I HILLSIDE VILLAGE

HILLSIDE VILLAGE

IT’S WHERE THE COMMUNITY GATHERS

BY MEREDITH KNIGHT

ooking to spark your holiday spirit?

Plan a trip to Hillside Village in Cedar Hill. During November and December, it’s the holiday gathering place for families with children. Anchored by Dillard’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Barnes & Nobles, Hillside Village offers a vibrant collection of favorite national fashion retailers, dining, and unique amenities that will get you right in the holiday spirit!

Always brimming with family fun, Hillside Village really comes alive during the holidays with events that bring our community together, including holiday crafts and holiday music surrounded by seasonal décor. Mark your calendar for the upcoming fun events including the annual Christmas tree lightening, Village Lights, Santa Photos, Santa Paws and Elf Academy. Enjoy ambient live music and carolers while you stroll and shop for everyone on your shopping list. Families won’t want to miss Village Lights festival as Hillside Village kicks off the holiday season on Saturday, Nov. 20 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Guests can enjoy hot cocoa, holiday crafts, face painting, balloon artists, and get ready to experience a Winter WOW, Snow Tubing! For the fi rst time at Village Lights, kids can explore the potential of a real snow slide. They will be thrilled to slide down the eight-foot “real” snow slide and while you’re there, take time to make a snow angel, build a snowman, and play in 4000 lbs. of snow! K104 -FM Lady Jade will kick off the festivities at 5:30PM. Throughout the evening, Mrs. Claus combines holiday magic, toys coming to life, and a picture of Santa Claus magically speaking to the children in the Alfi e Show. Then, at 7:30 PM, Santa will arrive to fl ip the switch and illuminate

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the 100,000 lights on Hillside Village’s 30-foot, interactive tree synchronized with dancing lights. Hillside Village is a fun spot to grab a family meal, too, with popular Razzoo’s Cajun Café, local fl are Crab N Bar, Cedar Hill’s favorite Mo’s Italia Express and the best sushi in town at California Avocado Roll & Sushi. Hillside Village is proud to announce new restaurants coming soon including Frida’s Tacos, DJ’s Steakhouse, and Wing Mac. FRIDA’S TACOS – COMING SOON

Since 1986, Frida’s Tacos has celebrated its Mexican roots emphasizing the importance of fl avor and quality. Inspired by famed Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, the cuisine is full of colors and flavors, reminiscent of her works. Get ready to experience a new gastronomic experience in an environment of art and good taste. DJ’S STEAKHOUSE – COMING SOON

DJ's Steak House recaptures the fl avor of the open campfi re with a southern twist. Your family can enjoy steaks, chicken, and seafood, chargrilled to perfection. DJ’s specializes in the fi nest cuts of steaks and signature desserts, made from scratch daily. WING MAC – COMING SOON

Can your kids ever really get enough mac and cheese and chicken wings? Of course not! Wing Mac is up for the challenge with a full menu of chicken wings, chicken tenders, and fl avored macaroni. They’ll beg to come back!

SANTA PHOTOS - STARTING NOVEMBER 21 Create memories with a special photo with Santa.

NOVEMBER 21 - 24 • SUNDAY 12:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M. • MONDAY - WEDNESDAY 3:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.

NOVEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 16 • MONDAY - THURSDAY 11:00 A.M. - 7:00 P.M. • FRIDAY - SATURDAY 11:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M. • SUNDAY 12:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M.

DECEMBER 17 - 23 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY 10:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M. • SUNDAY 12:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M. • MONDAY - THURSDAY 10:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M.

DECEMBER 24 10:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.

ELF ACADEMY - INSPIRING KIDS TO CREATE HOLIDAY MAGIC DECEMBER 7 • TUESDAY 10:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. LOCATED AT SANTA’S CORNER

PRESCHOOL CHILDREN CAN ENJOY CREATING THEIR OWN SPECIAL HOLIDAY CRAFT PROJECT TO TAKE HOME, ALONG WITH A SPECIAL TREAT! DECEMBER 14 • TUESDAY 4:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M. LOCATED AT SANTA’S CORNER

SCHOOL AGED KIDS ARE INVITED TO CLAIM THEIR FUN HOLIDAY CRAFT BOXES WITH A SPECIAL TREAT, WHILE SUPPLIES LAST.

HILLSIDE VILLAGE 305 WEST FM 1382, CEDAR HILL, TEXAS 75104 SHOPHILLSIDEVILLAGE.COM

ONLY ONE THING

is necessary

BY LISA CHAN

od is too easily forgotten in all of the madness of our busy lives. Who has time to pay attention to spiritual things? We can sometimes be too busy, too tired, too entertained, or too overwhelmed to care. Or maybe in our deepest heart, we do care, but we don’t even know what to do about it. On the one hand, we have all these tasks and duties and responsibilities weighing us down; on the other hand, we have God — the very God who says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Being still sounds nice. But we live in a squeeze of pressing demands. Does God really expect this of us? In Luke 10:38–42, Jesus gives one of the most poignant answers: Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Many of us have felt like coming to Martha’s defense when we’ve read this. Poor soul. She only wanted to serve. We can’t all be like Mary, can we? But Jesus’s words ring in my ear every time I read this account: “one thing is necessary.” I have to ask myself, Do I actually believe that? Is it reflected in the way that I view my time? I’m not used to thinking about what’s necessary. When I look at my time management, I usually break it down into three categories: (1) things I must do, such as paying bills or feeding my kids; (2) things I should do, such as exercising or cleaning out the creepy refrigerator; and (3) things I want to do, such as going out to dinner or shopping with my girls. But Jesus, our Lord, said only one thing is necessary. If this were a suggestion from a friend or an idea from a great book, I might be able to dismiss it as simplistic. But this is Jesus. He’s not simplistic. He’s speaking to a woman’s heart and cutting right through her every defense. DON’T SCROUNGE FOR CRUMBS

Imagine that God invited you to a great banquet. You see a magnificent table overflowing with spiritual food. Everything you really need is on that table: comfort, wisdom, peace, love, worth, joy, victory, forgiveness, truth, patience, and the list goes on. God’s heart is that you would sit down at the table with him and eat as much as you need to walk away deeply satisfied (Psalm 107:9) and equipped “with everything good that you may do his will” (Hebrews 13:21). But so many of us don’t sit and eat. We may dash in for a quick bite, but the little burst of energy fizzles out pretty quickly. We may stand outside the door, waiting for others who have had their fill to come and bring us some leftovers. This is not only lazy; it makes no sense when we are given a personal invitation. Sadly, I picture many of us crawling around under the table, picking up crumbs, wondering why we feel so spiritually empty and weak. Come to the bountiful table. Sit with your generous Lord and feed your starving soul. CHOOSE THE GOOD PORTION

What else did Jesus say about Mary? Not only was she doing the one necessary thing, but she had chosen the good portion. The good portion was necessary, but it also was a choice. Our bodies won’t survive more than a few days without water. It is necessary for life. But you and I still make the choice every day to drink from a cup that literally sustains our life. The same is true of your spiritual cup: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26). Jesus was Mary’s portion. Is he yours? Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Is your hunger and thirst satisfied in Christ? Do you love being in his presence? If you are binging on junk food, you will not have an appetite for a fresh, healthy meal. And in the same way, your soul cannot crave the bread of life if, like Martha, you are “distracted with much serving” or “anxious and troubled about many things” (Luke 10:40–41). Jesus comes to us in love and authority. Don’t discount his authority because of his love for you. It is Christ himself who tells us what is truly necessary. The next time you are tempted to think that there are many earthly things that you must do, remember what he said. As the world careens on in all its frenetic madness, and many demands insist on our attention, we can become people who choose to be still, sit at the Lord’s feet, and listen to his voice. For it’s in his word that we will receive the good portion we need most.

Lisa Chan is married to Francis Chan. They have seven children and are the authors of You and Me Forever: Marriage in Light of Eternity. She is a guest contributor for DesiringGod.org.

ISAIAH 117 HOUSE

CARING FOR CHILDREN AWAITING FOSTER PLACEMENT

BY MIMI GREENWOOD KNIGHT

ot many mamas can say they got their child at WalMart. But I can. It was a random Tuesday morning when I received a call from our local Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) telling me there was a one-year-old boy entering the foster care system and asking whether we could take him into our home. Although my husband and I were expecting our first foster child, we didn’t know what age our child would be, so we weren’t prepared with diapers, clothes, and age-appropriate toys. No problem. Our case worker would meet us at WalMart and together we could gather the things the baby needed. That’s where we first met our blue-eyed Jonah who we were blessed to adopt, a year later. He came with an Elmo doll and two outfits stuffed in a trash bag. But many foster children come with just the clothes on their backs and don’t have a home immediately available for them like our Jonah did. When they don’t, they’re often left to wait in a cubicle or conference room at a DFPS office, while a case worker scrambles to find them placement. Sometimes they wait for hours— sometimes for days—in a cold, impersonal government office.

Isaiah 117 House, Sullivan County, Tennessee

Lauren Schaefer and Meagan Haasbroek

Ronda Paulson, Founder and Executive Director

There are currently 400,000 children in foster care in this country, nearly 15,000 in Texas alone, and, at any given time, hundreds are waiting for foster care placement.

In 2018, a woman named Ronda Paulson had a better idea. She decided they deserved more. What if there was a home? A loving home, where these traumatized, scared and anxious kids could go while they await foster care placement. A home where these children were given a hot meal, a warm bubble bath or shower and a comfy bed to sleep in. A home where they’d be provided new clothes and toys to play with. A cheerful, kid-friendly home, with loving volunteers who remind them they are not alone. That idea was the genesis of the first Isaiah 117 House in Tennessee. Currently, there are 5 open homes and over 20 counties in the process of opening a home around the country. The first Isaiah 117 House in Texas is coming to Dallas County. “We had our expansion kick-off on September 18th,” said Meagan Haasbroek, one of two Dallas County Expansion Coordinators. “For the next six months, we are focused on raising awareness. We’ll be visiting churches and attending meetings of local organizations and businesses to educate the community on what removal day looks like and how we want to change the way foster care begins.” Lauren Schaefer, the other expansion coordinator said, “The mission of Isaiah 117 House is to reduce trauma for children on the day they are removed from their home, lighten the load of DFPS staff and ease the transition for future foster parents. These children are being taken from the only home they’ve ever known and we want to make sure they are seen for the person they are, not the thing that’s happened to them. We want to give them their dignity back and to ensure they know that they have done nothing wrong.” “The response from our community has been overwhelming,” Meagan said. “We realize not everyone feels led to foster, but the Isaiah 117 House offers many other ways to make a difference for these kids. People can help by joining us at 1:17 PM each afternoon as we stop wherever we are and pray that God moves powerfully to bring this resource to our community, for the children we will serve, the DFPS case workers and the foster families we will support.” You can also get involved by attending our expansion meetings held on the last Thursday of every month from 6:30-7:30 PM at Calvary Baptist Church located at 401 W. Church Street in Grand Prairie, TX. Please follow Isaiah 117 House Dallas County on Facebook and Instagram and sign up for the monthly newsletter for the latest updates. Be sure to mark your calendar for April 28th for our Let’s Build This House Luncheon (time and location TBD). “These children have done nothing wrong and all children deserve the love and safety of a home,” Lauren said. “Our goal is to provide that to them. It is going to take an army of God’s people to make this dream of ours come true, and an army is what we are trying to build. Please be praying about what part you can play in building this home.” Together we can change the question “What if there was a home?” to “There is a home!”

(423) 518-3760 ext. 636 | Meagan.Haasbroek@isaiah117house.com Lauren.Schaefer@isaiah117house.com | @isaiah117housedallascotx on Facebook and Instagram | linktr.ee/Isaiah117houseDallasCoTX

Isaiah 117 Dallas County Core Team

THE OF THE STAR

We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. — Matthew 2:2

BY DAVID DANIELS

It is estimated that there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy and 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to earth, is 4.243 light-years or almost 25 trillion miles away. Sirius, the brightest star seen from earth, is twice the size of our sun. If you observe Sirius in the night sky, the light you see left the glowing sphere eight and a half years ago. Such majesty. So many stars. So much brilliance. One made all the difference in the world. The baby announcement for Jesus wasn’t delivered in the mail but displayed in the heavens. Matthew writes, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him’” (Matthew 2:1-2). Persian astrologers noticed a cosmic phenomenon wooing them west to Jerusalem and then south to the manger. This celestial compass was God’s way of inviting, not just a few foreigners, but the whole world to meet His Son. The wonder of the Bethlehem star is that it proves God’s enduring commitment to reveal Himself and His plans to the world. Skeptics argue that God never provides sufficient proof of His existence. He leaves people grasping in the dark, having to rely on blind faith to believe. In The Jesus I Never Knew, even Christian author Phillip Yancey admits,

“My faith suffers from too much freedom, too many temptations to disbelieve. At times I want God to overwhelm me, to overcome my doubts with certainty, to give final proofs of his existence and his concern. I want a God without ambiguity, One to whom I can point for the sake of my doubting friends.” When I was a child, I sat in my bedroom staring at a glass of water on my desk. “God, make the glass move,” I dared. It’s not that I didn’t believe, I just felt like the man who confessed to Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). If God would just move the glass a half-inch, that would be enough to cinch my faith. Fortunately, God does provide many signs—revelation to point to who He is, His Son and His work in the world. First, God reveals Himself in the SKY. Contemporary astronomers have debated whether the star at Christmas was actually a star at all. Some have speculated that it was a supernova; a comet; or the conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and Mars. Whatever it was, it was visible to all. Psalm 19:1 tells us, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” The fingerprints of God are all over creation. Paul writes that, from the beginning, God has been showing Himself through what has been made (Romans 1:20). The majesty of stars scattered across the sky, the breathtaking awe standing atop the Continental Divide,

the thunderous power of Niagara Falls, the exquisite beauty of the Gossamer butterfly—all of this reveal something about our God. Second, God reveals Himself in SCRIPTURE. For the Magi, the star made them curious, but the ancient Scriptures confirmed the truth, giving them specific directions (see Matthew 3:5-6). The Bible is a remarkable document—written by 40 authors, on three continents, over 1500 years, in three languages—yet consistent and accurate in everything it records. God has given people a living and lasting record of truth so that we may know Him and the way of truth. Third, God reveals Himself in His SON. The Bible is the written Word of God and Jesus is the living Word of God (John 1:1). When a disciple asked, “Show us the Father,” Jesus replied, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8-9). The writer of Hebrews explains, “in the past” God revealed Him- self through prophets at many times and in various ways, but in recent times He has revealed Himself through His Son, who is God on earth (Hebrews 1:1-3). When God wanted to show Him-self, He sent Jesus. Finally, God reveals Himself through His SPIRIT. When we place our faith in Jesus, He puts His Spirit in us to reveal more and more of Himself. Jesus said, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). These are not the only ways that God reveals Himself. But what we can see is that He does wish to make Himself known generally, scripturally, personally, and spiritually. And those who see the signs and follow them in faith are sure to discover the joy of Jesus. The chorus of “We Three Kings” confirms the blessing of trusting God’s signs: Oh, star of wonder, star of night Star with royal beauty bright Westward leading, still proceeding Guide us to thy perfect light!

Most people missed the celestial announcement of Jesus, though it was in plain sight for all to see. Don’t miss God revealing Himself to you today. Sometimes, asking the simple questions, “Who are You, Lord?” and “What do You want me to do?” is enough to open our eyes and ears and heart to something new. Open your Bible to a place where the pages may still be stuck together and read a fresh word. Pray about something other than the usual grocery list of requests and see how God might open your heart to something that’s on His heart. Look around you and let the created order teach you about the marvelous Creator. Close your eyes and open your ears. If the Spirit of God lives in you, He will speak and show you what is true. God promises, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13) and, when He does, you need only to follow the star.

I am honored and excited to feature my brother-in-law’s new Devotional just in time for the Christmas season! David Daniels, you are loved and we appreciate your service to our Lord Jesus. – Publisher Living Magazine Misty Daniels

“The Wonder Of the Star” is an excerpt from Wonder: Advent Meditations On The Miracle of Christmas–a 31-day devotional released this month by David Daniels. David is Lead Pastor of Central Bible Church in Fort Worth. He can be reached at wearecentral.org Wonder is available on Amazon.com