Putting Away

    Yesterday I spent most of my afternoon, at the church, cleaning up after our New Years Eve Celebration, and putting away the Christmas Tree.  It’s always a little sad to me to put away the Christmas decorations each year.  For a brief month or so, they brighten up our lives in the dull of winter up here in the north.  In my home, I’ve gone to having lots of snowman decorations, so I can keep them up for a few more months till I’m so sick of winter (which is most of the time) and can almost taste spring. 

    There’s also the let down of all the planning and preparing for the ‘big day’ of Christmas, and then it’s over. One can look into the bleakness of January (at least it’s bleak- weather wise- in the north) and wonder what’s next?  No more twinkly lights, no more shopping and wrapping presents, and no more Christmas goodies that can make us gain a pound or two or three...

   Todd and I chose to keep the celebration going for a least one more week, as we married on January 2.  We kept the party rolling.  Then two years ago, there was a different kind of celebration on January 2, as we celebrated the life of Todd, and said good bye.  The days of celebrating our wedding anniversary were over. Oh, I can still celebrate the marriage we had, but I can’t celebrate it with him. Only the memories of a loved one  that’s gone, no longer tangible to touch, hold and hug.  So it’s now a ‘holiday’ I have to put away. 

  In I Timothy 1:19 it says, "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.”  The one thing in life you do not want to put away, is your faith and a good conscience.  Those are to be held on to tightly so you don’t shipwreck your life!  

   Have you ever noticed, you can tear down things much quicker than putting them up?  It takes way longer to decorate the Christmas tree, than it does to tear it all down.  One must thoughtfully plan and think about where you want to place every decoration.  But in putting it away, it’s a quick process, that takes little thought and planning.

   But there is some things the Bible tells us to put away from our lives.  In Ephesians 4:31-32 it says, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

  So let’s put away our anger, bitterness, wrath, evil speaking and the such and put on kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness in this new year.  Let 2016 be decorated with love and joy all year long.

   I have put away the Christmas tree, but I have put on new life in Christ, that’s decorated with his love, peace, joy and grace.  Happy New Year to you all!

   Just for fun, I’d thought I’d add this picture a friend of mine sent me while I was cleaning up at the Church. I thought it was quite fitting in lieu of what I was doing at the moment.