December 14th ~ Needle on a Piece of Vinyl

December 14, 2015 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Angels We Have Heard On High as you read. This piano-cello duet is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

Music has been a part of my life since a very young age, and the music of December is a thread that knits together all of my 43 years. Just reading the titles of songs that were learned as a toddler, performed in choirs, played on instruments and now enjoyed as a listener… it takes me to another place. It has been said that music is love in search of a word. The music of December is inspired by God’s love in search of the world. It tells stories of the night of Christ’s birth; it brings cheer and merriment due to God’s blessings, and it quiets the mind and stills the heart as we reflect on our place and purpose.

My greatest memories of December are of Christmas spent at home with my family growing up. Even though I grew up in Florida, we managed to have a fire in the fireplace around the holidays. I would lie in front of the fire and peer into the coals looking for shapes and designs. My older brother and I would see how long we could touch the lights on the tree before they burned our fingers. It seemed like the blue lights were always the hottest! There was always something sweet to eat in the kitchen at Christmas, even though snacks generally consisted of celery and carrot sticks. We would shake all the presents and try to guess what each one was. And the backdrop to it all was a needle on a piece of vinyl that produced music that filled the house. There is just something different about December.

As a child, I didn’t fully appreciate the ability to rest or experience peace. It didn’t require any effort really… I could just “be”. Now, as a husband and father with a young family of my own, it is all I can do to find momentary rest and pause in the middle of a busy world. Matthew 11:28-30 tells us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” While this is an invitation to trust Jesus personally and an opportunity for rest through forgiveness, it’s also a reminder to me that I can bring my troubles to Him, I can trust Him and find peace in Him. That’s what I hope to do this Christmas, and I hope that for you too.

Embracing Life's Seasons: 31 Days of December Peace

December 20, 2013 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

The 31 Days of December Peace eBook is available for only $4.99. Download at stantonlanier.com or the Amazon Kindle Store.

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”
– Ecclesiastes 3:1

I remember December 2000 like it was yesterday. I was graduating from nursing school with hopes to start caring for children at a local pediatric hospital. I had met the man of my dreams, and knew that God had finally led me to my future husband. My family was looking forward to celebrating our first Christmas at our new mountain home in beautiful Blue Ridge, Georgia. It was as if God had brought everything together in perfect harmony.

I had also finished an amazing year of Bible study learning the foundations to live out my faith, and was so encouraged each week by watching God’s work take place in the relationships and lives around me. Celebrating Christmas this year felt different. Snow brought a rare white Christmas. Most vividly, there was a December Peace in my family, not only for me, but also for my sister and my parents. My twin sister had also met her future husband, and my parents were happier than I had ever remembered.

I paused and reflected on the above scripture found in Ecclesiastes 3:1 during this season. I was so thankful for this SEASON I was in, so thankful for this time to embrace, this time to quit searching, this time to love, and this time of peace.

It was in January 2001 when I felt God telling me a different season was coming. I remember thinking He was probably preparing me for my new life with a career, living independently from my parents, and taking care of all my own needs. I remember reflecting in my Bible studies. I had not had a true season in my life where I had to learn about true faith. Maybe this new season would be my time of refinement and growth.

It was January 8 when suddenly my season changed. My amazing mother passed away at the young age of 53. It was not the season I was expecting to go through. I had not focused on “a time to grieve” or “a time to cry” previously. It was through God’s incredible grace I was given that December Peace as the year 2000 came to a close. My life continues with many different seasons. To this day, I look back on that December with such gratitude and hope for the future. This season was “defining” for me personally. It brought me to a new place spiritually. I learned firsthand of my dependence on God to give me that peace that surpasses all understanding. I don’t look back with anger or bitterness. I look back with gratitude. Gratitude for an amazing mother who walked with me for my first 23 years. Gratitude for God teaching me to embrace each season of life. He has taught me how to weather each season that comes, focus my thoughts on what is true and good, and find JOY even when it is not the season I was expecting or looking for.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ~ A Time for Everything

For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

31 Days of December Peace: Day 21 ~ Embracing Life's Seasons

December 21, 2012 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

The new 31 Days of December Peace eBook is available for only $4.99. Download at stantonlanier.com or the Amazon Kindle Store.

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”
– Ecclesiastes 3:1

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ~ A Time for Everything

31 Days of December Peace: Day 14 ~ Needle on a Piece of Vinyl

December 14, 2012 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

The new 31 Days of December Peace eBook is available for only $4.99. Download at stantonlanier.com or the Amazon Kindle Store.

31 Days of December Peace: Day 11 ~ Sacred Joy

December 11, 2012 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

The new 31 Days of December Peace eBook is available for only $4.99. Download at stantonlanier.com or the Amazon Kindle Store.

Snow had fallen softly all day that Christmas Eve, and the blanket that covered Philadelphia made even the most gnarly northeasterner smile. Street sounds throughout the city were muted, and inside we listened to Mitch Miller sing the holiday songs of 1963 that only he could deliver.

The tree was especially beautiful that year, or perhaps in my memory it must have been, since unknown to me at the time, it was the last Christmas our family had together. There was palatable joy in the house, and seeing my mother and father full of that joy made the world perfect for a six-year-old little girl.

Santa visited our home that evening, an unimaginable feat that he would take time from his very busy schedule to visit a little girl in a row house in Philadelphia, but there he stood in my living room in full color, including a slightly red nose. His eyes seemed blurry and not twinkling, but I chalked that up to the cold night outside. I later learned that the red nose was honestly earned by our neighbor who gladly dressed up as Santa on Christmas Eve each year for our block. He was Italian, and did enjoy a bit of Christmas vino throughout the day before visiting our homes.

I was given a quick hug and cautioned that I had better be in bed early if I wanted a visit. I raced up the stairs and into my new red and white flannel polka dot pajamas, and pulled the covers up to my nose. My father, who was a commercial milk truck driver, worked nights, even on Christmas Eve, and I listened closely for the hushed conversation of my mom and dad as they said good night and locks were drawn. My mother padded through the house quietly as if the snow had fallen inside as well. As she turned off the lights room by room, I could see the Christmas tree lights filter under my door and intersect with the moonlight from my window as though they sought each other out. I drifted to sleep knowing that when my father came home at daybreak, I would surely hear the turn of his key in the lock and the great festivities would begin.

That anticipation, hope, and joy that rested on me in 1963 is still with me as I ponder the glorious gift of God become Man. I have learned that all memories of this kind of joy and love are sacred even though they are not outwardly religious. They are not laden with nostalgic glimmer, but rather they are full of eternal hope, and a lovely shadowing of the eternal things to come.

All of heaven must have been full of the same anticipation that first Christmas Eve. All of mankind now yearns for that intimate knowledge of God and our childlike experiences and memories are to be embraced and nourished. They are a reflection of the glory that is ours as we experience the birth of Word become Flesh, the daily grace of the Spirit of Truth engraved on our hearts, and the magnificent love of a Father who has come home and turned the key in the lock. Rejoice and be glad! A Savior is born!

31 Days of December Peace: Day 1 ~ The Sled

December 1, 2012 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

The new 31 Days of December Peace eBook is available for only $4.99. Download at stantonlanier.com or the Amazon Kindle Store.

Cypress Road was packed with fresh fallen snow in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I could see it through the big living room window of my childhood home. The temperature was just below freezing. School was closed. My tummy was full with a vitamin fortified Kaboom cereal breakfast. All my “Mt. Everest” gear was in place. It was another dream winter morning for a nine-year old. Cypress Road. One hundred yards long with a perfect twenty degree slope. Another downhill sledding adventure was about to begin.

This unforgettable scene happened many times during my elementary school years. It was a treasured experience. So much so that a full body length sled was at the top of my wish list for Christmas 1974. The gift appeared and was all I had hoped for. A Gladding Champion Fastback. Sixty inches long, three strips of polished hardwood, painted for speed (including speedometer) and shiny red runners.

Every day after Christmas I waited… January… February… March… April… no snow. I couldn’t believe it! My sled dream had come true, but the snow never came that winter. The following summer my dad took a new job in Pensacola, Florida. As my eleventh birthday approached, I wondered “Is this really happening?!” My new sled and I were moving to the Florida panhandle! That was a long time ago. The Gladding Champion Fastback is now stored in the basement, still gliding through life with me. The glamorous adventure he was born for has ended up being a humdrum existence. A historic two inch snow at our house in Milton, Florida only resulted in a drag across the flat front yard. A few times “Champ” has coasted down some small slopes when we have had ice and snow in Atlanta or north Georgia, where I have lived most of my life. But for the most part, it just rests in storage, waiting to deliver pure joy with a long, downhill run.

Every December when I see my sled, I still long for that joy ride. But I am also reminded that no earthly possession will ever bring me the joy that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ.

What is your sled? Do you treasure Christ above all earthly treasures?