Advent - Day 5

Seems I have lost  quite  few days working on other things, but I will strive to get more on track over the next 2 weeks.  I loved day 5 of this study.  It painted a picture of us waiting on death row hoping for a pardon, but fearful of a death that seems certain and justified.  A Savior coming meant freedom from the penalty of sin, freedom from death, and freedom from so much more.

I look at spiritual life in terms of the way things make me feel; this is just how I am wired.  When freedom from any kind of bondage comes, I feel a lightness of heart ... my load has been lightened for sure.  But the picture this study painted was one of me sitting behind bars before my walk with Christ, so I focused on that imagery for my page.  The amount of bondage I have experienced in my life can only be described as massive, so I cherish every bit of freedom Christ has given me.

I started this page with a scrapbooking paper designed to be a calendar page, but I mostly liked the grid layout with the flowers and fruit.  I added a few colored red and green squares to bring in more of a Christmas feel and some red speckling.  This seems very appropriate, because my freedom was paid for by the blood of Christ.  

I altered a hexagon shaped overlay with inks and glittery embossing powder.  This is meant to represent the prison bars I have lived behind ... but the glitter adds a Christmas touch.  This part of my process was intriguing.  If this weren't a Christmas journal, I would never think to make prison bars pretty.  If you go to a prison, there is nothing pretty about prison bars, but I think we choose many prisons for ourselves that masquerade as pretty things ... appealing things.  I think about the hours I used to spend in front of a mirror as a youth perfecting make-up ... a pretty prison in which to hide ... or escape from who I really am.

It also makes me think of my house.  I have worked so hard to transform it into a beautiful thing -- a 180 degree change from its former life.  But I must be cautious not to let it become a prison of a different kind.  Part of me wants to put off opening my home to others ... to make sure everything looks beautifully maintained when guests arrive.  There is a fine line between having a home pleasing to God ... and letting it become a pretty idol ... or an excuse to keep people away.  I am trying to open my home every 2 weeks ... but this study has revealed potential pitfalls I believe God wants me to be wary of.