Dec. 11th, 2012 Don’t Look Now…But My Halo is Crooked

Don’t look now…but my halo is crooked.
I blame it on the hot glue.

I had no idea how dangerous it could be to use a hot glue gunโ€”until I totally lost my religion making Jesse Tree ornaments.

All I wanted to do was create a visualโ€”a way to teach my children the true meaning of Christmas. Plus, itโ€™s such a Christian-y thing to do. It should go a long way toward establishing my credibility as a good Christian mom. Right?

Yeah.

All was going according to planโ€”until I put a dab of hot glue on the back of some shiny fabric and that fabric took on an evil life of its own.

Before I could say โ€œdratโ€, the fabric curled up on itself, trapping three of my fingers in the mess of shimmer and glue, all the while inflicting what felt like third degree burns.

In that moment, I didnโ€™t think, I didnโ€™t pray. I yelled. 

I did not yell โ€œdrat!โ€

I slung that little whale tail down on the counter with another expletive (or two).

Because it hurt bad. And the fabric was so pretty, but I only had enough to make the one little tail. And I wanted it to look nice. And I thought I had ruined itโ€”and that I might need a skin graft.

I really canโ€™t explain it. I donโ€™t talk that way. I donโ€™t generally even think that way. But itโ€™s obviously in me, because it didnโ€™t just leak out, it flew out.

So much for establishing my โ€œgood Christian momโ€ creds.

The actual tiny whale tail ornament

I managed to get the little tail, now slightly wrinkled, on the ornament, and as I attached it to the wreath it hit meโ€”this was the ornament that represents Jonahโ€™s story. 

Jonah had a good thing going before the whole Ninevah fiasco. People looked up to him. After all, God spoke to him and back then, God didnโ€™t just speak to anybody. Jonahโ€™s โ€œgood prophet of Godโ€ reputation was secure.

Until God threw a little hot glue in his directionโ€”the idea of preaching to the Ninevites burned him up. And then all that junk inside him spewed out and he ran as far and as fast as he could in the opposite direction of Godโ€™s will.

So God chased him down.

Because God had two plans at work. Sure, He wanted the people of Ninevah to repent. But He also wanted to expose the junk in His prophetโ€™s heart at the same time.

Godโ€™s like that. He doesnโ€™t wait on you to get it all together before He uses you. Heโ€™s big on using cracked pots to carry His message to a world full of people who donโ€™t need perfect Christians setting some standard they can never hope to live up to.

They need real Christians who know they canโ€™t measure up but who rest secure in the hope they have in Christ alone.

If youโ€™re having a perfect holiday season, thatโ€™s great. Really. Iโ€™m happy for you (and not at all itching to lob a shatter-proof ornament in your direction and knock the halo right off your head. Nope. Not me).

But if your holiday has already run off the railsโ€ฆif your kids donโ€™t want to sit angelically and listen to Bible stories every nightโ€ฆif your Christmas tree looks more like Charlie Brownโ€™s than Clark Griswoldโ€™sโ€ฆif your plan to buy a water buffalo for a family in Asia instead of an iPad went over like Great Aunt Ednaโ€™s fruit cakeโ€ฆif you lost your halo in the toy department of Target…

Then join me in remembering that God does not care how perfectly you celebrate His birth.

He cares about whatโ€™s going on in your heart as you do.

And even when you blow itโ€”spectacularlyโ€”He doesnโ€™t condemn you. He chases you.

Because He loves you.

If you have a hard time believing that, maybe you need to remember what weโ€™re celebrating.

When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7, ESV)

Thatโ€™s not the message of a religion you can lose.

Thatโ€™s the message of the Gospel that we need to proclaim to everyoneโ€”not that we have it all together, but that we have it all in Him.

Because 2000+ years ago, the Savior was born…

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4 Comments

  1. Cathy Baker says:

    Perhaps we could join forces and begin our own CHA Chapter (Crooked Halos Anonymous) here in Simpsonville? You're not alone, my friend, but your transparency has helped to straighten out my perspective.

    Thanks, Lynn! Hope to see you Thursday ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. I LOVE this, Lynn! What a great story and a powerful truth. Of course, I don't know about crooked halos. Hahahahaha!

    One day I'll have to tell you my Walgreen's story. Let's just say Jesus wasn't the one they saw in me that day. ๐Ÿ™

    Christmas blessings!

  3. I wouldn't yell "drat" either. I"m glad it's not just me. Thank goodness God uses cracked pots, with crooked halos like us.

    Merry Christmas and I look forward to seeing you this week.

  4. Susie says:

    I am Lynn's mom and apparently the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree! While making Christmas wreaths last week I had a similar experience with hot glue. The words that came out during those intense moments of pain were not pretty. I am so thankful that God knows my frailty and is ready to forgive. It proves how much we needed Jesus to come to this earth to save us.