Christmas Trappings

The Christmas season this year seems to be more reflective than other years. Quieter. We have made a ton of cookies; We have done a few shopping trips to bigger cities. The tree is up and decorated. But unlike other years, There has been no chaotic hustle and bustle that usually comes with the holiday season. Yesterday, I gathered my tape, rounded up a pair of scissors (I can never find them when I want them), gathered the wrapping paper and set out to wrap the gifts that I had bought. As my daughter and I sat in the middle of the bedroom floor and started wrapping gifts, I ran into a problem, there was not enough wrapping paper. Not wanting to waste wrapping paper, I decided to use a piece from another roll to cover the rest of the present. My daughter looked at it and said, "Aww now it's not pretty." It wasn't. She started wrapping another present, and would you believe it? She had the same problem. She ran out of wrapping paper about half way through wrapping the gift. So again we patched together wrapping paper to wrap the gift. We wrapped a couple more gifts and again ran out of wrapping paper before we could finish the gift. By now both of us were laughing and giggling, seeing the humor in the situation. My daughter, in a very dry tone of voice, said, "I guess this is just a leftover Christmas." and we laughed some more. We both knew that beautifully wrapped presents would not make Christmas any more meaningful. I remember Christmases when we had much, and other Christmases when we had little. Some of the best Christmases were when we had very little because we chose to focus on what Christmas was really about. It was about a the baby born in a manger, The only one who would be my savior. So whatever else happens, or doesn't happen at Christmas will be fine because Christmas is really about God come down from heaven to live with us, "God is with us." Christmas often becomes what we want it to be. If we look expect trees, lights, tinsel, ribbon, cookies or parties or anything else to make Christmas happy, we will always be disappointed; but if we look at THE baby in a manger and remember him, none of the rest of the trappings of Christmas will have a hold on us.

Christmas Is All in the Heart

In a one bedroom apartment
On the humble side of town
There stands a little Christmas tree
It looks a lot like Charlie Brown's

And underneath there's one little gift for him
And one little gift for her

After six months on the new job
They're still barely getting by
So in the way of decorations
There's nothing there to catch your eye

But both of them would be the first to say
We're together, we're gonna have the merriest Christmas anyway

'Cause Christmas is all in the heart
That's where the feeling starts
And like a fire inside, it touches every part
Christmas is all in the heart

And even if no white snow falls
Well, that's all right because
The joy can still be found, wherever you are
Christmas is all, all in the heart

Two little blond haired boys with big dreams
Tried to sleep but sleep wouldn't come
And we'd be tearing into presents
Long before the break of dawn

With mom and dad and cameras making sure
We'd never forget that day, no, no, no

Now I'm the one who's taking pictures
In the middle of the night
Of my own little dreamers
That just can't wait until daylight

And in my sleepy eyes the spark still glows
Well, I guess there's just some things a kid never outgrows

'Cause Christmas is all in the heart
That's where the feeling starts
And like a fire inside, it touches every part
Christmas is all in the heart

And even if no white snow falls
Well, that's all right because
The joy can still be found, wherever you are
Christmas is all, all in the heart

No, it's not in the snow that may or may not fall
And it's not in the gifts around the tree
It's in the love Heaven gave, that night our Savior came
And that same love can still be found wherever you are

'Cause Christmas is all in the heart
And the joy can still be found, wherever you are
'Cause Christmas is all, all in the heart
It's all in the heart

Live Fearlessly

As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the road. Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride. As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping. I could have and should have but I didn't. Why? I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid. It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into overdrive. Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting. Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy. As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid. Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know. As I was driving away from a missed opportunity, I began thinking about what it is that makes us afraid. I honestly am not sure what it is that causes us to be afraid when we should be bold, but I

Tragedy: A Christian Response

I want to start by telling you a story. We were new parents. When Our oldest, a son, was about eighteen to twenty months we had another baby, a girl with brown hair and huge eyes. One day as I went to feed her, my son who may have been two at the time wandered off to another part of the house. The next thing I heard was a thud. I grabbed my baby girl and ran to see what happened. There was my son with a table on top of him. He had pulled it over on himself and more blood than I had ever seen was running all over. We put him in the car and dashed for the ER. It was not a fun trip. He had a skull fracture and many stitches. Fast forward about fourteen or fifteen years, I’m at a stop light and watch my youngest daughter about ten start across a street on a bike start across a street just as a truck comes around a corner into the path of the bike. She hit the side of the truck and bounced onto the road. I grabbed her up and checked her over there were no injuries, but

Just A Word of Praise!!

On Sunday, after church, we went to a town about thirty minutes away. On the way we drove through an area where they were working on the road. It was no big deal. We had lunch, bought some food for the week, and drove back home. Later, as we were on our way to church for the evening service, I heard the ominous flapping sound that a tire makes when it’s flat. Yikes! I pulled over and while I was debating how I was going to change a tire. A car coming in the opposite direction drove by and stopped. As the driver appeared from the vehicle, I recognized him as a neighbor and fellow believer. He approached the car, and asked if I had an air compressor to inflate the tire. My answer, “Yes, but I’m not sure how good it is. I’ve never actually managed to inflate a tire using it. I may not be using it properly.” I produced it from the trunk of the car and handed it to him. Within a few minutes, he had it hooked up and running. As it turned out, I was using it properly,

Inspirations

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