Anxiously waiting in line to finally get a turn to sit on Santa’s lap, whispering into his ear exactly what we hoped his elves were making, promising to behave for mom & dad, then proudly marching off with a candy cane and new coloring book---all of which led to an eager expectation for what we might find under the tree Christmas morning! Oh, the annual trips to see Santa!
I was reminded of these trips to Santa’s Workshop this last weekend while spending time with my two young cousins. They’ve written to the North Pole, sat on Santa’s lap at the mall, and have their wish lists memorized! Seeing the spark in their eye as they began to share about the elf that has visited their house already and the carrots they were going to set out for the reindeer…i couldn’t help but yearn for that same kind of excitement again!
The philosophy in our house that we ‘strictly’ abide by is “If you don’t believe, you don’t receive.’ Yet it has been years since I have sent a letter off to the North Pole or agonized over what exactly it is that i want for Christmas.
Though a wish lists is not really a part of our holiday traditions any more, there is a different kind of wish list that i have poured over for hours.
It’s a Wish List to God
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At the last gathering for Student Mobilization (the campus ministry i’m involved in-- www.ksustumo.org) we created wish lists to be asking God for focused on the last part of the semester, then for the coming year.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ~Matthew 7:7
Initially, you would think creating a wish list for God would be easy. Right? Then you get staggering reality that we ask so little of God. We ask for a tub of popcorn, when He owns and wants to give us the entire theater!
My personal wish lists has been revisited, revised, and will be an ongoing creation, but here’s some tips to get us started on creating our own Wish list. This is a slightly revised version from the experts at ehow.com
Creating a Wish List 101
- 1.) Determine why you’re making a list…are you going to use it?
- 2.) Be specific.
- How many people do you want to share the Gospel with? Who, by name, can you invite to a bible study? What exactly do you pray to have a conversation with your parents about?
- 3.) Broaden your scope.
- Think of personal relationship with God, your family, people you work with, world we live in, etc.
- 4.) Back everything up with scripture.
- ex: Invite 3 girls to SMC (www.smc2011.org)
- For where 2 or 3 come together in my name, there am I with them. ~Matthew 18:20
- 5.) Post it where you will be reminded of it often.
- On the bathroom mirror, on your dashboard, by your bed, in the cover of your bible, etc.
Wish lists to God are so much more fulfilling than any wish list we created as a child. As we dream and imagine with God we rediscover the child-like excitement that we once had. We too can experience the same kind of excitement that the shepherds felt on the night of Jesus’ birth thousands of years ago!
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Come on, let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." ~Luke 2:15
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