On this particular day life was pouring in more than usual. Like the way I used to feel shoveling through a giant drift after an Iowa blizzard. I’d finally see sidewalk when a big chunk would bust loose from the top and I’d be up to my boots again in snow.

Some days you just can’t shovel fast enough.

I was telling God about my plight and wondering out loud why it seemed to me that He wasn’t as aware of my situation as I thought He should be. I mean, God, if you’re not going to help me shovel can you at least keep the stuff from pouring in so fast?

A little help here, maybe?

It was time to go pick up my kids from school. I opened the door about half way and that’s when it caught my eye. The mirror. I closed the door and looked again. Nothing there.

Ok, I know I only have one eye but thanks to a contact lens, it works reasonably well. I know I saw something in that mirror.

I opened the door and glanced again at the mirror, this time the way I used to look at the old 3-D baseball cards that came in the cereal boxes when I was a kid. Up, down, sideways. And there it was. There were words on the mirror. Almost invisible, and because of the light in the room I couldn’t see it unless I looked from an angle and even then the letters only faintly showed themselves against the reflection of my black t-shirt.

“Serve the Lord with all your heart and consider the great things He has done for you.” – 1 Samuel 12:24

Whoever stayed here before had scrawled this verse on the mirror with lipstick or some other oil based marker. The mirror had since been cleaned, yet at the right angle in the right light, the message remained.

This verse, in context, is the prophet Samuel exhorting the people of Israel during the coronation of King Saul. In his speech he reminds Israel of God’s faithfulness to them through every generation. From Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Aaron, God had remained faithful to them in spite of their sins and disobedience. Even their asking for a king was a sin against God, preferring a human leader instead of God as their King.

Samuel makes the point that even in their short-sighted and often stubborn disobedience, God’s love for them continues. Because God is faithful to Himself, He is faithful to them. Through it all, God did great things for them.

Back in 2008, I was starting life over from scratch in a new place and with a new sales job. I do dinner shows for people and sell high-end cookware. In following up on a contact, the girl on the other end of the phone asked me if I traveled to Snyder, Texas. I said, “I sure do.” Now, I’d never heard of Snyder let alone have a clue how far away it was. But when you’re starting over, you do whatever you have to do. That dinner generated my first customer in that area and led to more dinners which led to many more customers in Snyder, TX. And with each dinner God put me in front of some of the kindest, good-hearted, hospitable and encouraging people I’ve ever met.

When last year I was unsuccessful in my efforts to prevent my daughters’ mom from moving them away from me, I was incredibly discouraged. Instead of being 5 minutes across town, they would now be attending school 85 miles from me. I have equal time with my daughters, but how would it work? Where would I stay when I came to be with them? How would we have a place to be together?

Back in 2008 I thought Snyder was just the place God had me working for a season. I thought I was just meeting new people in the course of my job. I had no idea that He was preparing for what would happen to me two years later. God was preparing future relationships that He would use to encourage us in ways we could not imagine.

The mirror with the ghost writing is in a guest house in Snyder, Texas, the town in which my daughters attend school. It belongs to dear friends who started out as customers back in 2008. When I confided my situation to them last year, they said, “We have a place in our backyard. You and the girls can stay here anytime you want.”

“…and consider the great things He (God) has done for you.”

Is God aware of my plight? The ghost writer left behind the obvious answer to that question. “Consider the great things God has done for you.” God is more than aware. He is involved. His faithfulness toward us never ceases. His love toward us is constant. His attention to detail is complete. God, forgive me when I fail to consider the great things You have done for me. Give me eyes to see You and the works of Your hands in my life.

As much as I like things squeaky clean, I’m only going to Windex the bottom half of that mirror.

Some messages should never be erased.

Todd A. Thompson – ASliceOfLifeToGo.com

The girls and I have a way of cramming a lot of theological discussion into the 15-minute drive to 1st grade.

Annie wonders out loud, “So we’ll get to see all our friends up there, right?”

Her question unknowingly intersected with my homesickness. I really miss all my friends back in the Phoenix valley. The people here in this new place have been more than kind. It’s made the hard work of starting life over not quite as daunting. Still, they are all new. Everything is new here. It’s the difference between the brand new loveseat at the furniture showroom and the favorite couch at your best friend’s house. The difference between sitting gently and not for long and flopping down, hugging a pillow and settling in for the entire four quarters of Monday Night Football.

New takes time to become comfortable.

Emma must have caught my expression in the rear view mirror. “Are you okay, Daddy?”

“I’m fine, baby.”

I thought she’d press the question. But it’s like she knew what I was thinking.

“You’ll make new friends here, Daddy.”

Who is this kid? Ten minutes ago we were standing in front of the bathroom mirror battling over ponytail vs. “some up, some down”. Now she’s Yoda, the life coach with a Hello Kitty backpack.

“That’s right, Daddy.” Annie joins. I love when they do this. The twin dynamic never ceases to intrigue me. They share a brain. And whatever thought they offer is delivered in stereo.  “It’s just like the song we sing at Girl Scouts, Daddy.”

I was going to ask what song but all Annie had to do was sing the first word and by the next eighth note Emma was in perfect sync and perfect pitch.

“Make new friends, but keep the old.

One is silver and the other is gold.

A circle is round, it has no end.

That’s how long I want to be your friend.”

A relational reality of living in a fallen world is that those we love are never “all together”. Even perfect attendance reunions of friends and family are only momentary distractions; a weekend glimpse of what life would be like without separation. When everyone gets in their car to go home, we all go back to loving from a distance.

The Bible says that no one can imagine what God has prepared for us in heaven. That we can count on. No one does surprises like God. And just think what He can do with all this time to prepare? And while I can’t point to chapter and verse to back this up, I have to believe a big part of heaven will be enjoying all the friends we’ve ever made without the tyranny of a fixed schedule. There is a freedom in “forever”. Not the least of which is never having to say the word “good-bye” again.

Till then God calls us to “…one another” one another. Pray for one another. Bear one another’s burdens. Encourage one another. Cry with one another. Laugh with one another. Serve one another. Forbear and forgive one another.

We do this where we live, wherever we live. Making new friends. Silver, perhaps, for the moment. But they will all be gold up there.

With no end.

“Eye has not seen nor ear heard what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

- 1 Corinthians 2:9

Todd A. Thompson – www.ASliceOfLifeToGo.com

Back in the day, a child’s Christmas wishing started in mid-October when the JC Penney and Sears Christmas catalogs hit the mailbox. I can still remember tearing off the brown paper sleeve, giddy to see the treasures inside. Kids could instinctively open it to the exact page where the toys started. Lots of time was spent anticipating and dreaming about the gift you wanted. You knew that the Hot Wheels Supercharger race track was on page 298, Item B. By day you dropped hints to Mom and Dad, the subtlety decreasing in proportion to the available shopping days till Christmas. By night you’d fall asleep thinking about what it would be like to see and hear those cars fly around the orange plastic track. Which car would be faster? The Lola GT-70 or the Beatnik Bandit?

And if you were lucky enough to tear off the snowflake wrapping paper and see the present you wished for? There’s no way to describe the joy of holding in your hand what you’ve hoped for in your heart.

Anticipation. We anticipate Christmas. The looking forward. The wondering and dreaming. That hopeful, can’t wait, edge of your seat, can’t sit still, counting the days feeling of expectation.

Christmas is about anticipation.

The anticipation of Christmas contains a blessing. The blessing is that it is a set date on the calendar. Every year, December 25th. Whether it’s 2007 or 2017, Christmas is always on December 25th. If it’s June, you know you have to wait another six months. If it’s December 15th, then it’s ten days away. Only so much time to finish one’s shopping. Only so many days to be certain the packages you mail arrive in time for the holiday. Part of what makes anticipating Christmas exciting, and tolerable, is that we have a definite day to celebrate. A definite day and date we can point to in the future and wave goodbye to on the 26th. Even in the anticipation, there is closure. Christmas will come and we know what day it will arrive.

But what if there was the promise of Christmas and no set date? What if there was the promise of Christmas but no December 25th? Just a “trust me, it’s coming. You don’t know when and you can’t make party plans or put it on your calendar or hang your stockings by the chimney with care…but trust me, Christmas is coming”. How would that change our thinking? How would we feel about Christmas if we had only the promise and no date to actually celebrate?

That was the reality of a man named Simeon. A promise from God that Christmas was coming, but no date on the calendar. A promise that he would live to see it happen, but no heads up as to when it would be. Simeon was a man standing in the shadows of Christmas, anticipating Christmas and quite possibly living everyday with that hopeful, can’t wait, edge of your seat, can’t sit still, counting the days feeling of expectation.

The Bible says that Simeon was promised by God that he “would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ”. Luke 2 describes him as a “righteous and devout man who was looking for the consolation of Israel”. Which means he was looking for the Messiah.

Imagine the questions Simeon must have had. How will I recognize this Messiah? If I get to live until I see it does it mean I’ll die immediately when I do? Is there any chance I could miss it? Any chance I would not recognize Him? One thing was for certain. It would mean waiting. Maybe a long time of waiting.

Anticipation.

For all of us, life is full of waiting and wondering. We wait on job opportunities and wonder if and when they will become reality. We wait for a doctor’s diagnosis of our illness and wonder what the prognosis will be. We wait for grades to be posted and wonder if we passed the test. We wait as our children grow up and wonder if our parenting will help them become the responsible godly individuals we hope for.

And it’s the wondering that makes the waiting difficult. Because we’re wondering about what we don’t yet know. We’re wondering about that which has yet to be revealed. What we want is to hear the doctor say, “Recovery will take 6 weeks, but you’re going to be fine.” We want to hear, “You still have to finish the last four months of school, but your GPA is good enough to get you into college.” We want to hear, “You’ve got 10 more years of challenging child raising years to go, but your kids are going to turn out great.” It’s easier to wait when you know the end result.

Yet the Bible says we walk by faith, not by sight. The fact is you and I stand in the shadows much of our lives. We walk by faith while we wait and wonder. Even Simeon, with God’s promise in his back pocket, had to had to walk by faith while he waited and wondered.

What are you waiting and wondering about?

Like the excited child wound tighter than the stripes on a candy cane, we think we can’t stand another moment of anticipation. Christmas just has to get here!

And it does.

In a moment of awe and surprise, Simeon’s waiting and wondering go out with a bang. The Messiah is…a baby. Mary and Joseph, teenage parents with reindeer in the headlights looks, hand their baby over to Simeon for what should have been a routine circumcision. But nothing has been routine for this Mom and Dad. Angelic visitations, getting pregnant without having sex, giving birth in a stable, shepherds with stories of angel armies singing about their Son. And now this old man of a priest looking to the heavens saying, “Now, Lord, let your servant die in peace. For mine eyes have seen Your salvation which has been prepared in the presence of all people.”

Something happens when you hold a baby. You realize that life is not all about you. At no time in history was this truth more evident than when Simeon held the baby Jesus. Holding the Savior of the world in your arms will put life in perspective. The waiting and wondering for Simeon is over. For Mary and Joseph, the wondering has just begun.

Whatever it is you’re waiting for and wondering about, keep anticipating. Your wait may be long. Or it may be brief. But God always delivers on His promises. Christmas came for Simeon. It will come for you, too.

And when it does…

There’s no way to describe the joy of holding in your hand what you’ve hoped for in your heart.

“Simeon took the Child in his arms, blessed God and said, “Now Lord, let your bondservant depart in peace. For my eyes have seen Your salvation which has been prepared in the presence of all people. A light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel.” – Luke 2:28-32