Issue 7 - December 15, 1997
by Diana Waring
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Beyond Survival Things We Wish We'd Known Ancient Civilizations and the Bible Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries World Empires, World Missions, World Wars History Tapes Encouragement Tapes Music Newsletter Web Column Laughing Corner Online Catalog Place An Order! Monthly Special New & Upcoming Meet the Warings Schedule Message Board Site Map What's New? Search Site Web Links HOME

Dear Friends, As the joyous strains of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" pour forth from the speakers, the fragrant smell of gingerbread wafts from the kitchen, the twittering of dozens of sparrows resounds outside, the twinkling miniature lights on the child-decorated tree and nativity brighten our home, I can't help rejoicing in the peace and goodness of this season. Gratefully, that holds true, even with the memories of other Christmases I have experienced. As a child, my grandmother was the one who made Christmas an incredibly special, magical kind of moment. She loved to surprise her family with thoughtful, hand-picked gifts which she had been buying since the previous January. However, she lived in Seattle, Washington, and I lived in Miami, Florida. It was not very often that I had the benefit of her grandmotherly atmosphere and love. Without her, the Christmas season was cold and painful for me, as my soon-to-be-divorced parents struggled with anger and bitterness, which, somehow, was heightened during this time of "good will toward men". At age fifteen, Jesus - "the reason for the season" - became my Lord and Savior, changing me to the very depths of my being. My newly remarried mother and I attended an Episcopal church then, and I remember hearing the liturgy for Christmas that year. It was so living, so true, so wondrous to me, that I cried throughout the service. Unfortunately, life apart from the church service was not so wondrous. The very common difficulties of "blended" families were ours, and even more so since my step-father and I, literally, couldn't bear to be in the same room. When I left home, at the ripe old age of seventeen, I traded the tensions of "family Christmas" for the loneliness of no family at all. A trimmed tree and a bit of Christmas music do not a holiday make. Even when I attended college, a few years later,as all of my college buddies would head off to their respective homes for Christmas, I would wonder how to make it through the next few days. Isn't it strange how this season brings out such high expectations and such possibilities of disappointment and depression? I kept trying to find the key to turning the Christmas season into a time of joy and satisfaction. When Bill and I were married, my life improved considerably! But at Christmas, it still was difficult in many ways... Forming new traditions (New? I should say so, since I didn't have ANY traditions!), learning how to get along with one another's families, and then including our newly-come children into the mix. At some point in this process, I ended up with the notion that "more is better." If having people over for dinner was good, having LOTS of people over for a formal banquet on Christmas Eve was better. If singing and being involved with a church Christmas program was good, writing and directing a huge Christmas musical with over a hundred people for several performances was better. If making a few gingerbread houses to give to special friends was good, making dozens to deliver all over the place was better. Hmmm. Do you see it coming? I didn't. Much to my surprise and chagrin came the one Christmas Eve when I couldn't do anything but cry. I don't mean a few casual tears either, but the kind of wrenching cry from the heart that can't be stopped. I cried like that, off and on, for days. "All right, Lord. You have my attention. What is going on? Why am I so miserable?" His gentle peace, His penetrating wisdom, and His faithful honesty in my heart showed me that I had been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying desperately to fill up this season with activities that would satisfy. And, as I was all too painfully aware, frantic activity didn't make up for the lack of joy in my heart. The next year, we had moved, lock, stock and barrel, to South Dakota. Ah, the good life! Slow-pace, friendly people, small town, and SNOW! What more could I ask for? But, do you know that even though the scenery changed, my heart was still the same. Even though our pace slowed way down (way, WAY down), the special joy and satisfaction I sought at Christmas still evaded me. We had some marvelous memory-building times during those first years in South Dakota, much better than the frantic times of the past. Even so, every year still retained much of the same unsatisfied longing in my innermost being. So, what happened to change all of this for me? It wasn't getting married, it wasn't having children, it wasn't being involved in church activities, it wasn't living in a small town. It all began to change for the better a few winters ago, while everything around us was taking a turn for the worse. To have looked at us from the outside at that Christmastide, you would have thought that things were definitely dismal! We had moved a trailer house, which we were renting, up to a ridge overlooking the Northern Plains. When the wind blew, which was constantly, the trailer would "shiver" and shake. We heated with our wood stove, since it was relatively cheap, but our supply was nearly gone. Phone service was not available up on this ridge, so we were without a phone. (Admittedly, there are blessings in this kind of inconvenience, but it was very difficult.) Bill had applied that spring for teaching jobs in the area, and actually had one offered to him at a local Christian school. At the last minute, after all the other positions were gone, they decided they could not afford to pay him, so we were without a regular, paying kind of job. And in this area, jobs are rare as hen's teeth! (He drove school bus part-time.) Everything that we tried to do, in regards to money-making endeavors, fell apart. But, do you know what came of all of this? We learned that God is faithful! That God is intimately involved with every detail of our life, and that He had carefully engineered this time to teach us to trust Him. When things were bad, we learned to say, "Lord, You are good!! Regardless of our circumstances, You are Faithful!! Please help us now!!!" When things were worse, we learned to laugh!! "Enemy of our soul, God is Good!! He loves us and is with us, and no matter what you throw at us, we are still going to Praise His Name!!!" When things were impossible, we learned to get on our knees, and stay there. Bringing our burdens to Jesus, we learned how to trust Him to carry them. Through His amazing grace, we learned how to leave these impossible burdens with Him and to rise up from our knees to face the world. It was truly a time of joy in the midst of trouble, peace in the midst of the storm, laughter in the midst of calamity. And we saw God make a way for us. It did not happen immediately. The problems did not recede at once. But the joy, the peace, the laughter remained. Something deep inside me was healed through His love. By the way, it was during that amazingly difficult winter that God gave me the grace to write "Beyond Survival." Here I am today, not in the trailer on the ridge - we had to give it up. (God has since then provided a lovely, delightful place for us to live.) Life is not perfect for me, no more than it is perfect for you. But, the One who is Perfect, Whose ways are Perfect, and, according to Psalm 18, Who makes my way "perfect", is ready to fill this season in your life full of Himself. That, you see, is the secret to having joy and satisfaction at Christmas: nothing more and nothing less than Jesus Christ Himself. "And we know that all things work together for GOOD, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 Blessings this Joyous Season - to you and your precious family, Diana, Bill, Isaac, Michael, Melody Waring and our indefatigable dachshund-with-an-atttitude, Miggy! P.S. Be sure to check out our Laughing Corner - remember, "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine!" Return to the List of Newsletter Issues

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