Preparation

There is a lot or preparation that goes into Christmas. We spend time cleaning the house for the arrival of family and friends, we spend time decorating the tree, wrapping gifts, decorating the houses with lights, singing Christmas carols, cooking food, and shopping. We spend so much time preparing for Christmas that we often miss it. We don't actually miss the holiday but we do miss the meaning. While all of the above mentioned things are fun they are not the meaning of Christmas. Jesus Christ, King of Kings, born of a virgin for all humanity; that's why we celebrate this season. I'm going to be selfish for a moment and say that this season is not about giving it's about receiving. It's about the gift that God gave and has only asked that we receive it. So with all this preparation going into the holiday season how much time do you spend preparing to receive the King.

The Other Side

I just finished the fall semester and I've got to say that this was by far the toughest semester I have had. I only took three courses but two of them (Greek and Romans) kicked my butt. It seemed like all I did every day and night was study and do homework. The material just kept piling on top of each other and at a couple of points I felt as if I were drowning, but the semester is over and now I have a break before going to Greek 2. On my long drive back home after my last exam I realized that even though this was by far the toughest semester it was also by far the semester I learned the most. This realization got me thinking about the tough times in our life where we just feel like everything is piling on top of each other, the times where we struggle just to keep treading water and the shore seems so far off, and how God uses those times to teach us and grow us. I struggled everyday in Greek class but I guarantee I can parse a noun now. The process isn't always fun but we will be amazed at what God teaches us on the other side of the shore.

To those who may be struggling in these difficult times I offer this story taken from Max Lucado's book Facing Your Giants : In 1952 Florence Chadwick attempted to swim the chilly ocean waters between Catalina Island and the California shore. She swam through foggy weather and choppy seas for fifteen hours. Her Muscles began to cramp, and her resolve weakened. She begged to be taken out of the water, but her mother, riding in the boat alongside, urged her to not give up. She kept trying but grew exhausted and stopped swimming. Aids lifted her out of the water and into the boat. They paddled a few more minutes, the mist broke, and she discovered that the shore was less than half a mile away. In her news conference Florence said "all I could see was fog, if I could only have seen the shore I could have made it". Don't be bogged down by the fog the shore is near. "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Rom 8:18).

Stuffin'

This week before we had the children break off into small groups we had everyone circle up, hold hands, and take turns telling God something they are thankful for. It was funny to see how even the most out going of kids became shy as we went around the circle. The best part was when it was Reese's turn and she said "I am thankful for stuffin". Not daddy or mommy, not friends or church, but stuffin'. The funny thing about that is that Reese would not eat stuffin' if her life depended on it. It really has made me evaluate where I stand with her. We all just kind of chuckled and went on. When we got home Reese wanted to know why I laughed when she said stuffin' and so I explained that it just caught me off guard because I expected her to say family or something like that. Earlier in the week she and I had talked about the fact that she should be thankful for everything all the time because God has given all things to us. So her response to my laughter was "I thank God for mommy, daddy, and Cooper every night but I never thanked him for stuffin' and God made stuffin' didn't he." She was right. We always tend to thank God for the big things or at least what we consider to be big but her response got me to ask myself the question, what have I forgotten to thank God for? It is true that the big things are from God but so are the small things like stuffin'. That's what I love about children's ministry they're so innocent and honest.

Children's Ministry

I want to give a shout out to the children's ministry team and let you guys know that you're awesome and it's a blessing to work with you guys each week. I thank you for all you do and for your dedication. For those that don't know, the children's team members are Wendy Bowen, Mandy Funderburk, Angie (Sunshine) Exley, and Ellen Jewel. Each week for the last year these ladies have set up, broken down, taught lessons, sang songs, registered children, acted in skits, and the list keeps going. They do all this because they love children and they love Jesus. Most of all they want to see the children grow in their love for Jesus. It takes a tremendous amount of dedication on the team's part to do what they do each week but they do it without complaint. The next time you see one of these members grab them, hug them, and tell them how much you appreciate them.

Fresh Start

In case you haven't noticed, it's been a while since I blogged. In fact it's been like 9 months but in my defense I did try several times but just couldn't. Every time I logged on and would see how long it had been since my last blog I just got discouraged. I allowed that discouragement to stop me from blogging. So I decided what I needed was a clean slate so I deleted all the old posts and I now have a fresh start. Although my statements here are truly the reason I did not blog it brings up a more serious point. Have you ever needed a fresh start? Have you ever been discouraged by things in your past? Have you allowed that discouragement stop you from living? I know that if we are all honest with ourselves the answer is an undeniable yes. While we can't just log on the computer and delete our past there is one who can delete it for us, Jesus. The Bible teaches us that if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior that God will forgive our sins past, present, and future and will give us the strength to forgive ourselves.