Day 9:

These days, my house is very full and very loud.  And I love it every minute of it.  My college girls are home, their sweet, godly boyfriends are here, my other kids are wrapping up exams and preschool programs.  The whole Silent Night thing is not happening at our house.

Trying to catch a peaceful moment, I grabbed my Bible and, prompted by last Sunday’s sermon at church, began to read about Elizabeth and Zechariah.  You remember them.  We don’t always put them with the Christmas story, but they really are a great part of it.  Elizabeth and Zechariah were older, godly relatives of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Here is a summary of their story.

Doubt and Faith

Sorrow and Joy

Silence and Praise

That about sums it up.  About sums up my life, too.  They loved God, but some of the obstacles in their lives caused them to doubt what God was really capable of.  It all started with Zechariah praying for something that he didn’t really think God would or could answer.

One holy day, something amazing happened. He was a priest and it was his turn to take care of the altar, while the people prayed outside.  Suddenly, he saw an angel standing at the right hand of the altar.  He, like every other person in scripture who sees an angel, was very afraid.  And just like every angel in scripture, this one opens with “Do not be afraid.”  Yeah, right.  The angel went on to share good news—his prayers had been answered.  Not only answered in a regular, ordinary way, but in a world-changing, extraordinary way.  After all these years of sorrow, he was going to become a Daddy.  And the angel said that his son would be a joy and a delight to him.  The angel also said that the child would be great in the sight of God, for this child would prepare the way for the greatest Gift the world had ever seen.

And what was Zechariah’s response?  Doubt.  He said:

“How can I be sure of this?  I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.  The angel answered, ‘I am Gabriel.  I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.  And now you will be silent and not be able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.’”

                                                                                                                                                                                             Luke 1:18-19

And it was so.  Zechariah went silent.  And Elizabeth became pregnant.  And shortly after, this good news was accompanied by the greatest news of all, Mary would give birth to Jesus and he would be the Savior of the world.

When Mary encountered her own angel, this news was part of the beautiful puzzle that the angel described–Elizabeth, Mary’s relative, who was long past the hopes and dreams of a child, was going to be a mother.  For nothing is impossible with God, the angel said.

So Mary took off to see and rejoice with her relative.  Mary went to the only person that might possibly understand what was happening in her life, in her womb.  And when Mary arrived, the baby within Elizabeth leaped for joy.  And Elizabeth declared to her, “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.”  She was talking to Mary, rightly so.  But I suspect she was talking to herself, as well.  For now, six months into her pregnancy, her belly declared that she, too, would experience what the Lord had said would be accomplished.

And where was Zechariah?  Still in silence.  Just as the angel said, he spoke not a word.  He could only see, think, and pray.  And I suspect that in those months of silence, God did a great work in his heart.  We see the fulfillment of that silent work when Elizabeth’s baby was born.  On the eighth day, it was by custom, time to name the baby.  The leaders insisted on naming him after his father, Zechariah, despite the insistence from the new mother, Elizabeth.

Zechariah requested a writing tablet and wrote out the words that his mouth could not speak, the words that showed his faith had returned and his belief was restored.

His name is John.  Simple words revealing great understanding.

His name is John, because that is what the angel said, and that is what the Lord intends.  His name is John and he will be all that God says he will be.  He will be great in the sight of God.  He will be a delight and joy to me.  He will pave the way for the Greatest One of All.

My friends, if you can’t speak it out, write it out.  Pour forth your words in the silence of your mind, in the silence of the pen and paper that only your unique hand can hold.  In time, like Zechariah, you will be able to come out of the silence and speak in joy and truth and praise.

Zechariah spent months in silence.  Right now, in a houseful of kids, and plenty of friends and family coming and going it is an effort to get a moment of silence.

But I will strive for it.

Because I want my heart to prepare the way for a true celebration of the Silent Night, Holy Night.

I want my heart to experience the turning of

Doubt to Faith

Sorrow to Joy

Silence to Praise.

After silent reflection, comes time of praise.  Like Zechariah, we too can proclaim,

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.  He has raised up a horn of salvation for us … to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”

Update 2014:

Like Zechariah, I can understand the doubt that comes when God tells you to do something that seems unlikely or impossible.  Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mont and I can understand what it feels like to be called to parent young children when you are no longer young.  Like Zechariah, we, too, have experienced doubt and faith, sorrow and joy, silence and praise.  When we first became aware of Charlie awaiting a forever family, I felt doubt.  Could I handle another?  Wasn’t I too old?  Did I have the energy and stamina?  But in a short amount of time, my doubt turned to faith.  If God had called us, then it was His responsibility to see us through.  We simply had to obey.

As we progressed through the adoption process, I did experience sorrow.  The adoption agency called three times to make sure we still wanted him because they didn’t think he could walk.  I remember discussing the situation with my 19 year old daughter, Ellie.  Her reply?  “Mama, that should make us want him even more!”  As the months passed, I prayed.  I prayed that he would be able to walk.  And each update, which confirmed that he couldn’t, brought a little bit of sorrow.  The sorrow stemmed from the struggle I knew he would endure…and honestly, from the changes that I knew would take place in my own life, for the rest of my life.  But even in the midst of it all, there was joy.  Joy that God was in control and that He would be strong in our weakness, and in Charlie’s weakness.  Joy that a precious little person with endless possibilities was soon to join our family.

And then there was silence.  I kept pretty quiet about his physical situation.  I did not want to talk about it very much.  This was not denial.  I did confide in several close friends and family. But I did not want the negative talk.  I did not want this sweet boy to be defined by his disability.  And I did not find it helpful to dwell on what I could not change.  So, I was silent.  But in the silence, I prayed.  I fasted.  I learned to trust.

As many of you already know, my silence turned to praise.  Charlie could not walk when we got him.  His caretakers confirmed it when we asked, and it was evidenced in his weak and flaccid legs.  We discussed therapy and surgery while on the drive back to the hotel.  But I also prayed over him.  Prayed the prayer that God had put on my heart just before we went to China:  “In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”  In case you missed it, check out the answer to our prayers in this short video.  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.

Charlie the Walking Man

Update 2017:

Day 8:

These people we have been studying represent the insecure ones in the family, the unworthy ones in the family, the misplaced ones in the family line of Jesus.  And yet they were chosen by God as part of the Royal Tapestry woven to bring about the Glorious Savior, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Each of those adjectives—insecure, unworthy, and misplaced– I have felt myself at one time or another, and I would guess many of you could say the same.  Yet, we are chosen by God to glorify the Son through our own royal tapestry.

I wish we had time to study some of the other names in the family lineage of Jesus.  Some of the names represent other things to which we could relate.  Some of the names I can’t even pronounce!

Family names are a funny thing.  When I joined the Berry family 22 years ago, I had quite a time conquering all of the strange family names.  My sweet mother-in-law is named Jimmie.  They thought she was going to be a boy and they were going to name him James Arnette.  So when she surprised them with her girlhood, they stuck to the plan and named her Jimmie Arnetta.  Her sisters are Shug, and Toodlum.  Her first cousins are Punk, Sheck, and Kink.  I am not kidding you.

Yes, names are a funny thing.  But we are in the family of God and there is one name that is the most beautiful, most powerful of all.  That is the name of Jesus.  Lately, God has been pressing on my heart constantly the beauty and power of that precious Name.  The One that was prophesied hundreds of years before that silent night in the manger has fulfilled every meaning of  every one of His names.

I witness to the fact that He IS  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

I love how the above prophesy of the Coming Savior is worded in the translation of the Bible called The Message:

The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
 light! sunbursts of light!
… For a child has been born—for us!
    the gift of a son—for us!
 He’ll take over
 the running of the world (our world!).
  His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
  Strong God,
Eternal Father,
  Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
 and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Isaiah 9:6

That is my Savior, my Jesus.  That is the lover of my soul, and yours.  That is the one we celebrate at Christmas.  Let’s don’t miss it this year.  Let’s don’t let the urgent things swallow up the important things.  Let’s remember that one day, at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.  Let’s be the first to bow down and worship, the first to confess that He is our Lord.

Update 2014:

Well, Charlie is into names, just like Sally was.  He is learning all of our family names, names of objects, and common expressions.  I love to hear him say “Mama” and “Daddy” and all of his siblings’ names.  Yesterday, we had a birthday for Jesus for 25 toddlers.  Much fun and chaos!  Charlie was a little confused when he met our new neighbor who is a little boy from China named…Charlie!  Two Chinese Charlies in the same neighborhood!  Yesterday, we were looking at a snow globe with a manger scene tucked safely inside.  Sally and I were talking about the beautiful Reason for the Season.  Charlie was listening and watching as we discussed all the different characters of the best story of all time.  There was a pause in our happy chatter when I saw Charlie’s lips move and his sweet little voice whisper what he had just heard.  The word he whispered?  Jesus.  That name above all names.  That name that one day he will confess as Lord and Savior.  I will treasure that sweet first whisper for as long as I live.

Udate 2017:

Wow!  I love reading back to see how I felt, what I was learning, a few years ago.  Alot has changed.  Our family has added two sons-in-laws, whom we adore.  We have sent two more kids off to college. Our older ones have now begun to make a life of their own. We are busy raising the three kids, still at home.  My plate is full, but my heart is fuller.  Sometimes I feel that I can’t “get out there” and do as much hands-on ministry as I would like to.  Recently, I was driving down the road taking the kids somewhere and I thought, “When the kids are older, I am really gonna get involved in more ministry.”  I began to think of all the “ministry” I wanted to do.  And suddenly, a very clear thought popped in my head, which I believe was from the Lord.  And it was this:  “You have a big ministry right now, and that ministry is to your children.  I have called you to them so that they can feel my love and know my truth.”  Right after that, I was talking to a dear friend was casually said these words to me, “I have learned that God has purpose in the present—every moment of the present.”  Your purpose is not in the future.  Your purpose is right now.   So, “get out there” if you are able.  Do something for someone else, including all the ones within easy reach, for that, too, is ministry.

Day 7:

Today, let’s look at the black sheep of the family.  Rahab.  Did you know that God chose a prostitute to be in the lineage of Jesus?  How did she come to be a prostitute anyway?

Was it love for her family that plunged her into this hopeless lifestyle?

Did she need to provide for them?

Were they starving before she made the decision to sacrifice her purity?

Was it for love that she slid into the murky water of sin, drowning on their behalf?

We won’t know these answers this side of heaven, but my guess is based on what I have seen in others like her.  No one leads such a desperate, hopeless life unless they feel they have no other choice.  Maybe that is the only way she could think of to deal with her hardships.

But then the holy spies came.  When she saw and believed the truth, it sparked the hope that perhaps there was another way.  Perhaps deliverance could come to lift her out of the dirty water of life in which she was slowly drowning.  She had heard the stories.

She had heard how the Lord had dried up another dirty body of water, the Red Sea.

She had heard about all the other miracles as well.

She thought that if their God could do something as impossible as those miracles, maybe the favor of that God could dry up her own helpless situation, and she too could walk away on dry land.

Maybe she wouldn’t drown after all.

Maybe He could deliver her from the desperate life that held her captive.

Can you relate to her situation?  Have you ever felt trapped in a sinful existence?  Maybe there are reasons why—maybe life seems to have dealt an unfair hand to you.  Regardless of all of the reasons you are there, regardless of where you try to place the blame, the fact is you are trapped.  You are now a prisoner to a life of sin or depression or hardship, and it appears there is nothing you can possibly do about it.  But listen very carefully.  I have good news for you.

In Isaiah 61:1-3, we find this prophecy of the coming Savior.  Jesus declared in his first sermon that He was the fulfillment of the prophecy and I can testify that He has done this in my life:

            The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

              because the LORD has anointed me

              to preach good news to the poor.

            He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

             to proclaim freedom for the captives

             and release from darkness for the prisoners,

            to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor

             and the day of vengeance of our God,

            to comfort all who mourn,

             and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

            to bestow on them a crown of beauty

             instead of ashes,

            the oil of joy

             instead of mourning,

            and a garment of praise

             instead of a spirit of despair.

            They will be called oaks of righteousness,

             a planting of the LORD

            for the display of his splendor.

What if you have already found the Deliverer, as I have?

Where does that leave you in your responsibilities to others who are still drowning and trapped?

Can you allow the Holy Spirit to use you to spark hope, even if it is only through your presence?  As Saint Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.”  Please don’t give up on people.  Please don’t assume that you or anyone else is too far-gone.  Sometimes those who appear furthest away are really the ones closest to the cross, just a step away from accepting the love of the Savior.

Update 2014:

Since we have just returned from China a few weeks ago, I am afraid that all of my updates will evolve around what I have learned or am learning through that experience.  Today, I have my children’s birthmothers on my mind and in my heart.  I pray for them all the time.  I can only imagine the pain they endured which led to the decision to give up their children.  I don’t judge them.  I am not mad at them.  I am so, so grateful to them.  I am so grateful that they carried my children for nine months so that I could carry them in my heart forever.

I have a picture in my mind when I pray for them.  I see us in heaven.  I see us embracing our children, the two mothers together.  I so want this picture to be reality one day.  I pray for a Christian to come to them and share the gospel with them.  To share the truth that because of Christ’s finished work on the cross, they too, can be forgiven and redeemed and restored.  They are not too far-gone.

Sometimes those who appear furthest away are really the ones closest to the cross, just a step away from accepting the love of the Savior.

Update 2017:

Day 6:

Today, let’s move on up the family line and take a look at another woman in the lineage of Jesus.  This woman was actually adopted into the family, and her name is Ruth.  Ruth was actually a daughter in law of Naomi.  Naomi adopted Ruth as her own when both of her sons and her husband died.  Did you know that in biblical times under Jewish law, if you adopted a child, you could never disown them, unlike a biological child?  Naomi gave Ruth the chance to walk away from the family and stay with her own foreign family, but Ruth chose to go with Naomi.  She is known for her loyalty in action and in words.  She boldly said, “I will go where you go, your people will be my people, your God will be my God.”  This foreign, adopted daughter became the wife of Boaz and the great-grandmother of King David, all in the family line of the Savior of the world.  My heart is very moved by adoption stories, as it is a vital part of my own story.  We have a beautiful Asian adopted daughter named Sally, and we are in the process of adopting a precious Asian son named Charlie.

Recently, I was following a blog of a woman who was in China picking up her adopted son.  Two days after the Gotcha Day, they traveled to the exact spot where her son was abandoned, on a busy street in front of a convenience store.  I started to cry when I pulled up the picture, because that is similar to my own children’s story.  Discarded, abandoned, left in a random, dangerous place as newborns unable to do anything about it.  But as I continued to read the blog, I noticed that she did not call this spot his “abandonment spot”, she called it his “finding spot”.  I wept long and hard when I read that.  Think about it, that place of being abandoned was really that place of being found.  And we were all orphans before being adopted into the family of God.  I once was lost, but now I am found!  In the same way, our lost spots are really found spots, our sad spots are our spots of comfort, our weak spots are really spots of His strength being revealed.  First Peter 2:9 tells us that we are adopted by God as heirs:  We did not receive a spirit of fear but of Sonship and by that we cry Abba Father—Daddy!  We are chosen not abandoned.  How fitting for their to be an adopted foreigner in the lineage of Jesus!

As I think of my own babies, born in rough conditions, I praise God once again for the setting He chose for the birth of His Son.  A dirty stable, with only a feeding trough for a bed.  Prickly hay on which His holy head lay. Cast aside because there was no room for Him.  And yet, in those rough conditions, came the One who would make our rough places smooth.  The One that would right all our wrongs.  The One that would make all things new.

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
    along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
    and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
    I will not forsake them.  

                               Isaiah 42:16

Update 2014:

When I wrote that this time last year, we were still in the midst of the adoption process.  As you all know by now, we survived it and are home!  We, too, had the opportunity to go to Charlie’s Finding Spot.  It was a very profound moment.  I am sure I will write about it further, but for now I will give you a picture.  It is a picture of redemption.  It is a picture of reclaiming hope when the world thought you had no hope.  It is a picture of love and calling and joy and answered prayers.  This is our Finding Spot.  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Update 2017:

This time last year, Last year, Sally had to dress up as a biblical character for a school program. Sally brought home her assignment and I discovered that she had chosen to be Ruth.  This fact was supposed to remain a secret to the rest of the class.  We prepared a costume and a riddle, so the other children could guess her character.   This was her riddle:

I came from a foreign land.

I have a new family.

I told my new family, “I will go where you go, your people will be my people,                               your God will be my God.”

Who am I?

As I watched her ask this riddle in front of the class, my eyes filled with tears.  Yes, my people are her people, and more importantly, even at age 7 she has already chosen my God to be her God.  I praise him each day for this indescribable gift!  Oh, and by the way, my Sally’s full name is Sara Ruth Berry.

Day 5:

Today we will look at Leah.  If you participated in the Thoroughly Equipped Bible Study, this will be a repeat for you.  I just can’t get Leah off my mind, and a review of God’s masterful design in the tapestry of her life is something that I need to meditate on over and over.  I hope that is true for you, too!

When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, He enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Genesis 29:31, NIV

We must take note of the three simple words in this verse that are filled with truth and meaning:  “the Lord saw.”  He saw the situation clearly—all the ins and outs, hurt and deceit, bitterness and pain, complicated family dynamics.  He saw it all.  And He understood it all.  He came to the rescue with great blessing and comfort, but Leah didn’t seem to recognize it.  Just like us, Leah’s obsession with what she did not have overruled her enjoyment and acknowledgment of what she did have.  We have a framed picture in our rec room which states:  Contentment is not the fulfillment of what we want, but it is the realization of what we already have. Contentment is a struggle for most of us at some time or another.  We pick up on Leah’s deep discontentment by looking at what she named her children.

Her first-born she named Reuben, which meant  “It is because the Lord has seen my misery.  Surely my husband will love me now.” (Genesis 29:32)

Her second born was named Simeon, which meant  “Because the Lord heard that I am unloved, he gave me this one, too.” (Genesis 29:33)

She named another son, Levi, saying, “At last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” (Genesis 29:34) But it was not to be.  The focus of these children was not the children, but the focus was trying to win Jacob’s love.  How sad is that?!  Then throw in a bitter sister, Rachel, who had the love that Leah so desperately wanted, but didn’t have the children that Leah had.  I suspect that both would have traded places with the other, so desperate was their longing for what they didn’t have.

We all know the story.  God did give Rachel children eventually, both physically and through her servant.  One of her sons, Joseph, was greatly used to fulfill the plan of God on behalf of His people.  But the struggle continued between the sisters, back and forth, child after child.  In my Sunday School knowledge of Leah, that is where I had always left her:  still in the struggle.  But if we take the time to study just a little bit, we find that Leah wasn’t so forgotten after all.  God was orchestrating a great plan and legacy for Leah.  The forgotten one, in the end, was the matriarch.  The ugly duckling may not have changed physically, but in the spiritual realm she was greatly honored even above the beautiful Rachel.

How do we know this?  Because of the generations that came through her.  It was through Leah that the Levites, the holy priests of the Lord, came.  And most importantly, it was through Leah that Jesus came.  In Genesis 29:35 we find that she had momentary peace when she gave birth to her fourth son.  She named him Judah, which means “This time I will praise the Lord.”  Period.  She basically said, “I will just praise God, without trying to change my circumstances, without trying to make things good and right, without trying to win love.  I will just praise.”  I believe this peace and praise came because deep in her spirit the Lord was whispering, “With this One, I will make all things new.” And so it was.  It was through Judah that Jesus, the Savior, was born.

Even after Judah, Leah struggled back and forth with her desire for human love.  But in the end, it was Leah that was buried next to Jacob, just as Isaac was buried with Rebekah and Abraham was buried with Sarah.  God saw.  And He did something about it.  And though it took time to see, He was working all along the way.

Where are you today?  Do you relate with Leah’s struggle?  Do you want something you can’t seem to obtain?  Do you struggle with making idols out of good, God-given things, forgetting that the true God is the giver of those things?  Do you feel unloved and misunderstood?  God sees.  He sees all the complexities of your life and He understands.  So like Leah, when she got a tiny glimpse of the Savior to come, why don’t you say, “This time, I will praise the Lord.”

Praise has great power.  Angels surround the Throne of God in constant praise saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty; Who was and is and is to come.”  Let’s praise Him like that, no matter our circumstances, trusting that He sees and has done something about it.  That is why God sent His Son.

Update 2014:

This Christmas season has been unique in that I am not really stressed.  I can’t understand it.  I haven’t even started my Christmas cards. I have not even come close to being finished with my shopping. I haven’t delivered my annual gifts to my neighbors. I haven’t gotten teacher gifts yet. I haven’t planned or bought or cooked for holiday meals.  And I know myself…that should stress me out.  But I am not stressed.  Not worried about it at all.  I will get it all done–probably–well, maybe.  But even if I don’t, it just doesn’t matter.  What has changed me?  Well, I suppose I am seeing things differently.

I am just so grateful to be home, to be with my family, to have our son home–finally.  I am grateful that he can walk–and run, and climb, and go up the stairs, and back down the stairs.  I am grateful that he smiles–all the time.  I am grateful that I hear him laugh–alot.  I am grateful that he seems so comfortable here, as if he knows deep down that he was always supposed to be here–that he belongs here.  I am grateful that he sleeps through the night–and when he wakes up he calls for “Mama!!!!”  I am grateful for my wonderful husband who is still my best friend.  I am grateful that he still makes me laugh–everyday–after 23 years of marriage.  I am grateful for my five biological kids who have been more than willing to share their parents and resources and attention with two adoptive kids.  I am grateful that they adore those two kids as much as I do.  I am grateful that Sally has a brother to grow up with.  I am grateful for my Lord, who orchestrates my life and that HIs plans are for good and not for evil–even when the days are hard.  So, I guess the only difference between this year and other stress-filled Christmas seasons is this:  I am grateful this year.  What are you grateful for?

Update 2017:

A couple of weeks ago, I was alone in the car driving to Oxford to meet my son who is a freshman in college.  We had been listening to a scripture memory CD in the car, and the music is so good, I often listen to it, even if the little kids are not in the car with me.  Such was the case on this day.  The song was word for word of Isaiah 6:1-3.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train^[a] of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.³ And one called to another and said:

These words are also referred to in Revelation, and I have always used them as a way to praise God.  And so they should be.  In prayer, repeat those words and you will feel your spirit revived.  But on this day, I began concentrating on the words so much that I missed my turn and went 30 minutes in the wrong direction!  What had captured my attention so much?  It was a simple phrase that I had never noticed before:  “And one called to another and said:  “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord…”  One called to another.  These words of praise were not only directed to the Worthy One, but they were directed to each other as a means of awe-inspired truth and encouragement.  I don’t know why that hit me so strongly, but tears poured down my cheeks as I thought about it.  Over the past two weeks, I have found myself telling this truth to my friends, saying, “Hey, Robin!  Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts!”  “Hey, Debbie, don’t forget!  Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!”  This time of year, especially, as we celebrate his birth on earth, let’s call out to each other this holy truth!  Call someone today  and remind them that He is holy, He is in control, He is God and we are not, He is Redeemer, He is Comforter, He is the Lover of our Souls!