Decorations & Preparations

Julie

A few days ago Annika and Julie came by to help get the house Christmas-ready. Annika creates beautiful outdoor pots while Julie works her magic inside. It was a fun day. And the house decorations, both inside and out, look wonderful. 

Now that the decorations for Christmas are complete, it's time to start working on the preparations. And by preparations, I don't mean all the gift purchasing and wrapping nor the Christmas card writing nor the cooking. By preparations, I mean getting ready for Jesus. 

Annika

I think it's odd that it takes us a whole season to get ready for Jesus.  Why aren't we already ready? 

Why does it take stuff like lights, decorations, cards, cookies and presents to get us in the spirit? I'm not trying to sound like a bah-humbug. I really do enjoy the "stuff" of Christmas. But to be perfectly honest, I like Jesus better. 

So I've decided to give Him more than just a month. I've promised (myself) to be better at doing things that prepare me for His presence every day, not just at Christmastime. Decorations bring color and light. Preparations, on the other hand, bring hope and joy. This season, and all year, I hope you'll enjoy both. 

Creating the new normal (part 2)

Freedom of the Seas. What a perfect name for a boat when you are trying to create the "new normal."

Freedom. Walking from dry land onto a gigantic cruiser was a little like "crossing over" into freedom. Here are a few reasons why a cruise at Christmas and Freedom of the Seas made me feel that way:

• Freedom to put away all the busyness and yes, crazy customs of Christmas and simply focus on the main Person of Christmas
• Freedom to spend less money and more time on the people in my life
• Freedom from worrying if I will have enough food for all the meals (the cruise ship had plenty!)
• Freedom to risk changing traditions, and then to discover that Christmas still came
• Freedom to know that God loved me no less and no more because of my "new normal"

Thank you, Lord, for letting me take a cruise that reminds me of You.

"Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17

Creating the new normal

2012. I like it! The number 2012 is a lot easier to write then 2011. And this is going to be an unusual, but very hopeful year for me.  

One year ago, on January 1, 2011,  I was dreading the New Year. Both of my parents were very ill and I knew that 2011 wasn't going to be fun for them or me or my siblings. I was right. It was a very difficult year. Both parents passed away -- three weeks apart in January and February. 

The rest of the year was an attempt to recover from sadness. The holidays were going to prove to be a challenge. Until this year, I had spent every Christmas day with my parents. And so my brother, sister and I decided to do something very un-ordinary for Christmas because we knew it was time to create our new normal. My entire family took a Caribbean cruise. It was crazy fun -- our parents would have loved it (they loved fun and travel). It was different -- we decided to draw names and bring only one gift aboard. But mostly, it was memorable. 

We will always miss our mom and dad, but doing something they loved helped us bring them along while experiencing the new normal. For you who read this, Happy New Year! To my brother, sister and the rest of the family, Happy New Normal. We survived one year.  

Awe

Countdown.. ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two....ONE. And the lights came on -- a magical moment.

It was the lighting of the mayor's Christmas tree at Crown Center in Kansas City with my nephew Max. I was excited, he was startled. But after the initial shock, we both smiled and then laughed. Sometimes it's grand to experience the unexpected and then be in awe. 

I've been thinking about God and "awe" lately. Seems like we aren't so amazed about things these days. And during the Christmas season, when we should be astounded at the superb gift that God gave us -- Jesus -- seems like we have even a harder time to be in awe. 

My problem is that I don't take the time to actually practice His presence in my life. So, for the next few weeks, I'm going to practice "awe." Here's what I'm going to do: 

• Reflect on the fact that God gave me a perfect gift -- no need to look any farther.
• Reflect on the fact that Jesus left his wonderful, glorious and rightful throne to be born in poverty.
• Reflect on how big of a sacrifice God made so that I can experience His presence each day.
• Reflect on the assurance that I have no reason to fear anything today or tomorrow because Jesus overcame the world.
• Reflect that Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace loves me personally and individually. 

My prayer for you is that you will look to God this Christmas. You might get a little excited. You might smile. You might laugh. But hopefully you will be in awe.