Christ is Born

This Christmas, I am fortunate enough to be able to travel to MI and visit with friends and family that I don't get to see as often now that we live in Brooklyn. Truth be told, I honestly was not looking forward to getting in the car and driving again for the holiday. But now that I get to be here, and hold my loved ones in my arms, see relatives I don't often see, and enjoy time with them, the trip was beyond well worth it. The presents are nice to get, but my emotions again get the best of me as I pause to seriously ponder the love God has for us. And I experience that love deeply in a few ways. One is music-it immediately connects me to our creator. Two is nature-even if it is in the form of a man made building, seeing the creator's creativity in all things blows me away. But perhaps the one He truly intended for us to experience is third-through other people. The innate need for community with others is powerful. And as I sit in this beautiful room that is bigger than most of our apartment, and I look out over the square mile that holds only one house that only two people live in, I realize just how much I personally need community. I miss being in my city where there would be over 26,000 people living and breathing in this square mile.
Don't get me wrong, the pause from the Brooklyn life 'in your face' 24/7 is much needed, and I am enjoying it also. I pause again at the end of another year, and look back a year ago. I didn't truly know what was going to happen with our home, my job, or where we would live. And in all things, God created the perfect community for the kkft. Each of us. And we come back to MI to visit the ones we love that we left behind, and it brings us much joy. Beyond that, Christmas brings me the joy that I receive in Christ Jesus. Born in a cave 2010 years ago, to a scared couple that didn't have any idea what was really going to happen through the life of the helpless child they would raise to become the savior of the world. Imagine God living in your apartment. Your house. Your neighborhood. And so the kkft will enjoy our community visit, and then go back to our 'cave' where we don't know what tomorrow will bring. But we will trust in God and do our best to follow the star in the east that leads us to Christ.

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Too, Too, Too Much Fun

Alright. So you're sitting in front of your computer right now. And you're saying to yourself at about 8:00 pm: "Huh. It's been dark out for nearly three and a half hours now. What else can we do for fun?" Well, sir, we have the answer. Take a look at this.
Read more

Big Difference.

I heard my superstar say this to the girls this week: "Discipline sounds like something that is bad, right? But really, it isn't. It means to push yourself to doing something. Like journalling, reading your bible, spending time with God. That is a spiritual discipline. See how that isn't a bad thing?" For nearly four years now (you can get the full story if you look back to 2007 postings), I have certainly elevated my game in the area of spiritual disciplines. Reading the bible more than I ever did before, truly engaging with what God's desire is for my life, not just when it is convenient, trying to spend time being still and listening to what God has to say to me, and one thing I never really understood why superstar did it - journalling. I really started engaging in my morning "Java with Jesus" when I began to work for my company in the D. I would get up early to drive down Alter Road to the little park where the lake turns into the D river.
Read more

By far the most beautiful.

It has been a week since the death of my mother. A week ago right now, I was going on 14 minutes of sleep knowing that my mom had made her transition to heaven. That day brought many emotions for certain. A lot of sadness and grief knowing that she was gone from this world. Sadness in knowing that I would never again hear the sweet sound of my mother's voice calling my name from somewhere off in the distance. Knowing that my children would no longer run from here to there shouting "GRANDMA!" as I have so many times seen them do with such joy in their hearts. Knowing that I would never again on this earth see Hon and Hon holding each other. Kissing. Making each other laugh. This doesn't seem like a moment to speak about the beauty of life, yet I can only find myself focusing the last few days on just that - the beauty of life. I can say with some certainty that I did experience one (if not the) of the most beautiful things I have ever had the pleasure of expe
Read more