Thinking on these things . . .

"Standing here on the threshold of a new year, thank you Lord for all that has been in the year that is ending. Thank you for the trials that made me come to you as I would not have without them. Thank you that I come to the end of this year still here because of your constant gift of breath and life. Thank you for the opportunities you've provided and the experiences that now fill my hard drive with memories. Thank you for the Internet and the friends with whom I've been able to reconnect and even moreso Father thank you for the conversations with friends, albeit now typed and not spoken, as we are geographically far apart but still connected by heart. Thank you Lord for my near friends with whom I share coffee, news, and the gambit from sorrow and frivolity; I am so blessed by their physical presence in my life. Thank you for the abundance of good things that has caused me to resolve again to "lose weight" and "clear the clutter", and for the health a...

I'm amazed at how many Facebook posts I'd already seen as early as the day after Christmas that said " Christmas is all packed up and put away. Back to life as usual!" That's so NOT me because I am a lingerer. My tree and lights will be up and lite through New Year's and sometimes even through "Three Kings Day". There's something about the lights against the dark early winter nights that I'm reticent to extinguish. I wonder what happened in Bethlehem the day after the birth of Jesus. Was there finally room in the Inn? Did Mary and Joseph pack up baby Jesus and move indoors or did they have to hang out a little longer with the animals? We do know that eight days later they'd traveled the two miles to Jerusalem to present the child in the temple and then, after the visit of the Magi, they fled to Egypt. Talk about packing things up and returning to "real life". First they deal with a scandalous pregnancy and questions about their ...

Around my house just before Christmas a "No Questions" zone is imposed. There can be no asking of "Where are you going?", "What's in that box?", "Was that the UPS truck I just saw?" or "How could you possibly need that much tape?" All the questions (that you can't ask!) are answered Christmas morning in the somewhat oddly shaped and interestingly wrapped packages under the tree. And actually there is only one answer - "Because I love you". That's why someone was out, had boxes to hide, or used up all the tape; because I was getting something to give to you because I love you. Why were a girl's wedding plans interrupted by an angel? Why did a fiancee embrace a scandalous pregnancy? Why did angelic night visitors surprise snoozing shepherds? Why did the appearance of a star prompt a road trip? Because God was giving us a gift. Why? Because He loves us. We're no prize, not worthy of such affection from the Alm...

It's a crazy time of year. Between the stuff going on and the people we need to shop for, and the meals to be prepared it's just all much too much and it takes a conscious effort to hang on to the joy of the season, typically... But let me share some perspective I've found this year. I'd read two novellas by Robin Jones Gunn Finding Father Christmas and Engaging Father Christmas. In them the main character, Miranda, is the only child of a single mother who died when Miranda was 11. She was then cared for by a friend of her mother's until that woman also died a few years later. Now an adult Miranda's only involvement in Christmas is the office gift exchange every year. There is no decorating, no list of people to buy for, just this one obligatory gift exchange. And the whole thing opened my eyes to how many people, even in my personal world, that don't do Christmas as I do. They're without children or family or a home to worry about decorating. There...

"'Tis the season of making lists - fa la la la la, la la la la I want that and get me this..." I'm fairly certain that you didn't make a list for Santa this year; there are no toy catalogs filled with things circled in marker, no letters to the North Pole, or things whispered to a man in the mall in a red suit. But that's not to say that we don't come into the season, as do the children, without expectations, we're just not as overt in sharing them. Practically every magazine on the checkout racks this time of year has at least one article on "Tips and Gifts for the Perfect Christmas". Slick covers show homes that probably took a professional team of decorators to transform into these Norman Rockwell worthy showplaces. Spoken or not we have desires for gifts, or for those around us to know us well enough to get us something that complements who we are or who we see ourselves as being. The turkey should be moist, the children well behaved, th...

"It's the most shopping lines time of the year. Where the holiday shoppers with coats, bags, and squalors are standing too near..." I've been out shopping...enough said! Anyone out in any store at this time of year knows what it's like. Even in the middle of a weekday afternoon there are long lines snaking down the aisles. It is Christmas which means everyone is out doing more shopping then they ever do because it's time to get gifts and for my kids this year that is a problem. My teenage son wants a computer (which is not going to happen) and that's all he wants so then what do you get the kid who has everything? It's bad enough when you know what you want to get and are trying to find it but it's even trickier when you don't even know what you are out there looking for! So I've been running through ideas in my mind, along the lines of something similar to what he already has: books, clothes, video games, computer software, Nerf and Lego ...

I wrote the word "Joy" today and realized something... The song is wrong. Do you remember that song, "Jesus and Others and You, what a wonderful way to spell JOY"? Joy does not come from putting Jesus first, than others, and then yourself because that makes my joy depended on what I do. When did my actions become the source of joy in my life? "I will praise the Lord who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices... You have made known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy ; at your right hand there are pleasures forever." Psalms 16:7-11 Joy comes from God. From being in His presence. From listening to His counsel and trusting in His care. Look at these verses, they tell us the source of joy. Look at the word, even it illustrates the principle. Joy comes into us as we spend time in God...

Emmanuel - God with us. We're hearing this word a lot. In songs, on cards, and in scripture and sermons and what an amazing concept it is. God has come to us. My question is, how closely has God come to us? Where is God in this season? In a nativity set on the front lawn or mantle? Perhaps the motif on the Christmas cards being sent? Or maybe in our words as we sing along with the radio or join in the great carols in a poinsettia strewn sanctuary? How closely is God with you this season? Recently I realized, as having left the church I've attended the past 18 years, that there would be no place for me to sing this Christmas; no choir, no programs, no chance to voice the amazing truths in the songs reserved for this season, which is something I have been thrilled to do for years. "It is what it is" though, "no need to cry over spilt milk" and all those sayings came to mind. This was merely an effect of a decision I felt God lead me to make and that was that.....

It is three little degrees outside, three and this is shocking! Now it's not that surprising that the temperatures have fallen as the news has been predicting it for days - but it is shocking, especially when you first step outside! So with this shocking, yet not surprising, turn of events came the hunt for the snowsuits. Were they behind the winter coats? Or packed up with the boots? Or perhaps in the downstairs winter equipment closet? Unfortunately this hunt began exactly eleven minutes before it was time to leave for school... as somehow it almost always does; hmmm ...although my husband and son are scouts somehow I missed out on that whole "Be Prepared" training! There is no reason that the snowsuit hunt should have taken place this morning. I knew what was coming and I could have been prepared. In life however we don't have always have that luxury, of knowing what is ahead and preparing for it. Quite often we're suddenly faced with a shocking turn of even...

In the past few days several perfectly packed gifts of Christmas encouragement have come to my Inbox and I'd now like to "regift" them to you! Merry Christmas! She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7 There's a lot of pressure to have a "perfect" Christmas with great gifts, caroling, and family. Often that makes our actual Christmas a let-down. We forget the first Christmas was far from perfect - Mary had to give birth in a stable! What blessings from God can you find in your disappointments of the season? - BibleLeague.org "Those who obey His commands live in him, and He in them" I John 3:24 Christ lived in Mary until He had to come out. Christ will grow in you until the same occurs. He will come out in your speech, in your actions, in your decisions. Every place you live will be a Bethlehem, and every day you live will be a Christmas. You, like Mary, will deliver Christ into the...