The Holiday Month

The month between Thanksgiving and Christmas has always been a rough time for me. Satan attacks from every angle and I tend to fall into the trap more often during this month. I'm not real sure why, it's just always been a pattern for me. Last night was a night full of bad choices for me. So this morning after church we came home and I dumped out all the liqour in this house. The bad thing was that most of it was stuff others had brought over and left here. But I told Caleb that this house needs to be a dry house from now on. It's senseless to leave the stuff here when it is one of the tools Satan uses against me. I just feel a little lost right now and very vulnerable because I love my friends very much, but the friends that I feel closest to are not going to hold me accountable and be available when I'm feeling tempted in the worst way. And I know there are people who read this blog that would be willing to be there and hold me accountable, but how do I open up when that's not really the type of person I am. How to I make the transition? How do I open up? How do I get over my fears? How do I make different choices? How do I stand up to the ones closest to me? I ask all these questions and I know where the answer lies.
Anyway on a lighter note, Ron preached about doubt this morning. Doubting about the events of the Christmas story, and he used a line from Miracle on 34th Street. He gave a great sermon, but there was one part that made me think of a movie that we used to have to watch 4 or 5 times a day for months on end. The Santa Clause with Tim Allen in it. I know this movie is based on Santa, but the little boy in the movie drops lines all over the place leading to answers to doubts about Christ. At one point in the movie Charlie (the little boy) is talking with his step father and his step father says, "Well Charlie how do you know Santa is real and the north pole and the elves. I've never seen it." Charlie, being the smart 7-year-old that he is, says, "Have you ever seen a million dollars? Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not real." Then later on in the movie Charlie tells his dad (who is on his way to transforming into the big S.C.) "Dad remember what the elves said seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing."
Ron stated the first part of this today. Our society is so set on the fact that we have to see in order to believe. But in all reality the opposite is true with God. You don't have to see God in order to believe in Him. You have to believe in Him in order to see Him. I mean He is all around and in all my brokenness this morning, I felt His presence as strong as ever today. He has rocked me and held me today, He has convicted me, He has led me, He has comforted me, He has blessed me and this is just all today. So for any of you that are or may know a "doubting Thomas" just ask them about other things they have faith in and cannot see (gravity, air, a million dollars!)