The Unexpected

Directly facing a wrong-way driver was not on our bingo card for the Christmas holiday.  Ben and I were driving to the Y’s 5K Reindeer Dash on an early Saturday morning before Christmas. We both saw a car coming right at us. I swerved quickly and honked. The driver appeared unaware of anything and kept going. We were grateful to be unscathed, but the incident shook us.

As we enter 2025, I sense many of us have fears about the “unexpected” part of our future. You know, those things that we don’t plan for. The wrong-way drivers, terror attacks, serious illness, accidents, financial woes, and relational strife.

I’m all for planning for the new year! The new calendar is ready to go. But my calendar doesn’t list out the unexpected things that will come my way. The unexpected stuff can be downright annoying, extremely painful, very frightful, and potentially life-changing. How will you and I respond?

No matter what is going on in the world today or our individual lives, absolutely nothing catches God by surprise. There’s nothing I want more this year than to grow in my relationship with Jesus. I want to be more in love with Him, more dependent on Him, and more ready to trust Him in the uncertainties of life.

Jeremiah says these powerful words today from Lamentations 3:19-24: “Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in Him.’”

What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you? This is exactly what Jeremiah was going through in this section of verses. God had brought judgment upon the nation of Judah. He promised exile and warned of judgment, but Judah had ignored those warnings. Now God promised to bring disaster to his rebellious people. There, before his eyes, Jeremiah saw Jerusalem fall. He cried. He expressed his grief.  He told God that His faithfulness is great at a time when he probably doesn’t feel it’s so great.

God calls us, like Jeremiah, to call to mind His great love and great faithfulness. Call to mind. We can easily forget that God is good and loves us perfectly and is ALWAYS faithful. We forget…especially when the unexpected happens. We naturally react to uncertainties, thinking WE have to fix things. We wander, just like Jeremiah!

God is calling us to live close to Him. Stop your wandering. There is always hope when you decide to trust in God. Jesus will be faithful to be there every morning with new mercies to get us through all the uncertainties that come our way.

His compassions are new every morning. Every single morning. Look for them.

Take a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT0HcAr9aeI

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio. 

God's "I Love You"

We are in love with love. Most of the songs that exist have something to do with love. A study on the “psychology of music” determined that 67% of lyrics in every song, every decade since the ’60s, have something to do with love.

I remember dancing in the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas years ago to the song “Lookin’ for Love” by Johny Lee. The words describe the ache of the human heart:

I was lookin’ for love in all the wrong places
Lookin’ for love in too many faces
Searchin’ their eyes
Lookin’ for traces of what I’m dreaming of
Hoping to find a friend and a lover
I’ll bless the day I discover another heart
Lookin’ for love….

Great song, but how do we find perfect and unfailing love in the right place? The Bible tells us that God sent Jesus into the world as an act of perfect love. Do you know His perfect love?

1 John 4:8-12 says “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

The fourth advent candle’s theme is LOVE. This advent candle is probably more misunderstood than any of the other themes. We can think of love as sentimental, happy, or sweet. But, as you see in 1 John 4:8-12, God’s perfect love is so much more!

At the heart of Christmas is that God sent Jesus into the world as an act of love. Jesus came into a world that needed help because it was in the grips of sin. Each one of us was at one point dead in our sins and did not deserve anything but death. Jesus came because God loves us so much that he doesn’t want any one of us to miss out on spending eternity with him in heaven. All we have to do is believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to save us from our sins.

God saw what we needed and sent Jesus that first Christmas. It cost Him to do it. It was the greatest act of love our world has ever seen. For all peoples. Will you accept His gift?

Merry Christmas!

Take a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66kZYVVzjow

Scripture Readings: 1 John 4:8-12, Matthew 1:18-25, John 3:16, John 15:9-17, Luke 1:1-25

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

Joy to You!

Joy can feel very elusive. I know what joy feels like when I have it. I  certainly know what it feels like to NOT have joy.

So, who doesn’t want to experience pure joy?

Perhaps, it helps to understand what joy is. I think we often get joy and happiness mixed up. Happiness is a state of emotional well-being that a person experiences usually when good things happen in a specific moment. It’s when something “happens” to us. For example, when people are successful, they feel happy.

But wait. What happens when good things don’t happen in our lives? What if you’re not excited about Christmas? What if you lost a loved one this past year? Or you've gotten a difficult diagnosis? What if you’re single and feeling alone this Christmas?

Joy isn’t about what’s happening around us. It’s something we feel deep inside us, regardless of our circumstances. Joy is a gift from God, coming to us from His Son, Jesus.

Can you imagine that kind of joy?

This week, the Advent candle we light is for JOY. The cool thing is that God sent His Son to bring joy to ALL people. It’s not for a select few, it’s for everyone. God’s joy is available to the entire world!

Christmas is a time when we can rejoice and celebrate the birth of Christ. Yet, often our joy is squished out by what’s happening in our lives and the world today. The stress of life, the parties, and the busyness have kept us from experiencing true joy. God’s joy.

Have you ever really thought about the words of the song “Joy to the World”?
Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing…..

The song was written by Isaac Watts, in 1719, not originally intended as a Christmas hymn, but focusing on the second coming of Christ. It was based on a paraphrase of Psalm 98:4-9. Psalm 98:4 says: “Let the whole earth shout to the Lord; be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.” This carol is one of the most popular Christmas hymns of all time. How can one not sing it with a sense of joy?

What is hindering you from joy this Christmas? Let God take any form of negativity, judgment, or complaint you have and give you His joy. Pray for joy! Take time to slow down from the busyness of the season and spend time with Jesus. Make room for Christ in your heart today. 

“Though you do not now see him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8-9

Take a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtrnuG5wZ-Y

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

Peace to All

The Ohio State-Michigan game is always a big deal, spoken from a born-and-raised Ohio gal. I certainly didn’t see the Buckeyes losing that game after Thanksgiving. They were favored to win! I didn’t see the brawl coming after the final whistle, either!

A Wolverines player attempted to take their flag and plant it in midfield in Ohio Stadium. That didn’t go over well with the Buckeye players, which led to pushing, shoving, and punches being thrown by both teams. It was an ugly way to end a rivalry game.

It seemed like nothing good could come from this game until it did.

Check out what TreVeyon Henderson, a player at Ohio State, made about what happened after the game:

“At that moment I just felt led to turn to Him. (God) I was just praying over the team and even the other side. Forgive them, Lord. I pray that all (both sides) repent and turn to you and get to know You, Jesus.  I look at myself. I was once a person…living in sin, full of darkness, full of hate, full of anger. It wasn’t me that pulled me out of that state. It was truly Jesus. That’s my encouragement to others who play in rivalry games as well. I personally don’t see the team up north as the enemy. The true enemy is the devil. I truly believe what the enemy wants is for us to look at them as enemies and to give in to that hatred and hate each other. What our Heavenly Father,  our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ  wants, is for  us to love one another and forgive one another.”

TreVeyon knows Jesus, the Prince of Peace. When sin entered the world, we became at war with God and others. We chose our way over His way. So, God made a way for peace to be restored through sending His Son, Jesus, at just the right time. It’s in salvation, we find peace. Peace with God and peace with others.

On the second week of Advent, the candle we light is PEACE. One of the highlights of the Christmas story is when the angels appear to the shepherds and proclaim, “Peace on earth,” (Luke 2:14) Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, we have the opportunity to receive salvation and be indwelled by the Holy Spirit. We can experience His inner peace! Do you have peace with God with God?

Do you have peace with others? Peace of God allows us to see others not through our eyes, but through God’s eyes. We love others because Christ loved us. He helps us to love when everything in us wants to turn our back. I wonder if there is someone in your life with whom you’re not at peace. Is there anyone you look at as the enemy? Perhaps Jesus wants to give you the peace that comes from forgiving someone who hurt you.

It’s so easy to hold on to bitterness, hatred, and anger when someone hurts us, isn’t it?  Can you fathom the freedom and joy you might find in choosing to forgive another human being?

May God allow each of us to experience the peace of Christ and experience peace with others this Christmas season.

Scriptures to read: Isaiah 9:6, Luke 2:14, Philippians 2:8-10, 1 Timothy 1:15-17, Romans 8:34-35, John 14:27, Galations 3:28

Take a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BFXCd2pWrM

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

True Hope

It’s tough to be a Dallas Cowboys fan these days. It was the first Thanksgiving I remember not being excited about the Cowboys playing football. They’re actually on a two-game winning streak. I should be excited, but I have little hope for the boys.

Many Cowboy fans feel the same way. We start the season feeling so hopeful, anticipating a winning year. Then, week by week, our hope is turned into disappointment and dread. Another bad season. And then we woefully say "Maybe next year..."

Why am I so prone to place my hope in people, things, or a football team that disappoints? Because I do. And you do too. We can place our hope in our finances, homes, professions, children, health, stability, accomplishments, friendships, marriage, football teams, and more. But the biblical sense of hope is so different. Hope in the Bible is not wishful thinking. We have a trustworthy God who will never leave us, forsake us, or fail us. If God claims He will do something, He will.

This is the first week of Advent. Many light a purple candle each week for Advent. We have an Advent candle my dad made that’s a disk cut from a log. It has four holes for the purple candles and one hole in the middle for Christmas Day, a pink candle. We love anticipating Christmas through Advent!

The first week of Advent is called the “Hope Candle” symbolizing the anticipation of the coming Messiah and the hope that He brings to the world. Another word that reflects the theme of hope is anticipation. It’s a good time to focus on the prophecies in the Bible, particularly those in Isaiah, that foretell the birth of Jesus.

I know. We're in busy mode. It’s party time. Christmas shopping and decorating. What would it look like for you to take time to slow down, contemplate, and anticipate Jesus’ birth? To slow down and give thought to the true hope, Jesus.

You may be in a situation now where you need hope. Remember, hope in God can withstand trials, despair, disappointment, betrayal, and rejection. I pray that you contemplate and consider the gift of hope that we have because of Christ Jesus.

Take some time and focus on these Scriptures this week: Isaiah 11:1, John 3:16, Isaiah 9:6-7, Romans 5:5, Hebrews 11, Micah 5:2, and Jeremiah 29:11. May God refresh you and give you His hope as you reflect on His coming.

Take a listen:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27rMrWqJsNA

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

Gratitude Changes You

Sometimes, it’s hard to be grateful. This past week, I enjoyed lunch at the Alamo Café with some colleagues only to come out to my parking space and be hemmed in by a large SUV. The driver had backed in and was just inches from my car with its big side-view mirror looming over my car. I literally couldn’t back up without hitting this monster of a car.

I had to move quickly to make it to another meeting, but this parking snafu had me in a bit of a dilemma. I shimmied an inch, stopped and shimmied another inch, and did this for way too long. I finally broke free without damaging either car.

Sometimes, it’s these not-quite-right circumstances that happen out of nowhere that lead me to grumble. What was that driver thinking? Did he/she not see how close she was? Thankfully, I was able to just be grateful to be out of my parking prison and escape to the next meeting.

Thanksgiving is all about being thankful. Not just to anyone but thankfulness to God. All that we have is from God. Gratitude shouldn’t just be something we practice leading up to Thanksgiving, but every day. It changes the atmosphere around us AND it changes us.  Who doesn’t want to be around a grateful person?

Is gratitude more than sharing what you're grateful for on Thanksgiving Day? Consider Thomas Merton and his thoughts on gratitude:

“Gratitude is more than a mental exercise, more than a formula of words. We cannot be satisfied to make a mental note of things that God has done for us and then perfunctorily thank Him for favors received. To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us- and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is grace, for it brings with us immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, and is constantly awakening to a new wonder, and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience.”

How would becoming a grateful person transform you? 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “Give thanks in all circumstances.” But wait. This verse does not mean that we FEEL thankful in all circumstances. Instead, it commands us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” I didn’t feel thankful for being held captive in a parking space. But I was thankful for how God helped me get out! Gratitude changes the lens in which we see the circumstances that enter our lives. Not just the week of Thanksgiving, but every day. When we take time to engage in thanksgiving, it changes our desires and our perspectives.

Take a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQdfs5S6jyA

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.

Perfecting the Holidays?

The holidays are coming and I know that as much as I prepare, wrap, decorate, and cook, it will be far from perfect! I decorate a bit like my personality…a bit eclectic and simple. I love to cook and bake but I may have a few things that don’t turn out perfectly. I usually wrap gifts all at once in a hurry and don’t really care if they’re perfectly done. I’m just glad when they’re done.

To be honest, I’m far from having it all together at the holidays. But, I do pray. I pray a lot. I pray about our guests at the holiday, I pray that each guest feels loved and accepted. I pray that I’ll have a peaceful heart as I prepare the dishes. I pray that I can find gifts that truly make people feel special. I pray that God is glorified through all that is said and done.

Why do we stress out at the holidays? Why do we place expectations on ourselves that we can’t fulfill? I’m thankful that God doesn’t see things the way we do! He’s not focused on how perfect our homes look or how polished we look on the outside. And to be honest, I don’t think most people who come to our homes are either! People are longing for relationships, not perfection.

Not only do we seek approval through our holiday performance, but also in education, sports, finances, and our relationships. We are easily sucked into the need to gain, maintain AND achieve people’s approval. How in the world do we stop this crazy cycle?

Check out Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:1-4 (NLT)  “When I came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness- timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.”

I want to live like Paul lived. It’s an admonition for us all! He relied on the Holy Spirit to help him because as he admits, his message and preaching were very plain.

Hey Paul! I’ve got the same problem! I feel very plain…especially when it comes to making things look nice at the holidays. When I realize I don’t have to be enough or do enough, holiday preparations change for me!  I already have God’s acceptance and favor. What can people’s acceptance add?

May you enjoy this holiday season and find joy in finding acceptance and favor in God.

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galations 1:10

Take a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTHS4W1bPj8

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.