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The Best Gift

Posted on December 29, 2023December 29, 2023 by Pam

You already know what I’m going to write about. It’s after Christmas and the boxes are gone and we are left with grateful hearts that we have people. We make memories that will outlast the thing in the box. The Advent Devotional my church created for Day 23 suggested these readings: Isaiah 6:1-7, Philippians 2:5-7, and John 6:38-40. You can look those up. The worship song for this devotion is “Holy”, a newer song written by David Leonard. It was originally intended for Easter but shifted to Christmas because the incarnation is indescribable and unfathomed. We love formulas so 100% – God and 100% – man does not compute. The incarnation sets our faith apart from all other religions, and I quote, “There is something incredibly beautiful about pairing the perfect holiness of God – that characteristic that sets him apart and so high above us – and matching that with the humility of the incarnation. In any worldly context, these characteristics shouldn’t coexist, and yet in the birth of Jesus Christ we can respond with awe and wonder at the fact that the infinite, holy, glorious God of the universe humbled himself to be born as a helpless baby”.

There is a tension in this story. You see here that God already made the plan of redemption. I didn’t even have a say in it because I did not know that I needed it. It wasn’t on my Christmas list because God gave me what He knew I needed more than anything. He gave His only begotten Son, full of grace and truth. I like nice things but this is an eternal category. As His plan amazes us we can chuck our own feeble plans. We can chuck the to do list and we can chuck our Christmas lists too. Our planning is fun and we hope to make our people happy with gifts. In reality, those gifts will soon be forgotten. We are so small compared to this holiness and His holy gift is still offered to us.

"Thoughts from a genuinely evaluative mind."

Pam writes so that must make her a writer. Recently retired, she can now fill days with family, friends, missions, writing, creating, and showing up for whomever needs her. Pam loves the Lord and people. The Bible is God’s love letter to us (and who does not need more love) so she studies and writes some more.

Pam lives in the Pacific Northwest but was home-grown in Southern California. She attended San Jose Bible College and finished a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry at UCLA. She became a teacher, then a Research and Development Chemist, then she built two successful real estate businesses in two states. Pam also pursued study at Fuller Theological Seminary and just completed six months serving in missions abroad.

Pam has two amazing children, married to two precious in-laws, and five sweet grandchildren. Pam is a gifted connector and communicator and the Northwest has the perfect climate for staying inside and writing – or baking! She has been writing since a wee one and is currently converting many years of blogging, by topic, into ten books. The first is a collection from 2011 titled, Beautiful Enough. The second is a yearly day-timer titled, Weekly Planner - Lessons in Life, Glory, and Grace. Number three is in progress with the working title, Christmas Today.

Ten facts about Pam in no particular order:

  1. On the team that developed an insulation for the Alaskan oil pipeline.
  2. Loves looking at homes, decorating, and has flipped five homes.
  3. Likes being tall.
  4. Films have helped define her vocabulary.
  5. Comes from Colorado tenement farmers with history traced to Wales.
  6. Was lost but now is found.
  7. Baking makes her happy – as does eating sweets with coffee, of course.
  8. She thinks mission work is the most important work in the world.
  9. The church started in Rome so she is learning Italian.
  10. Pam is a work in progress!

“I will be your God throughout your lifetime - until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.” Isaiah 46:4

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