Thinking on these things . . .

It's what we want out of Christmas - it's the "wow" factor we're aiming for with our gifts and decorating. "Like a kid at Christmas" is that look on a face of anticipation and joy and incredulousness and wonder all wrapped up in one gigantic smile and wide-open eyes. My kids are older now so I'd forgotten how intoxicating that look can be until I was at a Cub Scout Christmas party. Santa had come and was handing out gifts to the children. There were two little girls there, siblings, and when Santa walked in you'd think they were about to explode with happiness. They looked at him, and each other, and then back at him with smiles that practically wrapped around their little heads. There were no words to describe how they were feeling and still hardly sufficient words to communicate how they looked. It was pure magic. This was undoubtedly the highlight of their day or, from the looks of it, their lives! For me however this party was just anoth...

Here, at home, the holidays don't look the same as they years ago; the number at the table is fewer, the pile of gifts under the tree smaller. The loss of loved ones keeps it from being "the most wonderful time of the year" until I  ponder  that "better is one day in Your court than a thousand elsewhere" (Psalms 84:10 NIV). They are home for the holidays, not in our homes, but in God's presence. The same God who has welcomed them home will also provide grace for our every need and will someday wipe all tears from our eyes as well. So, to you specifically this season, may God gift you with peace.

I live on the cheap side of life. Not necessarily frugal as that implies thoughtful comparison of price to quality, I'm just cheap. Why pay $10 when you can get something "just as good" for $2? Of course a low price can mean cheap goods like the many pairs of stretchy knit "magic" gloves that are in singles throughout my house. I pulled a pair on and discovered holes between 3 of the 5 fingers - and these were the new ones! Highly ineffective in single degree temperatures! But as I was doing Christmas shopping I saw them, and I bought them, a pair of isotoner gloves. They slid onto my hands seamlessly and snugly cocooned them in sleek warmth. It's hard to believe that what I had been wearing and what I wore now could both be considered gloves! Christmas is a season of loving. We endeavor through our gift giving to communicate that we love someone I mean seriously, what else would have someone out in the stores at this time of year?! This is the time t...

I don't know all that transpired so that we celebrate Christmas in December, but it does strike me how highly appropriate it is that, at this time of the year when there is more darkness than light, this is when we celebrate the coming of The Light of the World...   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light . That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. ... But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children...

I've have this amazing ball of yarn - it's soft and warm and has this fantastic coloring. It is simply a ball of potential! In my hands this yarn will become a scarf. Those are the tools I have and that is the knowledge I possess. But in the hands of someone else, with different tools and other ideas, it could become a garment of warmth, or a thing of great beauty. An artist would look at this yarn and see possibilities I'd never imagine. An expert in yarn craft could construct an item I'd never considered. The ball of yarn remains the same - with its particular mix of characteristics - but its potential outcome is all dependent on in whose hands it lies... We all are a mix of experiences, personalities, temperaments, and talents. We are all lives full of potential.. So the question is what to do with them? How to craft who we are with what we have into a significant contribution and lasting legacy? My hands are not that talented or capable, merely adequate...

I have vivid memories of  the Christmas catalog from when I was a child.  Do you as well? Every year one would come in the mail and my sister and I would lay on the floor and turn it page by page and make our lists of what we wanted - or sometimes we'd just circle the stuff. Yep, as you guessed it, sometimes we'd have to go get a fresh pen as ours was, suddenly, surprisingly, out of ink! These were the things I wanted to make my Christmas happy - and of course to make me the first kid on the block to have the latest and greatest thingamabob! Times have changed. One year my son "cut and pasted" off the Toys R Us website what he wanted into a Word document. The ads now come in the Sunday paper and in the sidebars of every other webpage. According to the Chicago Tribune from Dec. 5th preteens most wished for item this year is an IPad; while the children over 13 most desired a computer.  I'm thinking the 1975 $2.77 Malibu Barbie featured here wouldn't exact...

I was far from home and grabbed a towel from the rack in the hotel bathroom. It was about as thick as a piece of paper and barely bigger than a hand towel. It was both disappointing and ineffectual for its task. When I was home I reached for a towel and found it thirsty lushness wrapped around me like a queen sized blanket. It was more than enough; it was extravagant. Both situations were similar in what I needed but the difference lie in where I was. At home I found all I needed and more – but away from home the result was inadequacy and disappointment. We’re seeking, and needy, and vulnerable. How are we and where are we while we’re trying to meet those needs? If we are far from home we’re on our own to find happiness, fulfillment, purpose, or love; often we come up short. But if we are home we have a Father who delights in providing for us (Psalms 37:23) and promises that we’ll have all that we need (Psalms 23:1). When we are home we will flourish and have joy because we are...

...of warm snuggly blankets, fa la la la la, la la la la! Baby, it's cold outside! And, although I'm inside it's still cold!  So 'tis the season so bring out the warm blankets and drape them on every arm of every chair. (Seriously it looks like a giant slumber party is always going on in my living room!) My favorite is a new one that's microfiber lined with sherpa which makes it soft and super warm. If I could make it into an outfit I'd wear it everywhere!  But for now I sit in my big blue chair this morning under my warm blanket as I open God's Word to feed my heart and I read,  "Unfailing love surrounds those who trust in the Lord." Psalms 32:10 NLT I feel loved as I sit here all cozy and still; comforted by His care for me as the demands of the day have yet to have me distracted and running. But "unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord" - surrounds - not just covers me when I'm still and reflective but surrounds ...

It's become iconic; the scraggly tree with the lone red ornament, as we remember Christmases of our youth from when  A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired in 1965. Beyond the nostalgia though is the original meaning, that Christmas is more than commercialism and excess but that it is, as Linus quotes (click for clip) from Luke 2, all about the birth of Jesus. It is the scrawny tree vs. the forest of colorful aluminum monstrosities and, it is also for us, the devotion to the Savior of a single heart - your heart - against the bedlam of Christmas obligations and expectations. So when you're shopping this season and see this little tree (which, ironically, true to the season's materialism you can now buy everywhere), let it remind you that the most important thing is your heart seeking the babe in the manager, more than anything and everything else.

It's one of the oldest and most tired jokes... "Why do you keep banging your head against the wall?" "Because it feels so good when I stop!" We are wounded people. Wounded by life, by circumstances, by family, friends and associates. Some are wounds of the stabbing, twisting life-altering type that leave us in stunned shock. Others are more like a paper cut - not life threatening but that still hurt like the dickens. Recently I was sucker punched - which, as the name implies, just adds insult to injury as you don't see it coming! But what has impacted me more than the wounding was the resulting assistance and comfort I received from others around me. Because of their care I came away with a new appreciation for their friendship and gratefulness to God for their presence in my life. Would I have had that attitude if I’d not experienced the pain? Probably not. So are wounds worth the rewards? I can’t answer that question. Today, for me, I would s...