JEFFREY SWAINSTON, CHAPLAIN
P.O. Box 77
Manton, MI 49663​
(616) 405-6921
revjeff82@gmail.com

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 GRANGE NEWS

Don’t Be Anxious About Tomorrow
As you sink into bed tonight, exhausted, are you already thinking about tomorrow’s meetings, next week’s obligations, and next month’s ​deadlines?
You’re anxious about tomorrow… and the next day… and the next.

​Whether you’re a busy mom who’s worried about your child’s future, 
an overwhelmed college student in the throes of midterms, or a rising executive with demands pulling from every direction, it’s difficult not knowing what tomorrow will bring. This anxiety is something that keeps many people awake at night — but does it do any good?
One result of anxiety is that it can certainly make you feel productive. At least you’re keeping a running tally in your mind of things to do, scenarios that could go wrong, or new ideas to explore, right? But the problem is this: you can’t keep going all the time. Your mind and body need a break. You need a break. Your boss needs a break. Even the president needs a break sometimes.
The best thing you can do for yourself is take time to rest. True rest doesn’t look like collapsing into bed, nerves fried and adrenaline pumping, either. It looks like letting your mind, body, and soul rest in the palm of the Lord. 
True rest always involves surrendering to God.

​God doesn’t tell us to rest for 
His own good — He tells us to rest for our own good. God
worked six days and rested the seventh. He was — and is — the mastermind behind the entire world, yet He took time to give Himself a break. To cease from working, to cease from creating, cease from doing.

​Emulate the Lord’s pattern of 
work and rest tonight.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 GRANGE NEWS

This year I am tempted to keep a close count of the number of times I hear the question, “Are you ready for the holidays?”
What does that mean exactly? If I were to guess what people mean when they ask one another if they are “ready for the holidays,” I would say most are not talking about spiritual readiness. I bet what they typically mean is, “Have you made a list of all the stuff you need to do before the 25th and have you checked it off?”

​Usually the answer that follows is a long list of to-do’s before Christmas 
day. Baking, sending Christmas cards, buying and wrapping gifts, hiding presents from the children, or delivering them to neighbors, choir or  band practice, preparing for guests, or preparing to travel.
I wonder, if Jesus were making a holiday preparations list, what would He include? What if those who were there on Christ’s birth day could advise us on getting ready for Christmas? What would be on their list?
Joseph might recommend we listen closely to the voice of God to prepare. Mary may suggest we ponder the miracles of heaven.

​​​Perhaps
 the angels would propose we sing about the King.

​The shepherds may gently guide us to follow their act of worship.

​Possibly the wise men would teach us to give Jesus our most valuable 
gifts.
The innkeeper may suggest “Hospitality: open your heart and home.”

And Jesus’ list would likely encourage us to be a light on the hill pointing the way for others to know Him.
Comparing my to-do list to the ones above, I wonder if I lived at that time, would I have missed Christ’s birth? Would my busyness have kept me from slowing down to take time to worship in the stable? Unfortunately I have “missed” many Christmases in the here and now because I’ve not slowed down long enough to bow my knees and experience the miracle.
I want Christmas for my family to be more about an act of worship and awe than a frenzy to decorate, shop, and jump through the world’s hoops. I don’t want to miss the true reason we celebrate.

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