Well, here we are. It's Christmas Day. No, I'm not recording this on Christmas Day for you,

but I love you and you can pretend that I'm sitting here with a cup of hot chocolate bubbling

over with marshmallows and maybe a splash of peppermint in my hot chocolate as I sit by the

cozy pellet stove looking out and recording this for you. Okay, because that's the kind of

sisters in Christ that we are. Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas. I'm so honored to be in your earbuds.

Wherever this episode finds you, I hope it's a breath of peace and a reminder that today

it's not about performing a perfect Christmas. No, friend, it's about receiving a perfect

Savior. Let's open with a prayer. Jesus,

we pause and we surrender to you, Emmanuel. God is with us. Quiet our hearts. Help us trade pressure

for your presence and worry for worship. We love you, Jesus. And happy

birthday. Amen. So the calendar is full. The house is full. The gifts under the tree are no longer full

because hopefully like your family, mine has been ravaged and ripped through

and kids are happily playing with all the fun new things and our minds can also get full right

just like our house like our calendar especially as we get into a brand new year but just for today

Christmas is the day that heaven touched earth, right?

John 114 says, so the word became human and made his home among us. Today, I want to offer you

three gifts to receive. And those three gifts are peace, joy, and hope so that you can walk through this day

and this week settled in him. So let's start with gift number one. Gift number one is peace. Peace that

stillness brings. Psalm 4610 reminds us, be still and know that I am God. Peace isn't found in a finished

to-do list. It's found in a person. If you have kiddos, it's found in those sweet moments where they

ask you to read them a book or they ask you if you got preteens like me to play a game of Mario

cart with them or to play basketball with

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