shots it took us to get one decent picture together)

Kevin & Kelly (making a list of cocktails to try when the boys move out one day)

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
 

Like a fish out of water...

My Monday morning walk took a bizarre turn this week when a friend and I happened upon--of all things--a fish on the sidewalk near my home.  

We figured either Sharknado was 'bout to happen or a large bird had dropped it mid-flight.  At 1pm that afternoon the fish was still on the sidewalk and, we discovered, still alive!  Feeling slightly guilty for having let the poor thing suffer so long, Blake and I filled a bucket with water and transported it to a nearby creek where it swam away.

 

(He's a cute little wildlife conservationist, isn't he??)

That fish laid on the sidewalk for 5 hours, still and seemingly lifeless.  There's no telling how far down it fell when it landed there.  But you should have seen it when we dropped it in the water!  Its gills moved and fins fluttered.  It's head searched for the direction of the current and righted immediately.  That fish found life again.

In the book of John it's recorded that Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well and offers her living water.  

"Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”  The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”  John 4:4-15

Y'all, there are so many souls living in a fish-out-of-water state everyday.  If I'm honest even I find myself there on a pretty regular basis, where I am half-full of the life God wants for me and sorely out of place.  But friends, there is living water that can revive us the way the creek near my house revived that fish.  There is a Savior that not only quenches our thirst, but rejuvenates us completely, who removes us from the dry, cold ground and sets us free to swim again.

The most beautiful part of this passage in John is how Jesus goes on in this conversation to name this woman's sin.  He asks her to go and bring her husband back to him, knowing that she is not married, and she confesses the truth to him (verses 15-18).  At first glance maybe it looks like Jesus is being unkind, taunting her with a promise and then reminding her of her past.  But as the account continues "The woman said, "I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes he will explain everything to us."  Then Jesus declared, "I--the one speaking to you--I am He."  (verses 25-26)

Here Jesus declares who He is.  Not a prophet with limited wisdom or vision, but the One True God who sees her and knows her and offers her life.  In those times no man would have spoken so freely with a woman, let alone a Samaritan woman.  But the life that Christ offers is not limited by world says we can do, or what society says we deserve.  And her encounter with Jesus would not only change the course of her own life, but the lives of many more because of her testimony (verse 39).

Christ sees you.  He sees your struggle.  Your past.  Your present frustrations.  And He comes to you anyway.  Because the life He wants for you--for any of us--is not cold.  It is not misplaced.  It is not devoid of hope.  It is, rather, eternal.  And it is not just rescue, but it is rebirth.  For you, and for all those who will hear the Good Word He has put into your life.  

So swim, friends.  Swim.

XOXO....Kelly   

        

Bad gifts

The holiday season is just around the corner.  I overheard someone talking the other day about Christmas shopping.  Arg.  Let's just leave that right there for now....  But it did make me think.  Have you ever received a really terrible gift?  One year for Christmas I bought my mom a musical coffee mug.  Every time you lifted it up it played Christmas music.  This was a terrible gift because (a) my mom did not drink coffee and (b) every time you lifted it up it played Christmas music.  The dogs kept knocking it over while it was wrapped and under the tree and music would come from out of nowhere.

What's a person to do when they receive a bad gift?  If you're a mother and your wonderful middle daughter has spent her very own money on a musical mug I think you just accept it and wait for the day when said mug "mysteriously disappears".  But there are some bad gifts you don't have to accept...

I love what my good friend Jennifer Patrick says about not accepting bad gifts from others.  Comments, opinions and criticisms that we are all going to hear about ourselves at one point or another, from friends and enemies alike.  Jennifer says to think of this sort of feedback as a gift.  You either accept it or you don't.  Once you've accepted it you have to do something with it.  Do you believe in it?  Carry it around with you?  Let the words change you?  

Or do you recognize those words for what they are--a bad gift--and simply say, "No, thank you. I just don't have room something like that right now."

There is great freedom in accepting the grace Christ offers you, not because you are perfect.  Not because you may ever get to perfect!  But because He loves you, He died for you, and He has a purpose for you.  

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29

Anything less is a musical coffee mug for someone who doesn't drink coffee.  And you, my friend, simply don't have to accept it.

XOXO....Kelly 

*Interested in more life-affirming words for yourself, your friends and family?  In a world full of misleading thoughts and "bad gifts" we all need a reminder about where our truth comes from.  Contact Jennifer Patrick at jpatrickcomm@sbcglobal.net about hosting a Soul Book Gathering, a unique experience in creating art from the heart and finding your truth!  

Jesus is my candidate....

It's nearing election time in Texas, which, as per usual, has left me feeling a little frustrated.  Candidates that fall short on each side.  Voter opinion that falls just as short.  Media in the middle mucking the whole thing up!  I may be prepared to back someone with my vote, but decidedly not with my hope.  Because in today's political climate (and social and financial) I fear we are really all just going to be swimming in circles until Jesus comes!!

Isaiah 26 says "We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts" (vs.1).  As I think about this country, my state, city and community, I know I fortunate to be where I am.  The history laid before us, of service and sacrifices made by so many.  Though we are far from perfect, we know how far we've come.  We must protect that.  And yet....

Our world is fragile.  The buildings in which we live and work and worship are just that.  Brick and mortar and stone built by man and just as easily undone.  In God alone do we have what outlasts.  In God alone do we find salvation.  In God alone do we find peace. 

"Lord, YOU establish peace for us, all that we have accomplished you have done for us" (vs. 12).  

I don't know who your candidate of choice is for the upcoming elections, but regardless of who you vote for, you have a God that outlasts.  You have a God that builds walls that do not come down, a God of salvation, order and peace.  You have a God that says politics be damned, do what is right.  Love your neighbor.  Serve your community.  Seek justice.  Live in peace.  For no man or woman in any place of power may take these away when God has given them to you.

Your vote counts, friends.  But your faith counts greater.  

XOXO....Kelly 

Snake pants, 5 years later...

In my first blog post here 5 1/2 years ago, I wrote about a pair of snake-printed skinny pants I had mustered up the courage to put on after 6 years of being pregnant and having babies.  The pants, for me, became kind of a symbol.  A moving on from one phase into another, as my oldest started kindergarten and our youngest was...well...the last.  And a reminder, that the clothes on the outside of us are nothing compared to the peace of God that dwells within.

Those pants are still in my drawer.  I got to thinking about them the other day, maybe because I haven't worn them in a while.  (The peace of God is still certainly hanging around, but the waistline doesn't look exactly the same.)  This year my oldest starts middle school, so onward we go, into a new phase with new challenges and new opportunities.  The more we move on, the more joy I receive from getting to know God's peace....

My peace I leave you, my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:26

You see, God's peace is not always ideal.  Sometimes the soul is tired.  Sometimes the soul is angry.  Sometimes the soul cannot see the path in front of it.  But His peace is constant.  It is faithful.  And when all the world around me is screaming, it is the whisper that keeps me balanced.

God's peace is also a promise.  When we cannot see it, cannot feel it, are not sure it is there...it is in these moments that Christ invites us to call out to Him, that we might receive His peace not as we might expect the world to give us a gift, but as He might give one.

I pray you peace for the road ahead, friends.  I pray for ups and downs that bring you closer to God, that acquaint more with his sovereignty, his mercy, his grace.  I pray for my kiddos as they begin a new school year, and for each teacher and staff member that will cross their paths and shape their minds.  I pray for myself!  May I be equipped to handle the road ahead of me, both seen and unseen, with God's help.  May I be a instrument of His good and perfect will.  

And just in case it helps....may I also be able to get into those snake pants again some day soon.....

XOXO--Kelly

Blake's most recent snake encounter, a rattler he encountered at the deer lease.  Don't worry...no pants were harmed in the killing of this snake.  

    

We have a sink hole.

Not too long after we moved into our home two years ago, we discovered what appears to be a small-ish sink hole in our back yard.  It's about 4 feet deep and a foot wide at the top.  It's flagged, of course, so no boy falls in it, and we check it daily for any potentially curious dachshunds.  We've talked to the county, to plumbers, to the neighbor next door as we try to figure out what to do about it, and have attempted to fill it on two or three occasions only to have it slowly reappear again over time.  I fear until we figure out what's lacking in the ground underneath we will never successfully fill that hole.  

And so with our hearts....

As God did create us, He also created within us a need for Him, as the source of our salvation, as the wellspring of peace and guidance.  It's a "Jesus-shaped hole" as my good friend Craig likes to say, and it exists in each one of us.  You can feel it on any given day, the presence of that hole.  It's what twinges when we hear others hurl insults at one another.  It's what weeps when the news reports another tragic school shooting.  It's what keeps us from sleep at night when we are struggling at home or at work.

So as only we know how we try to fill that hole.  Some fixes are good....vacation, home improvement, a new hair style, working out.  Some are not....alcohol, drugs, pornography.  None are permanent.  None are everlasting.  The only fix for our Jesus-shaped holes is Jesus himself.

It occurs to me as my kids get older how many things the world offers them to try to satisfy their longings.  It's a phone one week and a video game the next.  It's this activity and that one.  It's a test score, a pair of shoes, a sleepover with a friend.  And while--like I said--so many of these things are not all bad on the surface, if the foundation is not in Jesus Christ--a hole will always be there.  And the less Jesus they are offered the more they will try to fill that hole with something else.

Offer them Jesus.
Let Jesus be offered to us.

When I said, "My foot is slipping," your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. Psalm 94:18-19

It is the joy of knowing that Christ dwells within us, the joy of salvation in Him, the joy of doing his will that supports us and sustains us.  Whatever else fills our days and our moments, if it is not His joy that is the foundation we'll be dumping dirt into that hole for years to come.

In the meantime, we'll keep checking our sink hole for dachshunds.  And neighborhood cats.  And eventually probably small automobiles if we can't get this thing figured out pretty quickly.....

XOXO....Kelly