To Jesus (a Christmas Poem)

Michael E. Wood

December 19, 2016

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Philippians 2:5-8

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. Romans 5:14

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Luke 2:13-14

What do you think of when you think of Christmas? Going into debt, to buy things that may not be appreciated by those who receive them? Are you focused on the giving and receiving of gifts? Are you in angst about dinner parties or family gatherings? Do you think it’s all about the children? Or do you really think of Him, who emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men?

When we think of Jesus in any fashion, whether it be His preexistence as God the Son or His incarnation as the son of man; fully God and fully man, we should be humbled by the very thought of Him who gave himself for our sins. In our contemplation's of Him we should be changed from glory to glory. Obviously, this can only happen if we have been born again. Through our union with Him by the power the Holy Spirit and the instruction of His revealed will through the Word of God we are given the understanding of this unspeakable gift we have been given. For from Him and through Him, and for Him are all things, to Whom be all the glory both now and forevermore.

All creation points to Jesus; Son of God and son of man.

Even Adam in his forming was a type to show God’s plan.

Now the angel’s proclamation clearly seen by all who see

Glory in the incarnation of the Christ who set us free.

For His Name’s sake, God did send us such a Savior, humbly born,

Living life that we have failed to, cursed, rejected, bearing scorn.

Yet He stumbled not by seeing joy beyond that rugged cross,

Offering Himself completely to redeem us from our loss.

Now in heaven, how amazing and in hearts of all of those

Who are joined as one abiding in the knowledge, He arose!

Oh, to grace, how great a debtor, mercies fruit both you and I

If we’ve humbly bowed before Him, Jesus Christ, who reigns on high.

For the glory of the Father is more worth than all of men

And the hearts of all who love Him shout His praise who has no end!

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

Dianna Wood
December 18, 2016

Sometimes God makes his presence and power known in our lives in ways that are undeniable!  This is one of those times.  The story begins in North Carolina before Michael and I were married.

Placed near Michael's computer in North Carolina was a copy of a short poem that had been written by Bob La Tour, one of the Pastors from Beacon Baptist church--the church that Michael attended before he and I ever met.  When I flew to North Carolina in May 2010 to marry Michael, one of the wedding gifts we received was from Pastor La Tour.  It was a beautifully framed copy of that very poem.  We cherished that gift and hung it in our apartment upon arriving in California after our road-trip honeymoon from North Carolina.

Over the past six years, Michael has provided individuals in the facilities where he ministers with copies of the "Impact"--Pastor La Tour's weekly one-page devotionals.  Although they have never met Pastor La Tour in person, many of them feel as though they know him and look forward each week to their copy of his devotional.

In April of 2014, the lease on our apartment would be ending.  My mother was living in a senior mobile home park and had recently experienced several health related issues which left her temporarily in need of family assistance.  Rather than move her closer to us, we decided to not renew our lease at the apartment and purchase a small single-wide mobile home just a few streets over from mom in the same mobile home park.  Over the past two and a half years, mom has realized that in order to stay in her little mobile home, she would have to make modifications to accommodate her physical limitations and those modifications would be costly.  Her home had no room to accommodate live-in assistance.  She also realized that if she could not safely stay in her home alone she would eventually loose her home and end up in an assisted living facility.  That was not something that she desired and after spending just 3 days with her in one of those facilities after her last fall, it was certainly not something I would want for her, either.

With monthly lot rental fees going up each year and no rent control in place, mom was paying almost $700 a month to rent the dirt her little house sat upon and we were also paying almost $700 a month to live in our little mobile home just so that we would be in close proximity to mom as she needed more assistance with normal daily activities.  Earlier in the year, we discussed finding a home here with an in-law quarters so that she could live with us as long as possible and avoid the high cost of modifying her little mobile home and facing the increases in lot space as the years went by.    She was very excited about that possibility.  Unfortunately, we quickly discovered, because of the cost of real estate here in California,that was not even a remote possibility.  Things were not looking good in terms of options.

Fast forward to just a few weeks ago...

A co-worker started talking about her family moving to another state because of the laws recently passed in California, as well as, the cost of living and cost of real estate in other states and that got us looking at the possibility of finding an option for mom that was affordable. We quickly discovered that real estate near Michael's home town, large enough to accommodate all of us comfortably; with a fixed rate mortgage, was as low as $500 a month. So we talked to mom about how she felt about us looking into that. She was thrilled with the idea and we all realized that if we didn't seriously look into this now, she might be too old to make a move across the country, should we put it off for too long a time.

Here is where the reality of the intimacy of God's providence and sovereignty in our lives shinned undeniably brilliant, clear and overwhelmingly powerful!

On the Wednesday after Thanksgiving, Michael contacted the secretary of Beacon Baptist church in North Carolina and got the contact information for a Real Estate agent that was a member of the church. We contacted her and she advised that we take a look at Realtor.com to get an idea of the market and the prices so that we could give her a better idea of what we were looking for.

We spent that following Saturday and Sunday evening looking at hundreds of homes online and found several homes that we liked and could afford; but none were practical if we had mom with us. We really were hoping for a home with an in-law quarters and a walk-in shower.

Right before crawling into bed that Sunday night, and admittedly feeling a bit discouraged, the thought just popped into my mind, "What about homes for sale by owner?" So, once in bed, I grabbed the I-Pad and entered, "Homes for Sale By Owner" followed by the city and state. The first listing that came up was a 3 bedroom, 3 bath, with in-law quarters and a 30 x 24 shop with a price that we could afford. I showed the listing to Michael and we both said, "Wow, that seems to good to be true".

Early that next morning, we decided to email the link to the real estate agent and asked her to please look into that property for us. As I was getting ready for work, another thought popped into my head and I said to Michael, "Wouldn't it be weird if the owner of that "perfect sounding house" was somehow associated to someone at Beacon Baptist Church?" An hour later, I arrived at work and turned on my computer to find an email from the real estate agent informing us that she knew about that home and that we might know the seller of that house.

Well...  

That house was Pastor La Tour's mother's house. She had passed away several years ago and his sister had contacted a real estate agent a week or two earlier to see if she would list the house at the end of the month. Yes, the very same real estate agent that Michael contacted on the Wednesday after Thanksgiving!

As we move forward, we are placing our trust in Him and will accept whatever His plan may be.  The passage that comes to mind from Proverbs 3:5-6 reads, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him,  and he will make straight your paths.

"The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."  Proverbs 16:9

As we look back on the lines of Bob La Tour's poem, we are encouraged and inspired to see and trust God's providential workings in our lives.