Christmas is the most joyful time of the year. It is a time of serenity, and peace. It is a beautiful time. But there comes a time when that season is wrapped in tissue paper, and put into storage boxes into the attics and closets and sheds. The New Year comes, and we package the beauties of this season, and put them away.

I’ve spent today carefully wrapping the memories… it’s hard not to stop and look at each ornament. Everyone seems to tell a story; every one, a different set of memories. “These are the bulbs we bought our first Christmas together, baby. This one is from Shara’s first Christmas! I love this one. There’s the clothespin angel with Shiloh’s face cut out and put over the angel’s face. There are the bead ornaments we made in 1998… and the blown glass rose that we found in an antique shop last year.” Every ornament has its own unique story…

It’s almost sad to wrap it up again. Things so beautiful, you hate to hide them. Crinkled tissue wadded in their boxes, and one by one, they are rewrapped, and placed lovingly in their storage places.

I think it’s vitally important that we package up joy… in those seasons when we have it. It’s important to stockpile peace when we have it in abundance. We have to lay these things up in store…

We have to hide His word in our hearts so that we don’t sin against Him. We have to stockpile the THINGS OF GOD while we have them in abundance. We have to work while we can work, because there is a night coming when NO ONE will be able to work for God.

John 12:35
35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

Stockpile it while you have it. Make preparations while you’re able. Keep oil in your lamp BEFORE the Bridegroom cometh.

Stockpile peace. Lay up joy in abundance. Carefully wrap it all now.

There is a weight on my family right now. We are well-cared for by our church family. They treat us marvelously, and we are blessed, both in our salary… and in the love they pour out on us every single day. But it’s been a daily battle since we arrived here in October; not for anything they’ve done – but financially. We knew it would be tough… selling a house at Christmas time. And then Jannise’s illness has been a horrible financial obligation hitting us right at Christmas time. There have been dozens of doctor’s appointments for which we’ve had NO health insurance coverage. Her medication for these convulsions has set us back about $100 a week. It’s overwhelming.

With our house unsold it is an additional $1,500 a month from our household income. It has been almost too much to bear. The Lord says He won’t put more on us than we can handle; but sometimes you wonder.

I thank God that in those pressing moments, I have a stockpile of joy that I can turn to. I have a closet full of peace which passes all understanding. Even in the overwhelming circumstances of life, there are precious promises that I can take from their boxes at any moment. I can pull out the memories of the way God has ALWAYS supplied all of my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I can unwrap the memory of never having been forsaken… and NEVER having to beg for bread. I can pull forth the memories of the times when He has hidden me in the secret place of the Most High, and kept me under the shadow of the Almighty.

Can I tell you a secret? I’ve lived like the Widow down at Zarephath… it makes no sense. I keep using my substance, but miraculously, it keeps being replaced. For several months, my bank statement reflects that I spend more than I deposit… (at least during these months of Jannise’s illness…) and yet, the barrel of meal has not wasted, neither has the cruse of oil failed. I don’t get it. But God has done it.

Miracles from unlikely places; checks you didn’t expect; food when you didn’t have money to buy it; gifts when you didn’t deserve them. Those are the moments that give your heart strength. During the heat of the summer… and dying time of fall… my heart travels to boxes of stockpiled joy, and carefully wrapped peace. I can almost see them presented before me. And it gives me strength to go on.

While you pack away your ornaments… stockpile some peace. Carefully wrap some joy. When the dark days come, you’ll never be without.