Philippians 2:4-11
It was Christmas and I was 5 years old. I was excited because I was chosen to be Mary in the Christmas program that year. Even at a young age, I knew what an honor it was to be chosen to be “The Mother of Jesus”. I had a blast and treasured every moment of playing the part.
That night, after my mom and dad tucked me into bed, I remember that I started singing Christmas carols to myself. The more I sang, the closer I felt to God, and I remember singing Silent Night at one point with tears streaming down my face because it was in that moment, at my young age, that I first realized how big a gift God had given us in Jesus. After I finally drifted into a slumber, I remember having the most amazing dream. To this day I can recall every detail of that dream vividly.
In my dream, I was in my elementary school classroom. When I looked down at myself, I realized that I was dressed in my Mary costume. I started walking around the school. I realized that there was no one around. I wandered out of my classroom, down into the stairway to the basement where we had our art and music classes. As I walked down the stairs, I remember seeing a glow coming from the bottom of the stairs. As I got further down the steps, I realized that this glow came from an angel. He was a man, a huge man with massive, feathered wings, flowing white robes and dark hair but he didn’t have a halo. I couldn’t make out his face because of the glow around him, but I could sense somehow that he was smiling at me. I remember not feeling scared of him at all as he seemed so warm, inviting and kind. As I walked closer to him, he held out to me what I can only describe as a shiny, gold scepter filled with all kinds of jewels, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and pearls. It sparkled in the glow of him. The angel handed it to me and just smiled, but he never said a word. As I grasped the scepter in my hands, I looked down and saw my Mary costume turn into medical scrubs. Then I remember waking up and somehow knowing in that instant that I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up.
From that moment on, there was never a doubt in my mind of God’s purpose for my life. Whenever school got hard or if I ever felt that things were just too difficult, I would just remind myself of that dream and I felt God near to me. Somehow, he made everything come together. Now how can you repay God for such a gift as that? I’m still trying to figure that out. I don’t think I can ever possibly repay him for all the blessings that he has given me and that he continues to give me each day. And how can we possibly repay him for his gift of Jesus, who died so that we can live forever with him?
I guess the best way to start to repay such a debt is to follow five basic biblical principles that have become our Southwood principles. The 5 basic principles of Give, Serve, Grow, Worship and Invite help lead us to ways in which we can share our faith with others and show God just how thankful we are for all his gifts and blessings. Southwood, as a church, has been so richly blessed. God has been extremely gracious to us and we must continue to strive to carry out his will in this world and not be complacent or get too full of ourselves. All our successes come from God; they are not our own. Any good works that we do are because we are his instruments. To make beautiful music, we must first let God’s spirit breathe and speak through us. It is by doing this, that we can feel God with us always.
Questions for Reflection:
- Make a list of all your blessings and keep a daily gratitude journal.
- How can you “pay it forward” and start repaying your debt to God daily?
- How can you show others a more “servant heart”?
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for all your blessings that you have bestowed on us both in our personal lives and as a church family. Help us never to take your gifts for granted and please keep us grounded in your work in mission and servanthood. Thank you for giving us a heart for service and for doing your work in this world. Help us never to forget that our successes are never ours alone but are through your will. Thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus. And thank you for your gift of grace. You are an amazing, powerful, and kind God and we are so blessed to know your presence in our lives. Amen.
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