Move Toward The Light

So, you've read the title and you're thinking, "Oh no...she has written a piece about death when you are in that in between state and someone is telling you while you are in the tunnel, move toward the light." WRONG! This is not about death at all. On the contrary, it is about life and love and warmth!

We live in the parsonage right next door to our church. There are many things that I love about this old house that was built in the 40's. There are wood floors throughout the downstairs. I love just sitting and looking at them immediately following a good Murphy Oil Soap scrubbing....they just gleam. I love the big kitchen window that I can look out and see the church as I wash dishes. I could go on and on, but there is one special thing in this house that I love above all others. I have an intense fondness for the fireplace.

Ken and I married in the month of August and as we all know, there is no need for the warmth of a fireplace in the dead of summer. We have two recliners that sit side by side directly in front of the fireplace and we enjoy just sitting there together daily after we have put Nevaeh to bed and we have devotions, we talk or just simply sit holding hands while watching a favorite television show.

When winter arrives, I start getting excited because I know that I am going to get to light the fireplace. This year as the Christmas season approached, I hung our three stockings and put the little Christmas village on the mantle and whenever I lit the fireplace, it just exuded a cheerful glow. If I had been out and was just returning home and saw that crackling fire, I threw down whatever I was carrying on the nearby sofa and rushed over to the fireplace. I would just stand in front of it and bask in the soft heat.

There are times when I wake in the middle of the night and I may be thristy and so, with all of the lights off, I am flailing about trying to get to the kitchen, reaching for anything familiar to get me to where I need to go. At last, as my eyes orient to the dark, I make out the light of the microwave's time and breathe a sigh of relief, because I now have something to move towards.
Ever see those bug zapper lights that everyone hangs on their porches during the summer? Every few seconds you will hear that zzzzzz sound and instinctively know that another bug, after being drawn to the light, actually lost their life.

The point that I am trying to make here is simply this...we as humans, are drawn to light. We are in need of warmth. Physically, a fireplace can provide that warmth to our earthly bodies. It feels good to stand in front of it and "warm" ourselves, but the moment that we walk away, there is that little let down when that chill kicks in, isn't there?

As christians, we all have that light living in us. "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of the darkness', made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6)

People are drawn to light. Let your light shine from within. There are going to be days that you are not feeling so "bright and cheery" and may even be tempted to keep the light switch turned to OFF. We cannot afford to do that. I pray to God to allow my light and yours to shine so bright that it will be like moths to a flame. Do not keep your light lit only during certains seasons of life, as I do my fireplace. Warmth is needed 365 days a year to those that are hurting, lost and in great NEED of the comfort that only those that possess the LIGHT from within can give.

Can you be that light for 2009?