Christmas is the season of giving. So Christmas must also be the season of receiving.

As I think about receiving in my life, three instances rise to the surface.

1. The Christmas gift from my parents when I was in junior high, a princess phone. It was the first time our family had a second phone in our home and it was going in my bedroom. With this gift, my parents acknowledged who I am, someone who loves being in connection with her friends. Bill (my husband) has often said that my spiritual gift is telephone. Receiving this gift was easy.
2. It was my sophomore year of college when I received the gift of eternal life. It was explained to me from John 1:12, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-” (RSV). I had always believed in God, but for the first time I understood the connection of believing and receiving. That night I prayed to receive Jesus into my heart. Christianity was more than my religion, by receiving it became a relationship with the living God.
3. Oh, you shouldn’t have contrasted with grateful receiving. I often heard those italicized words growing up. Receiving is hard. Last Christmas a friend was sharing Christmas with us. Of course we had gifts for him. His humble receiving was manna for our souls.

Did each of these receivings lead to transformation or was it merely a transaction?

Although I didn’t know the concept of transformation as a young teen, I look back and see that gift of a princess phone as a transformational experience. My parents knew me and by their gift, they acknowledged who I am.

The second scenario was definitely transforming. Again, I would not have used that word, but that evening was a proverbial transformational stake in the ground. And the beginning of many transformations on my spiritual journey.

Receiving is humbling. Our friend’s humble receiving of our gifts brought greater joy to our Christmas celebration. A bit of transformation happened that Christmas morning.

Mary, the mother of Jesus demonstrates humble receiving.

“And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord;
let it be to me according to your word.”
Luke 1:38

After a lengthy discussion with the angel Gabriel, Mary humbly surrendered to his words. She received God’s plan for her life. Transformation happened.

Andrew, my cousin’s son, created this wonderful picture of Mary that is the cover for the 2018 Advent Devotional for Presbyterians Today, a publication of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The way Mary’s head is bowed in submission speaks to me of her receiving the will of God. Mary was destined to be the mother of Jesus. And in the process, Mary didn’t just agree to a transaction, she was transformed by God. (To see more of Andrew’s work, click here.)

I want that to be my response; I want to be a receiver as I hear God’s whispers to me. I want transformation to be reality for me.

Jesus is a receiver.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.”
John 15:9

Jesus received God’s love for him and is able to pass it on this transformational reality to us.

I cannot give what I have not received.
I want to receive God’s love daily
so I experience transformation and can pass it on.

Often life is hard. Receiving is painful. Ann Voskamp challenges me with her words, “But it’s not about growing tough enough to take what life throws at you: it’s about staying open enough to all of life to simply receive it.” The Way of Abundance, p. 32. She is referring to receiving what life throws at us knowing that it has first passed through the hand of God and allowing this hard to be transformational.

“If we do not transform our pain,
we will most assuredly transmit it.”
Richard Rohr

Whether receiving a gift, receiving eternal life, or receiving the hards that come our way, receiving is a gift back to the giver. Receiving is transformation.

Each week during Advent I plan to continue the thought of the blog in the personal note I write to the ones who sign up to follow Echoes of Grace. You can do so on this site, or email me sue@suetell.com and I will sign you up.

Also, I’ll share a scripture, a question, and a prayer for you to continue to ponder … like Mary … on your own. See below.

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A scripture to meditate on this Advent, John 1:16, NLT: “From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.”

A question to ask: How can I be a receiver of the blessings God has for me this Advent season?

A prayer to pray: Father during these weeks of Advent, please help me be aware of all you have provided for me. And help me to receive each of your gifts to me with thanksgiving. Father, please transform me in these days. Amen.

Thank you to my friend Janet Newberry who shared the concept with me of transformation versus transaction in the receiving process.

And thank you to Theresa, Joann, Sandy, and Denise who also contributed their thoughts on receiving.

 

 

 

 

 

Here we are gathered together. Yup, I’m in that picture. Can you find me? I can’t. It was the Nykerk competition for the women at Hope College between the freshman and sophomore classes coached by the juniors and seniors. (The men’s competition is a tug-of-war.)

This three part annual competition includes a speech, a play, and for everyone not in those events, a choir.

My freshman year, I was too intimidated to participate. But my sophomore year I was determined to! There was one SIGNIFICANT issue: I knew I wouldn’t make the cut to give the speech or participate in the play AND I am tone deaf. But the choir was my only hope to be involved.

My friend Jan took it on to mentor me, to try to help me learn the notes. Bless you Jan and thank you. But in the end, the choir director looked at me and suggested, why don’t you mouth the words. And that’s what I did. (BTW, the our class lost that year, but remember I was mouthing the words.)

Why would I share this story on Thanksgiving Day?

Because God used it to plant spiritual seeds that have germinated and grown through the years.
And, I am thankful.

We sophomore women gathered together and created a special memory, even though we lost.
My faith was clarified during my college years at Hope. The Nykerk seed has blossomed.
I am thankful for life long friends who formed from my Hope years, including my husband.
I am thankful to have learned about the fun and the necessity of community.

And speaking of gathering together, one of my favorite Thanksgiving hymns is “We Gather Together”. As I was reading (not singing) through the words recently, I took the liberty to re-write the third line of each stanza to reflect my personal thanksgiving. This is my thanksgiving prayer for you as well.

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing –
He chastens and hastens His will to make known;
He loves us completely, He calls us sons and daughters:
Sing praises to His name – He forgets not His own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
His purpose transcending, our lives without ending:
Thou, Lord, wast at our side – all glory be Thine.

We all do extol Thee, Thou leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our defender wilt be;
Let thy congregation live in great anticipation:
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

With a special thank you to Theodore Baker who translated the words of this 1625 hymn from the original author who remains anonymous.

May the rich blessings of God inform your heart this season of Thanksgiving.
Love to you, sue

 

 

 

hymn

John Lynch gave me permission to copy his words from Facebook (below). My friend John is a husband, a father, a GRAND-father, a dog lover, a pastor, an actor, and a phenomenal creative communicator. But most of all he is a child of God. He understands and communicates the gospel of grace as good as any God has gifted me to be exposed to.

“If Jesus indwells you-and He does
If Jesus is able to draw you to Him-and He can
If Jesus promises He will always love you to the
exact extent His Father loves Him-and He does
If Jesus loves it when you show up-in touch with authentic expressions of worship, gratefulness, delight, or hurt, anger, confusion, even doubt about His existence-and He does
If Jesus would adore you endlessly if you never spoke to Him again-and He would…
Then…”ought” would have no place-and each of us could experience a magnificent motivation to be with the One who formed all elation, outrageous laughter, purpose, destiny, redemption, healing, compassion…and endless interest in you.”

John and the rest of the Trueface team created a devotional, Trust For Today. Click here to check it out. And while you’re on their site, scroll down and invest 6 minutes and 35 seconds to the video John shares. It just may start you on a new and exciting journey.

Trust For Today is a devotional. Yes. But I also may describe it as …

365 stories of encouragement.
365 gifts of inspiration.
365 ways to communicate the gospel of grace.
365 prompts to examine your own spiritual life.
365 offerings that will take you 2 minutes to read and the rest of the day to think on.

Here is an illustration …

It is available for pre-order and and is coming out December 4.

Oh my gosh … GOOD NEWS!!! I just learned this yesterday, Trust For Today arrived early at the Trueface office!

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself,
if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus,
to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
Acts 20:24

 

 

Recently Shawna asked if I would come to their women’s weekend retreat for the University of North Florida that was held in North Carolina. About 50 women came to be together and to grow in their walk with God.

This was a first for me. Bill, my husband, set up a studio in our living room in Colorado and recorded my words. We zipped it off to Shawna and I joined them on Saturday night.  Not professional, but from my heart. I hope you have 11 minutes and 47 seconds to listen.

BTW, Dennis helps me with the technical aspects of Echoes of Grace. Thank you Dennis.

“May my teaching drop as the rain,
my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
and like showers upon the herb.”
Deuteronomy 32:2

 “To be loved you have to be known; to be known, you have to be vulnerable.”
Shelly Miller

Being known … might that be one of the desires of your heart too?

I hadn’t thought of it in those terms until last summer. We were out to coffee with new friends (note the gal, second from right, standing in bottom row) and when the wife spoke those words, it clicked. That’s me. I too want to be known.

Acknowledging my desire to be known brought understanding to me and took me another step deeper into combating the lie that I knew often controlled me.

It reminded me of two meetings I attended about five years apart, two different but similar meetings. For both, I was traveling with Bill, he was training, I had no assigned role.

The first in Maine ~ about 5 years ago.
The second in Singapore ~ just last month.

My experience at the two meetings was vastly different.

In Maine I was chomping at the bit. I wanted to add my two cents.
I wanted the group to know I had something to offer.
I was feeling unknown and insignificant.
Just being there and supporting Bill wasn’t enough for me.
I was frustrated.

In Singapore. I was relaxed.
Being there and supporting Bill was enough.
I was at peace. (Funny story, Asian lady in tears thanked me for bringing Bill. I hugged her back. Really Bill brought me!)

What was going on in me? What was the difference?

It all had to do with being known.

In Maine, I believed my “known-ness” came through my words. I’m an extrovert, words are important.
And I was believing my significance came from my “known-ness”. So with no words, I was insignificant.

Significance is a legitimate need. A need that God desires to meet in me. But I was not looking to God. I thought I was responsible for creating my own significance, my own known-ness. For the others at the meeting to think well of me, I needed to add my words.

Now (5 years later) I understand that my “known-ness” rests with God.

God has graciously pointed me to Psalm 138:8, “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for you …”

God is far more concerned about my living out His purposes for me, the desires He placed in my heart, living in the significance He offers, believing my known-ness rests in my identity as His beloved child, than in my speaking words.

“When God calls you to offer the treasures of your inheritance,
you are on holy ground.”
Sharon Betters

In Maine God had not called me to offer the treasures of my inheritance through words, yet that was what I wanted, felt I needed.

So in Maine, I was feeling in-significant and unknown.

Satan was having a hay day with me, re-enforcing a lie I knew I struggled with, I am not good enough. More specifically, I am not spiritually mature enough to be more than the sitting, smiling wife.

I am not good enough. I know that is Satan’s biggest card he plays with me. I also know when I’m most vulnerable.

I am not good enough is a lie of the devil.
but
I want to be known is a God-given desire. And it is truth.

 “The better we know ourselves, the better we know God.
The better we know God, the better we know ourselves.”
John Calvin

I’m beginning to notice that many of my lies are related to my desires. And doesn’t that make sense? Satan knows our places of vulnerability.

Desires are good things. God planted them in my DNA when he created me. They are part of my identity as a child of God.

“What the wicked dreads will come upon him,
but the desire of the righteous will be granted.”
Proverbs 10:24

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire
and
the power to do what pleases him.”
Philippians 2:13, NLT

Back to Singapore. What was the difference?

After meditating on the truth in the scriptures for many years, I’m learning to trust that truth. God continues to reveal his desires for me. And I often pray, God, what would it look like to trust you with this truth today?

I’m learning my significance rests with God.
I’m learning that my known-ness is God’s responsibility.
I’m learning to trust God with those truths.
And, it is good.

When my motivations are defined by trust,
my desires are refined by God.
a thought from my journal, 2015

“Before I formed you in the womb,
I knew you.
And before you were born,
I consecrated you;”
Jeremiah 1:5