Emma Dorling

About a week before Christmas a family bought a new nativity scene. When they unpacked it they found 2 figures of the Baby Jesus. "Someone must have packed this wrong," the mother said, counting out the figures. "We have one Joseph, one Mary, three wise men, three shepherds, two lambs, a donkey, a cow, an angel and two babies. Oh, dear! I suppose some set down at the store is missing a Baby Jesus because we have 2."
"You two run back down to the store and tell the manager that we have an extra Jesus. Tell him to put a sign on the remaining boxes saying that if a set is missing a Baby Jesus, call 7126. Put on your warm coats, it's freezing cold out there."

The manager of the store copied down mother's message and the next time they were in the store they saw the cardboard sign that read, "If you're missing Baby Jesus, call 7126." All week long they waited for someone to call. Surely, they thought, someone was missing that important figurine. Each time the phone rang mother would say, "I'll bet that's about Jesus," but it never was.

Father tried to explain there are thousands of these scattered over the country and the figurine could be missing from a set in Florida or Texas or California. Those packing mistakes happen all the time. He suggested just put the extra Jesus back in the box and forget about it.

"Put Baby Jesus back in the box! What a terrible thing to do," said the children. "Surely someone will call," mother said. "We'll just keep the two of them together in the manger until someone calls.

When no call had come by 5:00 on Christmas Eve, mother insisted that father "just run down to the store" to see if there were any sets left. "You can see them right through the window, over on the counter," she said. "If they are all gone, I'll know someone is bound to call tonight."
"Run down to the store?" father thundered. "It's 15 below zero out there!"

"Oh, Daddy, we'll go with you," Tommy and Mary began to put on their coats. Father gave a long sigh and headed for the front closet. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered. Tommy and Mary ran ahead as father reluctantly walked out in the cold. Mary got to the store first and pressed her nose up to the store window. "They're all gone, Daddy," she shouted. "Every set must be sold."
"Hooray," Tommy said. "The mystery will now be solved tonight!"

Father heard the news still a half block away and immediately turned on his heel and headed back home. When they got back into the house they noticed that mother was gone and so was the extra Baby Jesus figurine. "Someone must have called and she went out to deliver the figurine," my father reasoned, pulling off his boots. "You kids get ready for bed while I wrap mother's present."

Then the phone rang. Father yelled "answer the phone and tell 'em we found a home for Jesus." But it was mother calling with instructions for us to come to 205 Chestnut Street immediately, and bring three blankets, a box of cookies and some milk. "Now what has she gotten us into?" my father groaned as we bundled up again. "205 Chestnut. Why that's across town. Wrap that milk up good in the blankets or it will turn to ice before we get there. Why can't we all just get on with Christmas? It's probably 20 below out there now. And the wind is picking up. Of all the crazy things to do on a night like this."

When they got to the house at 205 Chestnut Street it was the darkest one on the block. Only one tiny light burned in the living room and, the moment we set foot on the porch steps, my mother opened the door and shouted, "They're here, Oh thank God you got here, Ray! You kids take those blankets into the living room and wrap up the little ones on the couch. I'll take the milk and cookies."
"Would you mind telling me what is going on, Ethel?" my father asked. "We have just walked through below zero weather with the wind in our faces all the way."
"Never mind all that now," my mother interrupted. "There isn't any heat in this house and this young mother is so upset she doesn't know what to do. Her husband walked out on her and those poor little children will have a very bleak Christmas, so don't you complain. I told her you could fix that oil furnace in a jiffy."
My mother strode off to the kitchen to warm the milk while my brother and I wrapped up the five little children who were huddled together on the couch. The children's mother explained to my father that her husband had run off, taking bedding, clothing, and almost every piece of furniture, but she had been doing all right until the furnace broke down.

"I been doin' washin' and ironin' for people and cleanin' the five and dime," she said. "I saw your number every day there, on those boxes on the counter. When the furnace went out, that number kept going' through my mind. 7162 7162. Said on the box that if a person was missin' Jesus, they should call you. That's how I knew you were good Christian people, willin' to help folks. I figured that maybe you would help me, too. So I stopped at the grocery store tonight and I called your misses. I'm not missin' Jesus, mister, because I sure love the Lord. But I am missin' heat. I have no money to fix that furnace."

"Okay, Okay," said father. "You've come to the right place. Now let's see. You've got a little oil burner over there in the dining room. Shouldn't be too hard to fix. Probably just a clogged flue. I'll look it over, see what it needs."
Mother came into the living room carrying a plate of cookies and warm milk. As she set the cups down on the coffee table, I noticed the figure of Baby Jesus lying in the center of the table. It was the only sign of Christmas in the house. The children stared wide-eyed with wonder at the plate of cookies my mother set before them.
Father finally got the oil burner working but said, "You need more oil. I'll make a few calls tonight and get some oil. Yes sir, you came to the right place", father grinned.

On the way home father did not complain about the cold weather and had barely set foot inside the door when he was on the phone. "Ed, hey, how are ya, Ed?"
"Yes, Merry Christmas to you, too. Say Ed, we have kind of an unusual situation here. I know you've got that pick-up truck. Do you still have some oil in that barrel on your truck? You do?"
By this time the rest of the family were pulling clothes out of their closets and toys off of their shelves. It was long after their bedtime when they were wrapping gifts. The pickup came. On it were chairs, three lamps, blankets and gifts. Even though it was 30 below, father let them ride along in the back of the truck. No one ever did call about the missing figure in the nativity set, but as I grow older I realize that it wasn't a packing mistake at all.
Jesus saves, that's what He does.
Author unknown

I GOT BAPTISED!

"Sure enough over the lake there was this massive rainbow, and as I looked out towards the mountains overlooking the lake there was snow sitting on the peaks"

I GOT BAPTISED!!!! With long wavy hair almost to my knees, flowing just as my floral dress did, a pen in one hand and paper in the other, I jotted down "Dear Jesus"... Writing to Jesus was my favourite thing to do, in fact it's one of my first memories. I was writing to Jesus before I knew how to spell properly. Once....

THIS right here is a Husband everyone needs.

If I have a late night gaming, or doing something not really that productive he will come out into the loungeroom and just give me this "look". It's a look that means "We both know you have royally stuffed up, and you and me both know that you should have been well in bed by now". It's a look sometimes I roll my eyes too, but I know deep down he's right LOL
But then there are times, like tonight, where I have declared an early night for myself. In fact, I went to bed at 8pm and was out like a light. I kept waking, I was restless despite needing sleep and I had this MASSIVE urge, pull, desire (what ever you want to call it) to get up and do something for God. I mean, lets be honest, I don't think I was going to get rest if I didn't do this, and I'm not about to argue with God. So I jumped up and jumped onto my computer. I got to work.
This has happened multiple times before, and I've learnt not to question it.
Sam wakes at 2:40am to notice I wasn't beside him. The way he walked out into the loungeroom, he must have thought I was up gaming or researching stuff that could have waited for the morning. He smirks and says "That early night didn't last long did it"... I look at him, half awake, feeling dead inside, and I shake my head "nope". He goes "Why didn't you ask for back tickles if you couldn't sleep?" with that I reply "God wants me to do something"
He smiled, he has also learnt not to question it. He say's "Well when its time for God to give you rest, wake me up and I will give you back tickles" and he walked off.

The fact that he offered me back tickles, or that he cares about my sleeping pattern isn't the the best thing about what just happened.
The fact that he won't come between myself and God, or what God's purpose is for me, or what God wants me to do is the biggest blessing of them all, and for that I am so thankful that I am FINALLY with someone who encourages and understands my faith because he has his own relationship with God.

Lets chat about kindness.

A well known pastor (and I won’t name any names) made a post on his page updating his followers about a family members surgery.
There was a comment by a follower accusing him of not having to pay for the surgery.
The commenter assumed the pastor was endorsing a product or service and she stated that she didn’t like those types of things mixed up with spiritual content.
Did the commenter do and say the right thing in that particular moment?
No, I don’t think so.
My personal belief is that her comment would have been better left unsaid.
She could have addressed her concerns differently or maybe even wording her comment like a question would have been better accepted.
Unfortunately, the way it was read, It was merely an accusation with no sound proof and unfortunately it opened up a can of worms that didn’t need to be opened.

But let’s be reminded here, we don’t know what the commenters life is like.
Whether she has a mental illness, whether she misread the post wrong but alas, innocently. Whether she had a bad day, maybe she’s struggling with finances herself and that caused her to read the post incorrectly due to her own insecurities... maybe she hasn’t been saved yet, maybe she’s on the journey to find Jesus and followed some Pastors in hope to learn more, and grow more, maybe she wasn’t being led by the Lord because she hasn’t accepted him yet.
Look, at the end of the day; who knows.
But while I scrolled down the comments and read the replies under her comment, I saw only 3 people pray for her, and show grace despite her initial comment.
I saw 2 people point out that despite her comment, the replies she was given wasn’t very nice either.
But, No one asked if she was ok, the majority couldn’t just ignore her comment... .. and I caught myself thinking “if the Pastor views her comment, surely he would at least show kindness if he was going to respond?...”
But no; instead his response was:
“You know what makes a woman ugly? Things like envy. Try being gracious. That is what makes a woman truly attractive.”

Which I felt gave the green light to his followers to jump on his band wagon and let loose on this woman.
Now was she in the right to post what she posted? I don’t believe so, but what happened to turning the other cheek? What happened to two wrongs don’t make a right?

I assume the majority of this Pastors following would be Christians?
So why wasn’t anybody acting like a Christian?

The comments under the Pastors comment were comments such as: “Preach it!!!”, “BOOM”, “Dont you just love it when the rubbish takes itself out”, “Don’t let the door hit ya”, “ nobody will miss you”, “pathetic”, “what is wrong with you”, “where does your boo boo hurt”, “you are so unhappy, that’s so sad”, “amazing things will happen today if you decide not to be a miserable cow”, “Is she gone yet? Or just hanging around to continue being roasted???? Just go...”

Not once did this Pastor step in, and spiritually lead his flock to do the Christian thing.
Not once did this Pastor remind everyone that kindness matters, and that they don’t know why this woman’s initial comment was the way it was.
Not once did the Pastor deflect the situation.
The pastor himself could have removed the comment when things started to get heavy, but not once did he tell his followers to back off, or to turn the other cheek.
Not once.
In fact when someone commented about how everyone else has now stooped, and that the comments under this ladies comments were nasty and uncalled for... the Pastor responded again with: “If you have been following me for years and never noticed “snippy” comments, you just have not been paying attention my dear”.
I couldn’t have been the only one left feeling disappointed with how he handled that woman’s comment.
This is a spiritual leader!!
So I wasn’t shocked that when a spiritual leader acts like that, the rest of his sheep will follow suit... and that was the mentality displayed last night.

Now;
We all know that hurt people, hurt people.
Perhaps the woman is missing something in her life, and might have been looking for it in this Pastors post or on his page.
Unfortunately she wouldn’t have found it this particular night, because that was not a great example of Christianity.
When you don’t have the spirit of God in you, you can’t be expected to act Godly.
No one knows if she had or has the spirit of God in her, yet everyone expected her to act like she did and as a result of those expectations not being met, not only one person acted ungodly but 4 handfuls of godly people acted ungodly in retaliation.
So then if, as Christians, we act ungodly ourselves, then it doesn’t teach non Christians the difference, does it?

I watched a sermon by Pastor Steve Pruitt yesterday morning on the story of the bleeding woman.
If you’re unfamiliar with this story, definitely read it because it’s beautiful.

Pastor Steve Pruitt said (not quoting exactly)

That the bleeding woman was feeling disappointed because she was incurable, and unclean, embarrassed/humiliated... yet she had undeniable faith.
Faith so strong she believe just touching Jesus’ clothes would heal her.
But despite her faith she was still grieving, she was still disappointed, and still ashamed.

Steve Pruitt quote: “When you sneak up on Jesus what do you expect to happen? In verse 29 it says “she has snuck in, she has defiled the Son of God, she’s touched his clothing” Verse 29 “Immediately, IMMEDIATELY her bleeding stopped, and she felt it in her body as she was freed from her suffering” immediately...
It might not be what you expected to happen to a woman who was willing to defile the Son of God... immediately she is healed.
But there’s consequences.
Next verse 30 ‘At once Jesus realised the power had gone out’ now this is not like Jesus is a magic battery and “oooo I’ve discharged I’ve got replenish” he just knows as the power works through him, he knows when someone’s healed, when someone’s touched him, he’s aware.
He realises power has gone out from him and he turned around in the crowd and asked “who touched my clothes” ... he calls it out.
Put yourself in her shoes, she’s snuck in to Jesus, she’s hoping to just get away with this and disappear, and she’s disappointed and dirty and this is her worst nightmare, she has been caught and called out publicly in front of a whole crowd.
Verse 32 ‘but Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it’ Jesus is persistent, he doesn’t quit...
and in verse 33, then the woman knowing what had happened to her came and fell at his feet, and trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.
Luke’s passage will clarify that she actually blurts it in front of everybody, it’s not just her and Jesus, it’s out loud in front of the crowd, it’s her worst nightmare, she’s been caught.
Everything she’s tried to keep hidden, and she trembles with fear because she knows what she’s done, she’s defiled the Messiah.
But notice this, he’d already healed her, and then she confesses... after he’s healed her.
Now we get this backwards, we think I’ve got to fix myself then go to Jesus.
We discover with this woman it’s backwards, you go to Jesus, he does the fixing, then she confesses.
She pours out everything. She tells the whole story. When you sneak up on Jesus what do you expect to happen? First thing that happens is; You get caught. You don’t sneak up on Jesus.
Read: the next words are really important.
All you who feel disappointed and dirty and dare to sneak up on the Son of God.
You gotta Imagine the scene, she has gotten through the crowd, she’s gotten to him, she’s starting to back out and he calls her out and he begins to look around “who touched my clothes” and when his eyes met hers, the next words out of his mouth are going to be really important. It’s the only time in the New Testament that Jesus calls somebody this word. He looks at her and it says “then he said to her... Daughter”.
The first words out of his mouth to the woman who dared to touch him in her dirtiness was Daughter.
I have daughters, I have three.
If they’re disappointed or they feel dirty and they sneak in to get some time with Dad, if I use the word Daughter in my conversation then it means one thing, it means one specific thing. The only time I’d use it in that context is to make sure they know who they are, and that I’ve got them, it’s a way of restating “you’re my daughter” and reestablishing the relationship. Because I don’t know how you see yourself right now when you’re feeling disappointed and dirty but this is what I see when I look at you, you’re mine. It’s the word Jesus uses with this woman, he loves her, he has her, he’s explaining to her what he sees... and if you sneak up on Jesus, expect to be caught... lovingly. Then expect to get healed.”

Then Pastor Steve Pruitt goes on to say in regards to his church:

“If you find yourself disappointed and dirty sneak in this place, you are welcome here.
We actually have side doors where no one shakes your hand. There are ways to get in this room under the radar. There are quiet dark corners, there are monitors out in the lobby where you can sit quietly and just sneak in, if you find yourself feeling this way.
There’s people who will pray with you after the service down here at the stage or down the back in the prayer room, and they’ll do that privately, they won’t advertise what you’re praying about.”

This speaks kindness to me.
When someone who is Christian is acting ungodly because we’ve all been there we need to guide them back to godliness, in a kind and respectful manner with encouragement and support.
Or if a non Christian crosses your path and they don’t act Godly, don’t expect them too.
As I said above, if they haven’t got God inside of them, you can’t expect them to act Godly.
If a non Christian falls at your feet, disappointed, sinful, ashamed, and dirty... you hold them there.
You seek the guidance from God and you help them.

I know as Christians we all fall short.
I’m still learning myself, and no one will be completely free from sin, nor will they ever be perfect while they walk this earth.
But we have to try and do better.
Just because someone else acts ungodly, it doesn’t give us the green light and go ahead.
We pick our brothers and sisters up and like how Christ carried his cross, we carry them... even if that person isn’t Christian.

Because you might be the only bible they ever come close too.

Love thy neighbours even when they don’t deserve it.
Because we don’t deserve Jesus’ love; yet here he is... loving us anyway.

Why does God let bad things happen to you?

Let me tell you something.
I’ve had really bad things happen to me, throughout my entire life.
So many things, that I literally started waiting for the next thing.
Right at the very start of my Christian journey, I have even cried out those exact words once or twice myself.
Even I have had moments of weakness where I’ve wondered the same thing.
But, I can tell you now that God is raising a soldier, God is building his army... and you know you’re not going to make someone strong by wrapping them in cotton wool.
You see, God doesn’t cause the bad things to happen, Satan does that, sin does that.
But God will turn every struggle into something that glorifies him.

It was only the other day that I said these words after giving my testimony to a friend:
“ I am so thankful for all the bad things I’ve ever gone through because it’s made my testimony stronger”

You do not get the blessing without the burden.

So pop on that armour of God...
.. and praise the Lord.

Absolutely 🙏🏻

Could I get Christians or anybody who agreed and believed in what I wrote about (in my first blog post) to share it please 🙏🏻
I did truly feel a strong pull to write this, I was laying in bed and all these paragraphs just came to me...
I didn’t even try!!!
Everything came so easily and I wrote this within one morning (a couple of hours).
I don’t think I wrote this alone (if you’re catching my drift 😉)

Either way once I finished writing I had another strong pull to get it out there for everyone to see.
I had no idea how? At first I was going to just make a status on my personal account, then I had an urge to make a video... but either way the pull to try my hardest to get as many Christians to see this was really strong.

So I sat, I prayed.... “please God tell me how I should deliver this, what format?”

The following day; I was making a website, transferring my rough copy onto a blog post, and setting up a podcast channel.

If this message is important to God, then it’s important to me... and I hope you can see the importance of this article as well; and help me share it 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙌🏻

Bless ❤️

https://emdorling.wixsite.com/blogger/post/shouldchristianscelebratehalloween

Should Christians Celebrate Halloween? It is quite often I witness those who walk with Jesus; celebrating Halloween. It was not long ago that I was doing the exact same thing myself, and I made all the reasons in my head to justify my actions, despite feeling convicted every single year.

Good Evening,

WOW! I can't believe I have actually done this, it was a leap of faith. I am well out of my comfort zone and to say I am fearful of criticism would be an understatement, but by the Grace of God; I have done it.
Better late than never right?

I have made a page, a website to blog from and a podcast is currently in the making. EEEK! How exciting is that!?
Why they all say??
Well, Growing up I had a couple of ambitions.
Two of those ambitions were to become a Liberian and an Author. Only one of those things appeal to me now haha
I read and owned sooooo many books, I would read all day if I was given the chance, and in the free time that I had from reading I would write my own stories and staple them together with a front cover, table of contents and everything.
Why didn't I pursue this earlier?

I have always enjoyed writing, everyone knows my status' on Facebook are like novels and I always have something to say lol
But I actually lost my love for reading, books and writing...
For many years I really struggled with mental health and it really changed the way I saw the world, the way I thought, it affected my concentration and I lost most of my creativity.
I couldn't focus or apply myself even if I wanted too.
Thankfully I am starting to see signs of the "old Emma" coming back.
God is healing me, and I am developing all of my old interests again. I am really excited for what the future holds and for what God has planned for me.

One of those areas I want to focus on is writing again, I'm buying books again, reading again, and I truly believe that is because I dedicated bible time into my routine and that helped me regain my love of reading, and the love of reading encouraged me to write.
I do have dreams of writing something much bigger than blog posts in the future, so I will hand that over to the Lord and in his time I may (if its part of God's plan) see those dreams come true.

For now I just want to thank those of you who have already followed my page, I am absolutely over the moon with those who have already started supporting me. THANK YOU!

I would like to share with you all my new website (it is yet to have a domain name, but that is in the process).

Under the section of "My Blog" you will find my very first blog post.
I felt pulled to write this and something kept telling me it was important to do so.

I hope everyone gets something from reading my blogs and feel encouraged to follow their own dreams as well.

Have a wonderful night, and God Bless
Emma x

https://emdorling.wixsite.com/blogger

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