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Christmas Changes Everything with Elisa Morgan · She Speaks Life - Christian Women, Strengthen Your Faith, Bible Study, Grow Spiritually In Christ

• 0:00
  Hey there. Welcome back to She Speaks Live.
• 0:02
  I'm so excited you are here listening to this episode today.
• 0:05
  I have to say, you guys keep that feedback coming.
• 0:09
  It's so encouraging to see how much you guys are enjoying my
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  Calm Your Soul and Strengthen Your Spirit and your Quiet Times
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  with the Lord is such a huge blessing to hear from you.
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  And for those of you who are wondering, was she even talking
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  about the Serenity? The journal is a personalized
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  scripture journal where you write your name within the
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  verse, bringing this close personal directive to take heed
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  of the truth in your life. It includes 5 topics to choose
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  from with two weeks of scripture for each one for whatever season
• 0:48
  you are in, such as contentment, confidence, loneliness, hope,
• 0:53
  and peace. In addition, our journal prompts
• 0:56
  and an activation prayer to release your faith.
• 0:59
  For what that you are relying on God to do in and through your
• 1:03
  life, it makes a great gift for any occasion.
• 1:06
  Especially we are in the Christmas season of buying
• 1:10
  gifts. But hurry because time is
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  running out for shipment to be delivered on time to you for
• 1:17
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• 1:35
  journal on Instagram, letting your friends know about the
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  serenity we can obtain through God's word.
• 1:41
  And keep letting me know. I'll share your stories as well,
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  and it's such a blessing to see it.
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  OK? Today I sit down with author
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  Elisa Morgan. Elisa wrote a book called
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  Christmas Changes Everything, and she has an awesome podcast
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  called God Hears Her. In this episode, Elisa talks
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  about how Jesus's birth changed everything for every character
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  in the Christmas story. Elisa's insights as to how these
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  stories of the people in the Bible, such as Elizabeth, Mary,
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  Zechariah, Simon, the Shepherds, Anna and the mad guy can teach
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  us, as we say, yes to God to believe in him with this
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  abundant joy and hope. It's such a fabulous listen as
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  we are getting nearer to the day that we celebrate the birth of
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  our sweet Savior Jesus Christ. So Merry Christmas, you guys,
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  and I hope yours is filled with his Lovejoy and pizza season and
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  every season to come. Now here's my guest, Elisa
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  Morgan. Hello, Elisa.
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  Welcome to She Speaks Life. I'm so excited you're here with
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  us today. Always good to talk with our
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  friends, isn't it? It is, yes, and especially at
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  this time. We're approaching Christmas and
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  we have decorations going on and we've got the Christmas story
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  going on and this is just the right timing to talk about the
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  miracle of Jesus birth and just the characters involved in that.
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  And you wrote a book called Christmas Changes Everything,
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  which I absolutely love that title.
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  So before we dive into more of that, I would love for you to
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  share what is a life verse of yours or just a favorite
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  scripture verse that is your go to and why?
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  I love John 1516 and it is I have chosen you to bear fruit.
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  Fruit that will last. And God used that in my life
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  when he was calling me into a leadership role with MOPS
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  International, now called the Momco.
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  And I just thought, Shazam, you know me, how could how could you
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  possibly use me as just a normal lady, you know?
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  And that was a profound moment when I realized that our real
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  legacy is contributing into the lives of others who become
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  Kingdom followers as well. That's that's why.
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  And I've clung to that for years and years and years.
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  That's a good one. So true.
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  I would love for us to just get right into your book and just
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  the different characters that you shared these examples and it
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  was just so good. I've I've been reading it on my
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  Kendall and it's just been filling me up and get me in the
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  spirit of Christmas and what its true meaning is.
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  And so where would you like to start with that?
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  What are some characters in the story that you want to share?
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  Sure, I want to dive right in, but but I think I just want to
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  pause for a second and say the reason I titled the book
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  Christmas Changes Everything is that, you know, Christmas is
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  everywhere. We're immersed in Christmas in
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  the US especially, but worldwide.
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  We're immersed in the holiday, the presence, the Santa Claus,
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  the family, the magical moments, the the memories of our
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  childhood, the festivities, the decorations, everything you just
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  described. But for all of us, for each one
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  of us, I think it's really helpful to put our finger on
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  when does Christmas really become Christmas to us?
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  When does it become more than the family gathering together,
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  or the carolers, or the choirs, or the stockings, or whatever?
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  When does it become really what it is, The birth of Christ, the
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  birth of hope in our hearts. And when Christmas truly becomes
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  Christmas, that's when it changes everything.
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  So, you know, I just want to encourage us as we're listening
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  here and thinking about these original Christmas characters.
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  Let's do that work inside ourselves.
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  When did Christmas become really Christmas to me?
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  And let's resurrect that, you know, because it's not just a
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  day, it's an ongoing experience of a relationship.
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  I like to start with Mary because that's really where the
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  announcement came from, right? You know, Mary was just a a very
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  young girl, 11-12 years old, betrothed, which meant engaged
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  but not yet married and not in a sexual relationship with Joseph.
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  She probably still lived with her own family.
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  They were an agrarian or agricultural if you will, family
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  not really wealthy. She had loved God all her life,
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  been raised in the faith of the Old Testament God, Yahweh.
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  She loved him dearly and when the Angel comes to her and
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  announces you are going to be with child by the Holy Spirit,
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  Mary's response is stunning to me.
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  It's just so shy because she doesn't say.
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  Impossible, I know. Like many of us probably would.
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  Yeah, totally, she instead says. How's this going to happen?
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  So there's a great curiosity. She, as scripture tells us she's
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  troubled in her spirit. But it's not like this doubt.
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  It's this curiosity of wow, just wow.
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  And Mary says yes to God. You know, for each one of the
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  characters, I I picked a word that describes their response to
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  Christmas. And Mary's is the word accept.
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  She said yes to God. She says yes when the the Angel
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  comes to her. She says yes when she goes and
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  visits Elizabeth, her cousin. And she says yes repeatedly as
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  Jesus grows. And I've thought a lot about
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  that. For me too.
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  Jamie, is that Mary's Yes seems crazy to us.
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  How could she do that? I mean, she was going to expose
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  herself to the shame of her culture.
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  That would really dis teen pregnancy.
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  She would expose herself to the surprise and shock of her fiance
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  Joseph, and potentially disappointing him.
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  But she also would expose herself to the stunning
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  devastation of her own son's death and a cross.
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  And I think we find the secret to her.
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  Yes, when we dig down in the first couple of chapters of The
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  Book of Luke, because Luke tells us twice the same thing.
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  One is after the shepherds come and the other is after.
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  Jesus is about 12 years old and they can't find him when they're
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  returning from the temple. And he tells us that she
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  treasured these things, she pondered them and treasured them
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  in his heart. In her heart.
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  And and that word really means to to bundle up to to to place
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  together, almost like the word dialogue, to layer, if you will,
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  layering yeses. And I think for Merry Christmas
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  changed everything when she said one yes after another, just
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  continually accepting God's call in her life.
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  And that made me pause and think, How has God invited me
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  into His Kingdom work and into what His plans are in our world?
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  And will I say yes and continue to say yes?
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  And how will Christmas, the birth of Christ, the reality of
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  Christ, change me when I do so That's a lot.
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  That's what gets us started right there.
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  Yeah, no, I love it because as I was reading, I think this is
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  just how the Holy Spirit works. He's speaking uniquely to each
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  person's heart. And for me, having her.
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  Yes. And not completely understanding
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  it or, you know, it's like, how can this be?
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  I look at all my guesses in the past and they were well, okay.
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  Yes, I'll podcast Lord. But I've never podcast before.
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  I've never done this before. I don't even know where to
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  start. I don't even know what stuff I
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  need to buy for it. In fact, I've always been
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  terrified to speak like this is a fear that I'm facing, you
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  know? And so it's always these
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  impossibles going on in our head the same thing moving from
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  Southern California to Austin. My Yes.
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  And we were totally broke. We didn't have a job at the
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  time, but God wanted to transition us out of California
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  to Austin. But it was the same thing.
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  It's not like we had it all planned out.
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  Oh, we have finances to move us. Oh, we've got a job waiting for
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  us in Austin. No, it was just purely out of
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  faith and just facing the How is this gonna happen?
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  You know? And I think that often when God
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  speaks to us, those yeses are going to follow with those
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  unknowns uncertainties because He solely wants us to rely on
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  Him, His power and see His glory be manifested in the details.
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  So true, Jamie. And, you know, we can kind of
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  separate Mary out and think, well, you know, she was the
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  mother of God, and so she had this special ability to say yes.
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  Well, you know, she was a human. She was just a regular mom,
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  right. And I think she probably said
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  yes while saying and. 12 probably, right?
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  12 years old, probably. Like. 12 years old exactly.
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  So I think she probably said yes while saying how is this going
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  to happen and yes while saying what are you doing?
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  And yes she was saying how, why me, you know, and and that's
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  often how we say it. I mean, if you think about my My
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  first yes to God was when I was around 16.
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  And I remember asking him to be in my life.
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  And that, yes, led to another yes to eventually go to seminary
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  and then to another yes to try my my voice at speaking.
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  The way you're describing, Jamie, you know, and sometimes
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  our yes like to becoming a mom means OK.
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  I'm also going to be saying yes to my children's choices, which
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  might be different from my choices or yes to loving my
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  brother has meant yes to becoming his caregiver in the
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  latter years of his life. You know, just on and on.
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  We don't, we don't always understand.
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  What we do know is that we serve a good God who has our good in
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  mind and really is pledged to benefit us from that
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  relationship. And we can trust his character
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  as we nod and acceptance. Yeah, so good.
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  And I feel like it's kind of contagious too.
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  Soon as we start saying yes to that and seeing how God, you
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  know, he just is waiting for us to take that action step and say
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  yes. And then he shows us another
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  thing and we say yes, and then he reveals and shows.
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  And so I just love that, you know, it's just a almost like a
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  domino effect. It's contagious.
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  You know, if we're stepping out in that first, yes, then I think
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  it kind of, you know, it's like, OK, I saw him there.
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  He's faithful in that. Therefore, he'll be faithful in
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  this next step too. So yeah, I love what you talked
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  about with Joseph. Can we talk about Joseph a
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  little bit? Because I have something.
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  Oh, good. I mean.
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  Yeah, how it connects for you. So Joseph was probably a little
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  older than Mary, typically 7 to 10 years older.
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  And he would be on his own. He would probably be, I mean,
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  with his parents too. But he would probably be a
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  tradesman. We know him through tradition as
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  a Carpenter, but what we do know is that Joseph, it has a really
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  stunning experience too, where he has a dream that marries with
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  child and he knows he's not the father.
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  And so Joseph goes immediately from being betrothed, looking
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  forward to his marriage, to his virgin, to his treasured.
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  I almost imagine that, you know, the perfect wedding, the perfect
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  life, the perfect everything. And it's like, as Joseph
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  receives this word, it's like all of his dreams break and
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  Joseph goes as Christmas changes him.
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  He goes from being this grieving Carpenter to a husband of Mary
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  who's with child, not his, and eventually the stepfather of
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  Jesus. And I just think he he
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  represents such a beautiful yielding on the surface it it
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  looks like God's got it all wrong.
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  It looks like Joseph is going to lead the most loser life
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  compared to what he had hoped for.
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  But what actually ends up happening as he moves through
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  this shocking revelation that Mary is with child, that God
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  reveals to Joseph the divine plan, and that Joseph too, has
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  been invited into the Christmas story.
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  And he yields his brokenness. He he yields his reputation.
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  He thinks he's going to divorce Mary before he understands all
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  of this, and he's going to give her honor so that she can lift
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  her head in the community. He that's the kind of man he
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  was. He was merciful.
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  He was just, he was careful. He was tender.
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  He loved her. And he was like, shoot, if she
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  made a mistake, I'm going to protect her.
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  But I'm not going to go through with this because that's not the
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  right thing. And then God reveals to him what
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  the situation is, and he yields. He yields his dream of what the
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  perfect little happy life is going to look like to what God
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  wants to do. And, you know, tradition also
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  shows that he didn't live a very long life.
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  We don't know exactly when he passed or how, but we do know
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  that Mary and Jesus and his brothers, you know, were without
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  a father for her husband for a long time.
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  And so we just see this man in Joseph who is is kind of quiet
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  in scripture and in the Christmas story you don't see a
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  whole lot about him. And yet God continues to reveal
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  to Him through dreams. You know, take this baby and go
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  to Egypt because Herod's going to be after him or or go to the
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  census and and have Mary give birth there, Just continually
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  providing Joseph to provide for Mary and Jesus by yielding.
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  That's so good. And for me, reading that story,
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  I look back at last year's Christmas and how it just began
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  with so much expectation. I did a episode every single day
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  on an Advent. I used my friend's devotional
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  and I just was fired up, wanted to share the gospel on the
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  podcast every single day and the shopping was done early.
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  I mean, I just felt on top of it last Christmas and.
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  That's dangerous. So dangerous now that I look
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  back, right? I'm just like, oh, this is going
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  to be a perfect Christmas just. And then two days before
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  Christmas, my son is putting some gifts in his car to take to
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  a family member's house. And we in Austin sometimes have
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  these ice storms, if you will, and it doesn't last long.
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  But this was really a a layer of ice.
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  We forgot to turn the sprinklers off so it was thick.
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  Otherwise, the ice would have been thin, but unfortunately,
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  very thick ice on the sidewalk as he's putting in the presence
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  in his car and he slips and he doesn't just, you know, do a
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  little break. I mean, it was a dislocation
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  twist and a complete snap off. I mean, it was bad.
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  And, you know, I'm screaming in terror.
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  His wife is screaming in terror. I mean, we're just like, Oh my
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  gosh. And I've been blessed to live
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  this long with three kids that are now older without any
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  breaks. And so this was the first one
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  and he was 22 and so took him to the ER, you know, and if anybody
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  has gone through a break, you know that it's just like not one
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  and done you're. I mean it was OK we need
• 19:17
  surgery. We need to, you know, set that
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  up. There's a bunch of pre op stuff
• 19:23
  before surgery and then you know, waiting for the surgery
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  and he's completely immobile. Right.
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  So it was not a Christmas I expected.
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  I was heartbroken. He was, you know, obviously not
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  what he planned either. But I'm going, Oh my gosh, what
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  about my perfect Christmas? And then I get a little bit
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  frustrated because I'm like, Lord every day.
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  I was sharing your gospel, and this is what I'm getting at the
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  end, right? And then on top of that, I get
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  sick on Christmas Day and I think just all the stress and
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  just the the disappointment and the let down.
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  I just got so sick I had to go to bed and not be around my
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  loved ones at Christmas and enjoy all that Christmas brings
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  on Christmas Day. So I felt like, Joseph, where
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  you're that brokenness where you're expecting your life.
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  You know, dreams are dash. You expect your life to go this
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  way. You expect Christmas to go this
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  way, and then it doesn't. But you know what?
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  God is faithful. We don't know some of the
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  reasons why things happen, but if anything, it drew me closer
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  to him. And yeah, in my frustration,
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  like God, why didn't you protect?
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  You start going through all those whys, but at the end of
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  the day you're going, what lesson do I need to learn here?
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  And I think for me it was too much of A doing for God and not
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  just a being with him. And I think I was so tied up
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  with look at what I did. All this stuff do, do, do, but
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  really God's just like, you know what all that stuff that you
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  think is a perfect Christmas like, that's not the true
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  meaning of Christmas. It's me.
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  It's it's Jesus Christ. That's me.
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  And that's the that's the deal. See, Christmas became Christmas
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  to you in a whole different dimension, you know, as you
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  yielded. And I guess that's why I I love
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  these characters because they show us facets of Christmas.
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  It's like they they get us windows into the true meaning,
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  you know, So Mary's journey is about saying yes and accepting
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  God's call. And Joseph's is about yielding
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  his way to God's way. And there's one other one, I
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  mean, there's 10 characters, but one other one I want to touch on
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  is Herod. And that's very surprising.
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  People are like, why'd you put Herod in the book?
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  Because he's a huge part of the Christmas story.
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  And the word that I chose for Herod is learn.
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  Because he didn't. He did not learn.
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  He had the opportunity for Christmas to change everything
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  in his life, but he refused Christmas.
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  He rejected Christmas. He maniacally tried to control
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  Christmas, tried to usurp Christmas, and he was a schemer
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  and he turned to a Slayer. And he tried to you know he did
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  kill all the the little boys under two years old because he
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  was so threatened by another king coming on this planet.
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  And it it grieves me and you know, not to be too dramatic,
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  but you know, isn't it real. You know, Jamie, that we can
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  refuse Christmas in given seasons.
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  We can reject the message of Christmas in given seasons.
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  We can refuse to learn in given seasons.
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  And what grief, you know what? What a loss.
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  And and I don't want to be in that spot where I miss Christmas
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  and I miss the redemptive power of the reality of the message of
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  Jesus, because I'm set on me being king, if you, if you will,
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  you know. So good.
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  Is there anything else that you would love to share about
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  Christmas changes everything before we end here?
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  Yeah, I. Think there's a couple of like
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  takeaways or? Yes.
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  Action points. If we could even call on that.
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  The first one is I'm struck by what's our word.
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  You know for Christmas all of these words and and you know
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  pick one of these words. But when Jesus is welcoming
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  little children tomb and blessing them and their nannies
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  are bringing them and their parents are bringing them and
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  religious leaders are bringing them to Jesus to be blessed and
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  the disciples are uncomfortable with this.
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  Jesus is Whoever welcomes a little child welcomes me.
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  And I think about what are we doing to welcome Christmas each
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  year? What are we doing to welcome
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  Jesus into our celebrations, into our understandings, into
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  our lives, into our broken dreams?
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  You know, what are we doing to welcome?
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  So that's a word I want to really leave with everyone to
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  thinking about how how can you welcome Christmas this year?
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  And then the second action point it is to maybe intentionally
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  pick up this little book, Christmas Changes Everything and
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  take two characters a week during Advent and immerse
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  yourself in these characters, how they were changed and ask
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  God how he wants to change you this year.
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  You know, who are you really identifying with?
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  And how is God using that word that he used with them for you?
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  Yeah. So good.
• 24:48
  Thank you so much, Elisa, for coming on here and sharing those
• 24:53
  wonderful books. So where can people connect with
• 24:56
  you and find Christmas changes Everything?
• 25:00
  Just go to elisamorgan.com or on Social.
• 25:04
  It's at Elisa Morgan, author and you can find Christmas Changes
• 25:08
  Everything anywhere. You know, pretty much anywhere
• 25:11
  online. Just take a look.
• 25:12
  Thank you so much. I love your wisdom that you
• 25:15
  imparted on us and just the encouragement and really get
• 25:20
  into the true meaning of Christmas.
• 25:22
  Thanks so much. Merry Christmas.
• 25:24
  Merry Christmas. Thank you so much for listening
• 25:28
  today, and I trust that God has encouraged you through this
• 25:32
  story. Did you know?
• 25:33
  This podcast is on YouTube? Hop on there and subscribe and
• 25:38
  you can see a live recording of each episode.
• 25:41
  And For more information on this ministry and to access free
• 25:45
  downloads, please visit my website at jamieelizabeth.com.
• 25:50
  That's JAYME elizabeth.com. And let's connect beyond this
• 25:55
  podcast by going to my Instagram handle Jamie, Elizabeth, She
• 25:59
  Speaks Life or Facebook. Until next time, my friend.
• 26:03
  I hope God reveals himself through your own life story.