Defining a need

Did you know that there are people who won't give one dollar to rescue orphans because they "need their gatorade" ? Did you know that, while we all enjoy a nice Christmas and spend time with family, millions of children will be without any family? Did you know that, while you're eating that delicious Christmas dinner, millions of people will be going to bed hungry....again? Did you know that many families live for a year on the amount you might spend buying a toy for your sibling's Christmas gift? This time of year, I find it necessary to reevaluate. After all, what the average family spends on decorating their house for Christmas might provide meals for dozens of hungry children. I'm not saying that spending money is necessarily evil. I'm not saying that giving gifts, or decorating is evil. What I'm asking is, why? When did Christmas become all about making our life pretty, all about making the people in our family circle a little more comfortable? When did Christmas stop being about Jesus? About being His hands and feet? This picture really made me stop and think....what can I give up this Christmas, so that others might truly see Christ this year?

Capturing Christmas

Every person wants to capture each precious moment. Perhaps with photos, or paintings. The look of a little girl hanging Christmas ornaments. Brothers playing together in the snow. But all too often, we capture the wrong moments. The broken glass. The unkind words. The hurt. We capture it, and play it back to ourselves, telling ourselves it's ok. But it's not. Instead, we ought to be capturing Christmas...and not just during December. Each moment, the renewal of Christ is available to us- He can wipe the memory card clean, edit each picture, and create a clear and lovely life for us. If only we hand the camera to Him. After all, He created the film....shouldn't He decide how it is used? He did not create our minds for bitterness, for anger. Only for His glory. His honor. His praise. Because really, it's all about Him!

Silent, Holy night

A quiet hush. A black room. Lit now by one candle, now by a hundred. A hundred voices singing together praises to Christ the King-the Babe. Snow falling outside the window. Joy wells up in each heart that knows the truth of that Christ-child. Each one that has experienced His redeeming grace feels the soul-tug of home-sickness for our Father. And each mind slowly wanders back to that silent, holy night. Back to a night where a young girl, probably only sixteen or seventeen years old, came to Bethlehem with Joseph. I wonder what she thought about as Joseph led the way....When the inn keepers told them there was no room, what did she feel? Did she feel desperation-the need to control her surroundings, anxiousness for the safety of the baby, or fear? Or did she take comfort in knowing that the God of heaven was wrapped within her womb? And I think of us , here and now. Waiting for Christ to come again. Feeling left-out, different, unwelcomed because we are set-apart. We are His. There is no room for us here. And yet- in the womb of our hearts, every bit as real and close as the baby Jesus was within Mary, Christ dwells in us! What joy and what wonder the gift of Christ must have brought to all those present two thousand years ago! How rich and tangible was His presence! And yet- how wonderful and sweet and reachable His presence is still- to all those that trust in Him! Praise the Lord, for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of man!