Merry Christmas dear friends! This will be my last blog post before the big day and I’m so thrilled to be joining a group of authors to bring you some encouragement for your hearts AND an awesome giveaway as we honor the true meaning of Christmas. Now, sit back, take a deep breath, exhale and let these words wash over you today.
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We stood in the hallway outside the third grade classroom door afraid to speak to each other, waiting for what felt like an eternity. Behind that closed door, the future of our stage careers was being determined by a room full of 9 year olds and the enormity of the moment had rendered us all silent. Or perhaps we just hoped that if we didn’t talk, somehow we would manage to hear a snippet of what was happening inside.
Only 5 minutes earlier, I had been sitting at my desk when my teacher announced that our class would be putting on a production of ‘Mother Goose’. She asked that all those who would be interested in playing the lead part raise their hands. I can’t say what exactly possessed me at that moment, but before I realized what was happening my hand shot up along with those of three others around the room. All eyes turned in my direction and I instantly regretted my implusiveness. We were told to go wait out in the hallway so that the class could vote for the winner without us seeing who voted for whom and thereby avoiding any hurt feelings.
As I stood there waiting, I looked around me at the other girls and wondered how I had gotten myself into this situation. Who was I kidding? I was the new girl, the one without very many friends. The one who simply wanted to fit in and be liked. I was fully aware of how high the odds were stacked against me. Suddenly, we saw the door handle beginning to turn and we knew that this was a defining moment. Only, we would have to wait a bit longer. We were ushered back inside and instructed to take our seats before the big announcement was made. I lowered my head and closed my eyes, wishing I could turn back time and not raise my hand. My teacher began by saying that no matter who won the lead part there would be roles for everyone in the production and then I heard these words, “But the winner of the lead role in our class play this year as voted on by the majority of the class is….Vanessa!” What? Did she really just say my name? Did the class really vote for me? I couldn’t believe my ears and yet all of the faces turned my direction confirmed that it was true. They had voted for me. Me! The newest girl in the class. Not the most popular girl or the one with the best clothes. Me! They had deemed me worthy of the lead part. And as I sat there basking in that moment, I determined to do everything in my power to live up to their expectations.
Weeks later, the big day arrived and as my mom still tells the story to this day, she and my dad had absolutely no idea when they sat down in the auditorium for my big debut, the sheer volume of lines that I had memorized. And, not only had I memorized my own lines, but also those of every single part in the entire play. I was at the ready to help my classmates if they needed a cue and there had never been a Mother Goose so well prepared. What I wasn’t able to express at 9 years old but felt so deeply in my soul was that the class had taken a risk on me.
And I had made it worth it to them.
The need to feel of worth is one that is so deeply embedded in our souls, isn’t it? But it’s a need that we often don’t quite know how to express. We easily confuse our longing for love or our longing for happiness with the longing to know that we are worthy when they are, in fact, very different things. One of my favorite Christmas songs is ‘O Holy Night’ and while each word, each lyric is as familiar to me as the back of my hand, there is one line that somehow, until recently, I managed to never really pay much attention to. It says, “Long lay the world, in sin and error pining till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.”
Think about that for a moment. Our souls are longing to feel their worth. Prior to the arrival of the infant King in Bethlehem, the world waited, pined, engulfed in their sin and their error. And it was only through His birth, death and resurrection that our souls would experience their true value, their full worth. Titus 3:4-7 says, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
The world tells us that our worth is based entirely on the external, on what can be seen. We’re not measured simply by our existence but rather by what we can offer. But, thousands of years ago, when our Savior was born, we were told something very different. Before he walked among us. Before he performed miracles. Before he challenged the leaders of the day. Before he was betrayed. Before he was sacrificed. Before he rose from the dead. Before all else, he simply appeared. And it was through his lowly, humble, anything but royal appearance that our souls were given the opportunity to experience the fullness of their worth. It is only through being in his presence that we are able to feel the full magnitude of our value.
Who he is allows us to know, really know, just who we are.
We are beloved.
We are cherished.
We are worth it.
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Now, for more encouragement for your heart, I hope you will visit these incredible ladies!
Sarah Philpott at All American Mom
Morgan Tyree at Morganize With Me
AND we have teamed up to bring you such an amazing giveaway! This prize package includes books that will speak to your soul, a t-shirt that will bring you joy, music that will bless your heart and so much more!
My story today is an excerpt from our book ‘Life in Season‘ and if you enjoyed it, I hope you will consider purchasing a copy where you will find even more inspiration for your heart and ideas for your home!
Thank you so much dear friends for meeting me at the fence today and
MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and yours!!
Thank you for sharing the story of your third grade self. How accepted you must have felt! Oh, Holy Night has always been a favorite carol of mine. It will be in my head all day now! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Wonderful giveaway and blog post!
As a child, all my cousins, aunts and uncles would gather at my grandparents house Christmas Day. There were a lot of us, but we filled that little farmhouse with lots of love.
The message today was beautiful, enjoyed your childhood story too!
This is a beautiful post. One of my favorite Christmas memories was a family trip away from the Ohio winter to sunny Florida when I was 16. And then there is the Christmas I got a puppy, but not just any puppy, a Boston Terrier puppy just exactly what I asked for when I was 5. Then all of the Christmases for many years, outside in the cold with my favorite cousin sledding down the big hill (read: road covered in snow and ice) at my Nanny’s. Christmas is definitely the time to show others their value. After all, we were ransomed for a great price one we could not pay ourselves. Blessings to you all. May the beauty of His season be with you all year.
My sweetest Christmas memory involves all of the extended family being packed into my parents’ livingroom to hear the reading from Luke 2- I have been blessed to hear my daddy reading those words for many decades now xoxo
I loved getting together with family.
Beautiful
Thank you for that story and your thoughts today. You expressed it beautifully.
One of my favorite memories is of my first Christmas with my husband. We were
married 2 weeks before Christmas 53 years ago. It was very special and
all those thereafter also.
My fondest memories are going to my Grandmother’s house on Christmas Day to spend time with all my other cousins and eating wonderful food mostly prepared by my grandmother. As my grandmothers table would only seat 6, we ate in “shifts”…. youngest children first and ending with the women, I guess because they were so busy helping serve everyone else.
Very touching post. Thank you.
What a beautiful reminder to my heart and soul – thank you! It was just what I needed. And thank you , too, for this giveaway! It sounds amazing!! May the Lord bless you and your family this Christmas…
Thank you for your beautiful message and wow!!! what a give away!!! The inspiration was needed today and could not of come at a more perfect time … a couple of weeks ago they put my husband of 40+ yrs in home hospice , please keep us in your prayers God bless
Oh Norma I am just so sorry to hear about your husband! Praying for you and your family to feel the comfort and peace from God during this time.
I loved the small sweet surprises in my stocking on Christmas morning!
Thank you for this encouragement during this time of such busyness. A very welcome, refreshing message!
Wow Vaness! What beautiful insight, and Truth shared in a timely way. In this busy holiday season many of us succumb to the notion we have to make everything perfect for Christmas to be enjoyable and memorable. When in fact our Savior has made us perfect in Him, and all the striving for perfectness is not only unnecessary but counterproductive to the Peace He has given us.
Thank you for posting this, and may your readers experience the completeness of belonging to Jesus who does indeed cause our souls to know their worth.
Thank you for sharing this story. My husband sings O Holy Night with our daughter at our Christmas Eve service. Christmas Eve with our candlelight service and the evening spent with our children and grandchildren is always the most memorable part of Christmas for me. We have a simple time but it is always so fun.
O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song because of exactly what you wrote. The words are so moving and fill my heart every time I hear it. Thank you for your thoughts and the words of hope from all you.
Thank you for your post! I was that same little girl, having been the “new girl” many, many times.
I adore this story in your book ‘Life in Season’! Such a wonderful reminder of how worthy we are to our Lord Jesus Christ! Merry Christmas!
Each of us is a blessing on our own unique way
by His words, your posts always encourage me. Thanks, Vanessa.
Thank you Vanessa for sharing such a sweet and poignant memory of your childhood and tying it in with how very much we are loved by our Heavenly Father just as we are.
Spending time with family & friends !!!!
My favorite memory is of me, my sister’s, and my cousins, making up a play for our parents on Christmas eve. My grandkids now do the same for us.
christmas caroling every Christmas eve. Old fashioned but forever a favorite.
What a beautiful excerpt from your book! So encouraging. Merry Christmas! xo
Beautifully written story … and wonderful example of how we long for worth! Thank you, Jesus, for true worth! My favorite Christmas memory is when our kids were having a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa’s house … we were “tucking them in” when my brothers had snuck outside and tapped a garden tool on the roof above them! They were certain that Santa was arriving and they must quickly go to sleep! Ahh … precious family times! Merry Christmas!
A timely reminder. Thank you for sharing your story.
Merry Christmas! And have a blessed New Year!
Thank you for the honor of choosing Me as your giveaway winner!! I am super excited to share these with my family & friends!