Had Myself a Merry Simple Christmas

What a great Christmas...my husband and I decided early on to set a budget for each of our five kids and get a few quality gifts. I usually tend to lean towards quantity, so they'll have more to open, so I was a little unsure with the approach, but generally felt okay about it. We also decided that rather than have the adults in the family exchange gifts, we'd have an experience together instead.
And so the experiment was set-
And so came Christmas-
And it was wonderful! The kids thoroughly enjoyed their gifts, and we all enjoyed our trip out of town together for Christmas and the day after. My six-year-old kept saying "This is the best Christmas ever!"
Why should I have doubted that simple would be better? Look at the first Christmas! Simply a young man and woman, in a plain stable, with some strangers looking in on them after the event. Simple, yet beautifully and historically and eternally epic!

Spiritual Family Reunion

Wow...my sister, nephew, son, and I went to Tulsa to enjoy a concert by one of our favorite Christian brothers, Flame [see www.flame314.com for more info.]! We'd had the privilege of having Flame perform at our home church three years ago (what a blessing!), and we hadn't seen him since. He puts on a wonderful show and has a gift for speaking, as well. After the concert, we were able to meet his adorable new wife, Crystal, and do some quick catching up with Flame (Marcus).

Whether it's at a convention, concert, or some other event, it is so fantastic to reunite with fellow Christians. It's neat that a common love of and service to Christ can bind people together so closely....and it's just a foretaste of heaven!

Location, Location, Location

As I looked into the beautiful blue eyes of my sick little two-year-old yesterday, I realized how lucky we really are. After a quick call on my cell phone, she'll be seen by our wonderful small-town doctor within half-an-hour (thanks, Dr. Sharma!)...she'll be prescribed some sort of medicine to help her recover from her [what we learned was an] ear infection. We'll drive through a pharmacy, back home with the small white prescription bag, where she'll not very willingly receive her medicine and begin recovering.

What if we lived in a condition of poverty, simply because we weren't fortunate enough to come from a family line rooted in a first-world country? Would I have to watch those baby blues fill with tears, then close as she becomes more ill, with no medical relief in sight? Would I helplessly witness a long and drawn out illness because of the lack of a simple prescription? First emotion--thankfulness; second emotion--responsibility to help those in the second boat...

Pivot Points

Talk show host and author Glenn Beck refers to big, life-changing moments as "pivot points." These pivot points are times when you begin to change your thoughts, values, goals, actions, etc. I've noticed an increase in the use of the words "paradigm shift" to describe this phenomena...maybe a bit of an overused phrase, but still kind of cool to imagine the total shift of who you are and what you believe and value.

Attending the National Missionary Convention 2008 was one of my pivot points. I feel like I went from just saying that I'm a Christian to deeply analyzing how I show that I'm a Christian. Thinking about verses like Luke 12:33 (Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.), Matthew 25:4 (The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' [See all of Matthew 25:34-45 for expanded context.]) , or James 1:27 (Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.)...these verses require sacrifice and action, not lip-service. One of the convention speakers, Ash Barker (www.unoh.org), lives in a slum in Bangkok with his family...they're giving more than lip-service to their faith. I'm reading his book, Surrender All, and I'm pivoting...

Intersection

This week, the county attorney spoke at my church, telling us about a grassroots movement happening within our community. In her new capacity as the county attorney, Hillary has been struck by the living conditions of some in our community...poverty, poor parenting, etc. She and a friend started gathering information about the things that churches and organizations are already doing to help the needy around us, then began to develop connections between all of these entities so that we're all on the same page and not duplicating services. It was a really inspirational thing to hear...I mean the kind of inspiration that makes you believe that problems are surmountable and changeable! It's so wonderful that this woman from Wyoming ended up in Kansas, met up with another astute observer, and together their story became "let's change this." Hillary and her friend began intersecting the stories of congregations and agencies, so that together we all intersect the stories of the downtrodden and needy...which changes the ending for all of us.

Story Time!

I love hearing people's stories! I think it's how we best connect and learn, whether in the classroom, in church, out in society at large, or within our own families. I also come from a long line of talkers...some paid (preachers 'n' professors), some not (windbags and yarnspinners?!). So, of course I naturally come by a bit of the ol' gift of gab myself. My favorite family memories are of everyone gathered and telling stories...some stories new and some often retold. Some are just crazy (my Aunt Linda accidentally parking in front of a drive-through) and some teach lessons (Grandmother praying over a tent all night, that we cousins had vacated in fright within our first hour in the backyard!). I also love to read, hear, and think about the stories in the Bible...real people facing real challenges and fears. Don't you just love it?! We're really not alone, let us be connected together by our stories...