We’re a month after Christmas now.  The decorations have long been packed away.  All the sparkle of the Christmas lights has disappeared.  That warm glow of Christmas lights and candles in the living room is gone.  I miss that glow in the evening hours.  Not only the lights, but the glow of smiling faces has also left.  Family members have returned to their homes.  The young have gone back to school and jobs, along with their radiant spark of youth.  There may not be snow outside my window, but I still have the feeling that I am “in the deep winter.” 

Has the glow gone from your life too?  Does the routine of late January lack any luster?  How can we recapture the glow that brought such happiness during the Christmas holiday?

In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he encourages him to “rekindle the fire.”  Had Timothy also lost the glow?  Paul reminds him to stir up the spiritual gifts, to remember the divine gift he received when Paul laid hands upon him. 

“⁶Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  2 Timothy 1:6-7

How about you and me?  God has showered us with so many spiritual gifts:  love, joy, peace.  Can we stir those gifts up in our hearts and bring a glow back to our faces?  Can we be the glow that brightens the day for someone?  

Judy