Celebrate Jesus’ death with as much joy as his birth!
Tag: christmas
Mary, did you know?
Do you think Mary knew? When she held her newborn son in her arms, both of them exhausted and raw, she knew he was the Son of God, but did she know he was the Savior? Did she know when she marvelled at his tiny hands and feet that one day she’d hold them when …
Come and see what God has done
He’s here! The Light of the World, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords, the Savior of Mankind—God has arrived on Earth! And…he’s a baby? A tiny, squirming, helpless, crying, kinda-looks-like-Winston-Churchill poop machine? Yep. Because that’s how much God loves us. Jesus didn’t enter this world as a limitless, immaculate, divine being beyond reckoning …
A thrill of hope
Anticipation is high as a teenage girl labors in a foreign city surrounded by strangers and livestock, her first tremor of pain the first thrill of hope for all humanity. Questions thicken the air with every contraction. When will he arrive?How will it happen?Will it take a long time?What will he look like?Will she love …
Expecting God
What are you expecting right now? What promise of God are you carrying in your belly, (im)patiently waiting for the day it will be delivered? As Mary made her way to Bethlehem, she held within her the greatest promise ever made. She was physically and spiritually heavy with expectation. I imagine she was also deeply …
All He wants for Christmas is you
Have you finished your Christmas shopping? Or are you speedwalking the mall, getting all sweaty in a dire search for the last Sven plushie in the tri-city area? (Not that I know anything about that.) Don’t worry, it’ll all work out. Always does. But as you’re checking off that gift list, I suspect there’s someone …
“The House of Christmas” by G.K. Chesterton
Even folks who aren’t Christian know the story of the Nativity: baby Jesus born in a barn, surrounded by critters, visited by wealthy strangers. It’s repeated so often by rote that it starts to lose its wonder, like a word you repeat until you can’t remember what it means. (What is a “dog” anyway?!) Let’s …
Look up and see who needs you
As we approach the big day, it’s easy to let the busyness of Christmas narrow our vision until all we can see is our own stress, our own lack, our own drama. But look up. Who around you is hurting? Who’s hungry or cold? Who’s using rent money to buy their kids gifts? Who’s lonely? …
God cares about little things (like the Christmas present you should have bought weeks ago)
Yesterday, I was that woman crying in the toy aisle at Walmart. But not for the reason you might think. All my daughter asked for from Santa is an Elsa doll. But despite months of walking past aisles full of them, it didn’t occur to me to buy one until last week. Rookie move. Now, …
Choose wonder over busy
CONFESSION: I’m not feeling it this Christmas. I got any friends out there? It’s hardly an unusual thing to say these days, but what’s shocking to me is that I felt it so much before I even met Jesus. Every December, I was a holly jolly ball of cheer, delighted at the lights, the music, …