Slowing Down, Noticing God, and Embracing the Season with Cynthia Ruchti

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hey friend, Teler creekmore here, thanks for listening to the Compared To podcast Today. Today my guests is Cynthia Ructi, and we're just gonna have a candid conversation that you're probably too busy to listen to. No, it's the season, right, It's Christmas, and we get so busy. There's so many things to do that do you often miss what's important? I know I do, And Cynthia and I talk about some practical, tangible ways that we cannot miss the spirit of the Christmas season. Don't worry. There's no shame here. There's no blame, there's no you're not doing Christmas right. No, none of that here, just some simple encouragement around hell maybe you can find the real reason for the season, but also some peace during this very busy time of year. So I'm glad you're here for the show today. Cynthia's written like fifty books and she's going to talk about one of them, which is a devotional but it might just be the perfect thing for you to grab just even read the week after Christmas to center your heart on what Christmas really means. And hey, friend, January's coming. This is the last episode until December thirtieth, when we're going to start talking about New Year and what kind of resolutions you should have, and all of those things that are going to be hot in culture. We're going to talk about them here, so I hope you'll come back and join us for that. Also, don't forget save your spot in the next forty day journey starts January twentieth. Spots will go quickly for this one, so go to improve bodymage dot com and learn more about that. Now, let's get to today's episode. Cynthia, thanks for being on the Compared To podcast today.

00:02:00
Speaker 2: It's my joy, it's my privilege. It's always a joy to talk to you.

00:02:04
Speaker 1: Hither well, I thought you might be the perfect way to end this whole year of episodes. It's the holidays. You've written a beautiful devotional book, which we might be a little too late to start now, but it would be great to start to have on hands. You're ready next year. But I thought maybe we could just have a conversation today that would encourage the heart of the woman who's listening on a way to pick up gifts, or pick up kids, or rush to the office Christmas party, and she has a thousand things to do, and the reason for the season to use that cliche feels a little faded because the to do list is long. Cynthia, where do we start with this? How do we bring our hearts into focus this season?

00:03:00
Speaker 2: That is such a great question, and it's it's not only a great one for us to discuss, but it's a question we should all be asking ourselves. How have I gotten my heart ready for this? I've gotten all the stockings. Oh wait a second, I forgot a stocking for that guest who's coming, or or thinking ahead to h there's a single mom at church. Nobody's going to be buying her a stocking. I should get one for so it becomes one more thing on our to do list. But how how often are we taking a moment to really literally consider where's my heart? Not just I love Jesus? So of course Christmas is going to be joy that's that's lovely, But not just that, but this other element of oh, this other of what did I attend to? That was everything except my soul? Because it's so easy for us to attend to all of the needs that have everything to do with the tangible, and none of the needs that have to do with the intangible, and that's part of why in the spirit of Christmas, discovering His presence, part of the outcome for me as I was writing it, and as I've been talking about it, is that idea that the that as if we pay attention, if we notice, if we observe, and we make that our aim as opposed to our list being our aim, what we find is that all by itself is what gets our soul ready. But the Holy Spirit is of course intangible. So we have to figure out a way as we're going through. And if it's the twenty second of November or it's November twenty seventh, we still have an opportunity to go back and either reflect or as God would tell us, it's never too late to make things right. So maybe we maybe we did get caught up in the ruckus of this season. Maybe we are feeling exhausted and a little irritated over a few things, and maybe we're feeling that even that weight distribution of how much work we put into it compared to how much work other people were putting into family Christmas, whatever it is, or even or even we're already at the place of I know good and well, nobody's gonna help me in the kitchen at the end when the dishes are dirty. Whatever the thought in our minds is still not too late to re adjust and to start thinking not just of Yep, Jesus is the reason for the season, as you said, But where's my heart in all of this? Am I truly joyful ampating the wonder part? Am I even finding the wonder? Or am I drowning under everything else?

00:06:08
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah? Slowing down and observing. And then my first response, my knee jerk response, is I don't have time to slow down? Sorry, rreat, Like why am I supposed to do that? Like? You know what?

00:06:22
Speaker 2: You know that God's math is really different than that. So let's think about I can't afford to give. Well, if we give, he makes us have more than what we had in the first place. We've seen that happen over and over. So this is one of those lessons we keep learning. If I give of my time, He's going to multiply that back to me somehow. If I stop because there's a person in need, If I stop, my my time is still the same. Twenty four hours is going to accomplish what I need to do, but it will then be miraculous. It'll then be something to praise him for because of the way that he worked. He always does that. So if we thought about that, just in regard to our own soul's health in the middle of this particular season and what that means, then if I actually write on my list, ponder if I actually refuse to dive into the list until after I've taken time to think. If I'm rushing through from even if I'm Let's use this as an example. If I'm putting on one podcast after another, good, holy awesome podcast one after another, as I'm rushing my way through the season, maybe what I need to do instead is stop the podcast I just heard and think about what it's and absorb what it said and implement what it taught me, or even just linger on the thought. God loves lingering. There's a verse I haven't quoted for quite a while, but I just love this. It's we're going to take it out of context, but it'll be for a good reason, which is in Ecclesiastes. I think it is where it says, don't be in a hurry to leave the King's presence, and at the moment they were talking about the literal king on a throne in front of them. But I see that so much with us and Jesus as well. Don't be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. The king has invited you into his presence. So yes, is that going to be? Oh easy? I just decided that's what my Christmas is going to be. Like now, yep, it's a way, and that's what it's not that. It's not simple, No, it is simple. It's not easy.

00:08:59
Speaker 1: That's so good. A God loves lingering.

00:09:02
Speaker 2: He loves lingering, like I.

00:09:04
Speaker 1: Just I want to say that again. God loves lingering. And you're so right about God's upside down kingdom. Yep, you know. I was actually I had the thought this morning. I have had a lot to do last couple of weeks. You just happen to be my literary agent, and so you know that I've had book deadlines and all these things. And I was thinking this morning about this reality that I've had more like one on one, like coffee, like let's go to lunch kind of appointments over the last couple of weeks that I would normally have in the season because my normal would be block everything off. Heather can do nothing others than the cave of writing. And it's been interesting for me to see how no actually engaging in relationships has multiplied my time because even though I'm not sitting at my death thanks for that hour or two hours that I'm lingering at lunch, I'm coming back refreshed and energized, and I'm able to work faster.

00:10:10
Speaker 2: And I probably lived through some of the things you're needing to write about, probably had conversations that we're I've got one right now, and I don't want to interrupt you here, but so carry on after we get through this. But I'll forget my story if I don't get through it. But that whole idea too, of I have a book deadline, and there was an interruption in a way that came in the middle of my week. Then I realized, after the interruption that had to happen before I could finish this book. Thank you Lord, that I just responded with yes to you what you were asking, because it had to happen before I could finish the book. Yeah, so I'm sure that that's what was happening over the table where you were lingering.

00:11:00
Speaker 1: Well, That's what I was just thinking, right, like lingering with God of course first and foremost right.

00:11:07
Speaker 3: But I hate to confess this. This was the theme of the Hallmark movie I.

00:11:11
Speaker 1: Was watching yesterday, but just this concept of we can get so busy doing the Christmas things that not only do we leave God out of it, but we leave the people that we want to be celebrating with out of it, right, and so really slowing down and embracing I guess it's a matter of trust, right, Cynthia, Like, I'm going to trust you Lord that you're gonna help me with this to do list, but I'm going to keep what's first and foremost first and foremost.

00:11:46
Speaker 2: What happens to us when we fail to notice, when we get so tied up, when we get so laser focused on what it is we need to do, that we failed to notice the crying child, or the slumped shoulders of someone, or the fact that a friend's sighed over the phone. If we're so intent on what it is we need to accomplish in order for whether it's Christmas or the birthing of the New Year, or it's long beyond that, if we're walking through not noticing this is the thing that's been a lesson that really has struck hard with me. When tasked with this book about where's the Holy Spirit in the Christmas Story, one of my chief responsibilities was notice, I need to go through the word and notice where is he showing up in ways that are either looking ahead to the Redeemer coming or where he was in the background of something that was happening in the Christmas story. It had been there all along, I just hadn't noticed. The noticing now has become a habit. That habit has made the pondering much easier because it's such a joyful habit. So as we're thinking about what can I do differently, even though it's this laid into the season, what can I do differently? Some of that may be just the intentionality of paying attention.

00:13:28
Speaker 1: You're a writer, What stories do you have?

00:13:31
Speaker 3: Like how this looks for you? You gotta have a story, Cyndia.

00:13:35
Speaker 2: Okay, there's been plenty of them, but here's there are a couple of them that I refer to again and again, even though it happened over and over and over for me. But here's one that lasts us all year long. Okay, So I'm reading in Isaiah, because that's where you go when you're going to study about where's the Holy Spirit in the Christmas story? Of course, and I was backing up a few verses from that beautiful time when we first hear a virgin will conceive. We know this verse somewhere in the Old Testament. Turns out it's Isaiah. But I didn't think about the context of where that was said. If you just look at it, just look at it academically as you're reading the pages, you'll think, what is that doing there? Why was that inserted in that particular spot. King a Has was one of David's sons, and he was a misbehavior David had several of those. He tried to be a good leader. He was listening to the prophet Isaiah, who by the Holy Spirit, was led to save messages that King a Has needed to hear. A Has was searching for an answer about a war move, a strategic military move, and he heard from God through Isaiah what he should do. But he doubted that that was enough. He wanted other counselors to and he was going to go to counselors that weren't so wise, and they weren't looking at all to God for answers, but he insisted, and Isaiah was led by the Holy Spirit to say to him, I ask God to give you a sign. Ask him to give you a sign that what he has told you is what he wants you to do. And God will speak to you, and that's who you need to be hearing from. And a Has said, Oh, I just I don't know if I don't want to bother him. If we ever said that before, I don't want to bother him. And I just I feel like I should be asking these other people to you already know as what you're supposed to do. The very next line is Isaiah. And I'm going to put my own tone in this, but Isaiah said, God, God says to you, I'll give you a sign a virgin will conceive and bear a son. And my mind is thinking, what is that Christmas Verse doing in the middle of all of that, and how was the Holy Spirit working there in all the messages that he's communicating. And his message really was I need to insert and tell you here God is God and no word is ever going to fail of what he said. And so the prophet was telling a Has I'll give you a sign of virgin will conceive and Aas must have thought what kind of counsel was that at the time, But we know it was so important in the Christmas story, and it was all about the message. If you hear from God, you already know what to do. If his word says it, don't need to go running for other influencers to tell you. If God has said you are My beloved child, you do not need to seek an answer to that question from any other place. And God is able to do things like seven hundred years later bring about the fulfillment of the verse that was said to King a Has when he was misbehaving. So now that and it looks like, wow, my extrapulate extralating too much. No, no, there it is right in front of us where the Christmas story. He appears in the Book of Isaiah. Part of it that's not fulfilled for many hundreds of years, but it was intentionally said so we could have it, and so a Has would know You've heard God. And God's word does not fail. Every other human being's word is going to fail you sometime or another. So I know I made that way a long story, but it's so stuck with me. Ed Oh my goodness. If I were going to analyze it, I would think, what is that verse doing here? But instead I realized, because I was noticing, I realized, Oh, that was so much in that for me today, for me tomorrow, for me six months from now.

00:18:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's so good. I mean, you know, kind of what I'm hearing and all that. Maybe it's a message for me. We lose our awe in wonder of just how big and amazing God is. We have. We have a I don't even know what it is. It's not lego, but it's some fake lego Nativity sets, yes, and we've had it for a long time. And so there's shepherds losing that don't have limbs, and I don't think the sheep stands up anymore. And this was kind of a joke, like it's on the shelf where it always goes, but it's just as shambles. And I'm thinking that's somewhat symbolic. Yeah, of me be what I do in my heart, it's like, oh yeah, the Nativity story, like oh yeah, that's that's that little things and yeah, like whoa, No, it's big. It's big.

00:19:12
Speaker 2: It's big, and it's laced from the first versus the Bible to the very last verses of the Bible. The redemption story and the birth of Christ can't can't be told separately. It is part of the overarching story. Here's a here's a practical thing that that I was thinking about just now as you mentioned that. I wonder how many people's Nativity sets are completely intact that haven't been through something, if they're more than a year old. I was putting up my willow tree Nativity set, which is simple and not fancy at all. There's no glitter on it, but it's just a beautiful, simple reminder of this beautifully simple yet so deep story. Putting that up the other day, and I noticed, Huh, somebody's super glued the shepherd's shoulder. And it wasn't me, And I'm the only one who ever puts up the decorations iner house. But the thought struck me first it was I could get I could go detectiving who did this. There was no point in that, it did not matter, So instead I started to notice, God, what do you want to say to me in this? And I thought, I wonder how many of those shepherds had scars? The real shepherds had scars, and they too had been waiting for a redeemer, and they were the most common people, and that God would have chosen that the first flashy announcement about the birth of Christ would come to these common people with twig scars and thorn scars and maybe a dissocated shoulder from wrestling with sheep or wild animals or whatever. That they had very little of human value, They had no status in the community whatsoever, but they were present, and they were the ones to whom the words were first spoken about the announcement.

00:21:22
Speaker 1: He's born.

00:21:23
Speaker 2: It's a boy. And so then I thought, all right, how cool, Lord, if I'm noticing, If I'm noticing, I will stop and see that little line of glue on the shoulder of the shepherd, and it won't turn into oh did this, But instead it's going to turn into I wonder how many shepherds had a scar? Yeah, and a scar that would be healed by Jesus's scars.

00:21:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, And then applying that once further, right, like, wow, God, like I have scars.

00:21:57
Speaker 2: Ah.

00:21:59
Speaker 1: This redemption story, this coming to earth story that starts here at the Nativity in the manger, right, it's not about me, but it's for me.

00:22:11
Speaker 2: Oh that's so good, right, And would you say that again because that's really good. It's not about me, but it is for me.

00:22:23
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:22:24
Speaker 2: So even whether it's speaking engagements, we're going to where we're decorating for something, where we're trying to have outreach, and then we realized, wait, I'm part of the outreach. It's needed here because it's not about me, but it was for me. So how can I bring that attitude into the Christmas celebrations all of them, whether it's family or office, an office party, or it's the deadlines we have to hit before the office closed down, all of that. Wow.

00:22:56
Speaker 1: Right, well, and I'm just thinking, Synthia, to go back to something you said earlier, Right, I think as moms, you've got mom and grandma. Now, one of my laments that you touched on earlier is the distribution of labor. Right when my husband is just as surprised by the kids Christmas presence as the kids are.

00:23:17
Speaker 2: Right at your house too.

00:23:22
Speaker 1: Them, I mean. And I had a bit of a woe is Me day on Thanksgiving because I was like, how many other people have to cook all the dishes? Like we don't have a lot of family that live close by. So I made every part of our Thanksgiving dinner, and I kind of threw a little bit of a fit later, like this isn't right most people, Martha rights people. People have them.

00:23:46
Speaker 3: They've got Aunt Margie bringing pie, and you know, like I had to make everything. But and so I think my underlying attitude could be like, none of this is for me doing this for them?

00:24:00
Speaker 1: I do this for him, I do this for her. It's not for me. What if what if was something bigger and better that's for me? I mean, it's for all of us, of course, But if I can keep my focus on what's really for me in this, and it's not the unimportant things like my husband knowing what the kids are getting for Christmas. It's the deeper, more beautiful, long lasting things.

00:24:25
Speaker 2: Right, even what if, even if it is now you do know, I'm talking to myself here. What if it's the pouring out that is the for me? For me, pouring out is my place so he can fill me up again.

00:24:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's good.

00:24:43
Speaker 2: If I've been collecting some metism within within me and instead I am serving but with a joyful heart. That was Martha's problem is joyful about it? But then, but then there are other things as well too that we have to put in here because God knows we're human, but he also gave us a brain, and he also gave us ways that we need to in incredible ways. We need to retool or reframe or rethink many things in our household. I have the joyful privilege that all my kids live three or all three kids live about twenty minutes away from me, and they're all great cooks and they're givers. So our celebrations, our holiday celebrations are I make the thanks Thanksgiving turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and oat cheese because as my husband's fave. And then everybody brings at least a dish to pass. And now they're getting very creative and they might bring two, and they'll bring fascinating desserts and we all fun, and making of desserts would drive me nuts, So that's all beautiful that they bring that. And then there there's one one of the family members in particular, where the husband gets up from the table at the end and he at least takes the dishes out to the kitchen while we're enjoying one another, and I think, what a beautiful servant heart. This year, my son said maybe we should have Christmas at my house? And I thought, are you thinking I'm getting too old to do this? Are you what's going on here? But no, that wasn't it at all. He just he wanted to make sure that the load wasn't falling on me. Okay, I noticed it that at the time. But today I get the chance to say, isn't it a beautiful thing what my son offered? And we're not doing it this year? I said, hang on to that thought, because I left the table up from the two tables in a row from Thanksgiving, so I'm half there ready, they're already for Christmas. But we did talk about the idea of we have some young adults are almost young adults now, who are old enough to load a dishwasher. So we may be shifting some of the load of responsibility intentionally, not waiting for them to volunteer, but asking them. And in some way I believe that part of that is going to be honoring them because we're seeing them as the adults that they are becoming.

00:27:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I will give you a word of word of warning. Is so we have empowered our children for many years to wash the dishes after holiday celebrations. And I no longer have any goblets, which.

00:27:49
Speaker 3: I oh, it was a massacre, a goblet massacre about five years ago.

00:27:56
Speaker 1: Just a word of warning.

00:27:58
Speaker 2: And here's a great les and for us too, what doesn't go right at Christmas? Are we still thinking about that in June?

00:28:08
Speaker 1: We're not. No, we're not thinking about that by January.

00:28:11
Speaker 2: Bett And if we get all the way to June and it still comes to mind, we're probably laughing about it then, Like, right, what doesn't that help us too as we're going through these holiday seasons to put into perspective. All right, what's really important here? What was important to me? What those goblets were important to you? But and they signified something, They signified beauty, and they might have each had a story to tell too, they might have been from your wedding set or something. But the point of it is, eventually it doesn't sting as much as it does. Now, what if we fast forwarded our emotions during Christmas to the moment when it wouldn't sting like this anymore?

00:28:59
Speaker 1: That's good.

00:29:00
Speaker 2: Let ourselves experience it that way.

00:29:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's good, that's really good. Well, Cynthia, this has been super encouraging to me. I think I'm going to do a more effective job. Oh that's not even a good way to put it. I'm going to try to just like pause and.

00:29:18
Speaker 2: Wonder even better? Right right?

00:29:22
Speaker 1: What is Okay, that's a whole other episode.

00:29:25
Speaker 2: Maybe this is it that we relax into wonder, we relax into the pondering, we allow ourselves that that's good. Let's think of it that way.

00:29:36
Speaker 1: That's good. It's a gift.

00:29:37
Speaker 2: It's a gift.

00:29:38
Speaker 1: It's a gift to ourselves. Oh, Cynthia, Okay, so you've got this devotional. It's twenty six days, so we need to get it now, so we're ready. I guess November thirtieth next year. Is that how it lands.

00:29:56
Speaker 2: That's how it kind of goes.

00:29:58
Speaker 1: Give us a little bit more about that devotion where we can find it, and then where we can connect with you.

00:30:02
Speaker 2: Okay. One thought is that I know it's written as a daily devotional, but there are people who are just reading it cover to cover book okay, because it's short, because.

00:30:11
Speaker 1: We can grab it now, I don't have it tomorrow.

00:30:14
Speaker 2: Others. Others people have actually said I'm reserving between the twenty sixth and the new year, and I'm going to go through it because I need to be better prepared for whatever is happening in twenty twenty six or in their new year.

00:30:30
Speaker 1: So there's that, So grab it now now. Yeah, I love.

00:30:34
Speaker 2: It, Gift it now, whatever, And it might even just be a study that reminds you sometime in a completely non holiday way, that God has been moving and working both in the scene and the unseen, for throughout the whole story, the whole story of his book, of his book, and it's wherever books can be found on Amazon or wherever they can find me at him in Hope dot com, which is a lot easier to spell than rook Dy. Otherwise it's Cynthia Rookdy r Uchti dot com. There there's a book page on that website where they can find it. And I would love to leave people with the thought that the spirit of the Living God has been hovering over every aspect of the Christmas story from the beginning of time. He's there if we notice.

00:31:30
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it, Cynthia, thanks so much for being on the podcast today. It's my doing, and I know I have a lot of readers that listen, and so just go to Cynthia's page. You've written a number of books, some fiction, some nonfiction. How many fifty fifty? Okay, just a couple then, But I know I know something. I'll love fiction too, So go check it out. Cynthia's got a bunch of books, especially the Spirit of Christmas book. That's when I think you can put your cart today. So Cynthia, thank you so much again for being on the show today and for your wisdom.

00:32:05
Speaker 2: Oh it was my joy, such fun talking to you and you you have really inspired me. So thank you.

00:32:12
Speaker 1: Thank you for watching or listening today. I hope something today has helped you stop comparing and started listening. Bye bye. He Compared You podcast. It's proud to be part of the Life Audio Podcast Network. For more great Christian podcasts, go to life Audio dot com.