Day 30: Second Best
- Joni
- Jul 30
- 3 min read
My husband is
THE SECOND.
I am
THE SECOND.
My son is
THE SECOND.
And today,
we celebrate the birthday
of our son's
SECOND.
Five years have passed,
yet it still feels
like yesterday.
Oh,
the miracle of BIRTH.
I can still picture the moment
Hudson entered this world.
And now
my "little boy" is holding his own little boy.
What a beautiful reminder that we are simply vessels of
GOD.
HE entrusts
these precious little lives into our care,
yet HE never asks us to care for them
in our own strength.
For we are all created
BY HIM and FOR HIM,
to be filled with
HIS PEACE
and
HIS PRESENCE.
As we continue our journey through
CHRISTMAS IN JULY,
I think about another BIRTH.
THE BIRTH
that changed everything.
The BIRTH of JESUS.
THE ONE
who willingly humbled HIMSELF,
left the glory of heaven,
and came as a helpless BABY lying in a manger.
THE KING became a SERVANT.
THE CREATOR entered HIS creation.
And HE showed us what it looks like
to put
THE FATHER'S WILL
before our own.
Oh,
what freedom there is in taking
SECOND PLACE when JESUS is FIRST.
To TRUST GOD
when you want to be first.
To know you are
SEEN when no one seems to notice.
To know you are
HEARD when no one seems to listen.
To know you are
HELD by the loving hand of GOD
when you feel alone.
Because when you willinglytake SECOND PLACE,you discover you are exactly where you belong.
Always
SEEN.
Always
HEARD.
Always
LOVED.
Always
HELD.
Because you belong
to HIM.
Welcoming
this precious little
SECOND
into our family
has been one of the sweetest gifts
of being a grandparent.
You gladly move to the side.
You pass the baton to your child,
and you watch another generation begin.
As I look into the eyes of my son
while he looks into the eyes of his son,
my heart overflows.
Time seems to stand still.
Once,
he was the baby we eagerly awaited.
And once, so were you.
A baby created by GOD for GOD,
because HE desired to give you life.
And suddenly,
SECOND PLACE
doesn't seem like such a bad place to be.
Neither does
third,
fourth,
or fifth.
Because our position isn't what gives us our worth.
GOD DOES.
When we step aside and allow
JESUS to take HIS rightful place,
our position no longer matters.
Because
THE GOD WHO MATTERS
says
YOU MATTER.
And that is all that matters.
As our
CHRISTMAS IN JULY
journey is coming to a close,
another month will begin.
Because time never stops moving forward.
The calendar turns.
The days continue.
TICK.
TICK.
TICK.
Sunrise to sunset.
But the message of CHRISTMAS
never ends.
Because JESUS doesn't get packed away
with the decorations.
Every day is another opportunity for you
to make room for HIM.
To step aside.
To surrender your place.
To let JESUS take FIRST PLACE
And that is living
JOYFULLY in SECOND PLACE.
Because when
JESUS IS FIRST,
you discover that your greatest
JOY
has never been about your position at all.
Because
"IT'S NOT ABOUT ME"* ~
*(New devotional series beginning August 1)
it is
ALL ABOUT JESUS.
And that my friend is when
you experience that
your greatest
JOY
IS
"JUST JESUS"
(listen to the song below)
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