TIME OUT WITH LOIS
by Lois Olmstead

FAVORITE COLUMN -  By Lois Olmstead   

   During the Christmas holidays we heard much about the blessings of the season. This year as in years past we ended our family Christmas letter with “Have a blessed new year.” Luke wrote many verses about Mary in his gospel. He records her prayer and quotes her words, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name.”
    In the “Magnificat” as this passage is called, Mary is aware that people in generations to come will call her “blessed.”
    And truly she was. To be able to watch the Christ child grow from a babe to a toddler, and from a teen to an adult, she was blessed. Yet that blessing did not come without hardship. Simeon told her when she and Joseph and the baby came to the temple that “a sword will pierce your own soul.” (Luke 2:35) We know the rest of the story. We cannot begin to comprehend the sorrow that pierced Mary’s heart as she witnessed the death of her son. We cannot fathom the chasm between the sorrow - then the elation as the truth of the empty tomb and a risen Lord became clear to this mother.
    Ahh yes, the blessing of it all. The joy of the manger birth, blessing beyond measure as the angels and shepherds and later the kings heralded the birth of our Savior, her son. There had to be years of blessing in raising Jesus. Then sometimes blessing and sometimes not, as Mary followed His ministry years. Then the blessings begat the deepest pain, the “piercing of the soul” as Simeon had said, as she experienced the cross at Calvary.
    So once again we know that we are taught how to live today by reading and studying the Bible, God’s Word. We can speak truth to one another when we say “Have a blessed Christmas” or “Have a Blessed New Year!” Yet in the blessing, we can know that there may be sorrow for a season in the midst of that blessing.
    Do you not agree? As we look over the past year, we have been blessed. We can recount time after time when the mercy and grace of God showered blessings down upon us. We can thank Him for our health and breath and home and food and family and freedom and the list goes on.
    Yet as with Mary, blessings oft come with sorrow intertwined.
    We can be thankful for the blessing of good health because we know the pain of sickness. We can be thankful for our home because we have experienced being without a home or food or know those who do not have home or food right now. We can be blessed with our freedom because we know the price paid for it in pain and death and lives since this country began. So yes, thank you God for the blessings of the past year and those that await us in 2008. And give us courage and strength to endure the times when we cannot see the blessings in the way You can.
    Even now, as we write this column, there are those who are in the valley and the blessings seem far away. But hang on my friends, God is faithful. The blessings will come. Read the Christmas story in Luke again this week. Listen to Mary, to Simeon, to the angels, to Joseph and the shepherds.
    Remember the song of the angels, “Fear not. Behold we bring you good tidings great joy!” So we walk through the sorrow and pain and sadness knowing each step we take leads us into the joy and peace and hope that resides in blessings from God above. Especially since He came that we might know we are not alone, but have a Savior who understands, loves and cares for us at all times in all things. Take courage! His blessing is upon you. Have a Blessed 2008!