Monday, December 29, 2008

Vignettes from a Christmas Trip

Every Christmas for the last several years I've asked the Lord to teach me new things from the old, old story. The past couple of years, I've also asked Him to give me vignettes that would be especially meaningful to those of you who don't get to celebrate Christmas at "home" - for the sake of the Kingdom. For you, I submit these vignettes from Christmas 2008:

What I loved and learned this Christmas

* Simplicity. Who cares that the economy is down! Less shopping means more time to focus on the Savior. And I personally find scouring resale shops to be a lot of fun ... and quite meaningful.

* Presence. This is really the heart of Christmas. The presence of God ... Immanuel, God with us. But not in a touchy-feely, warm fuzzy way - as one pastor put it, "There's a cross in the manger." We must never forget that aspect of Christmas.

* Humanity. Equally important is what my pastor pointed out - Christmas reminds us of Jesus' humanity. Without His humanity, we would never know that He identifies with our weaknesses. He took on human flesh, Hebrews tells us, to identify with us and the conquer death by dying.

* The Meaning of the Magi. What started out as an irritating column became a lesson for me (see previous post). The Magi traveled so far because Jesus was unique! In the nativity scenes so common at this time of year, we see that Jesus calls equally to shepherds and kings ... and we see that both worship Him because He is unique.

* Togetherness and tradition. I enjoyed just being around family. I loved the non-traditional meals; Bob's daughter-in-law's family scrapping their traditional Christmas Eve dinner out in favor of a potluck at David's house just to see us; my parents' reactions at their gifts; finding good music on the radio. I learned that I love the traditional versions of the songs and carols because we could sing along better. I found new songs I love, but they have a traditional feel to them. I also learned that I don't want entertainment, I want worship.

* Quiet streets and darkened stores. My favorite part about Christmas was the drive into Fayetteville after our travels ... Christmas night, the streets were quiet and most stores were darkened. I love that reminder that even though everyone doesn't believe or understand why, we still basically shut down one day a year for Jesus. Silent night, holy night.

O come, let us adore Him!

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