Inspirations

My plan was to write an Advent reflection on Wednesday.  It is now Friday, and I'm finally getting around to writing the advent thoughts.   I failed to plan.  I wanted to get it written, but life got in the way and, I'm afraid, I didn't budget my time very well.   I did, however, get some Christmas gifts done.  I have been doing some personalized gifts, and they took way longer than I had anticipated.  So, while the gifts delayed my blog, I did get the gifts done, and that was one of my plans.   I started planning last January for some of the gifts.  As I said before, I am not a planner, but I am learning that not all planning is bad.  In fact, planning can reduce stress as long as we use the plans like a flexible ruler.   At Christmas, it is easy to want to stress about giving gifts because we have little money. One thing, I did this year, was starting a Christmas savings.   When I started buying gifts, I had money so I ...

Let's begin this Advent season by looking back, not just to the baby in a manger.  Let's go back to where the story of the nativity begins; before the creation of the world.   For most of us, I included, it's easy to wrap our mind around a baby in a manger. We naturally want to start the Christmas story at the manger, or somewhere close to that time.  However, to be honest, to understand and appreciate the nativity we need to see where the story truly starts.  God had planned the birth of Jesus as he was creating the world.  There was nothing haphazard about the birth of Jesus.  God had mapped out everything to the minutest detail.  When we look at the baby in the manger, we should think about the fact that Jesus had been planning and working out the birth of Jesus for 2000 years. You planners can appreciate this kind of planning.    Imagine all the thought and detail what went in delivering that first Christmas pre...