The Nature of the Nativity: Day 9 - The Shepherds

It's Day 9; don't you just love Mondays? I do.We have staff devotions, and then staff meeting. Then, if the preacher's here, the ministers all go eat Mexican food. If the preacher's not here, the rest of the staff rebels and eats anything but Mexican food...except me because I love cheese dip. Sadly they have now built a certain fast food Mexican establishment here in Pontotoc; one that doesn't serve cheese dip. I have the feeling that we will be frequenting that restaurant whose name rhymes with Shmocko Shmell. Well, enough about my problems. Let's get back to setting up our nativity. Today is all about the shepherds.

The Nature of the Nativity: Day 3 - The Angels

Welcome to Day 3 of our exploration of the Nativity. I sat down last week and worked out a broad outline for this journey. I wanted to make sure that what I was doing was biblical (always a good thing for a minister to do), but also that it all made sense. What I struggled with the most was the order I should use. I finally settled on moving through the story chronologically except to save Jesus for last. Therefore, the first piece we will put on our "table" will be the angels. I know that most people would put the stable up first, but this is my blog so I get to make all weighty decisions. Do you like my spiffy drawing?

3rd Week of Advent 2015

 She could hear the whispers as she carried the water jar through town, maybe not the exact words but definitely the whispers. Everywhere she looked, people quickly averted their gaze. If it wasn't so heart wrenching and lonely, Mary probably would have found their antics humorous. It had only been a few days since she had returned from Elizabeth’s, but the news that she was pregnant spread like wildfire like all gossip does in a small village. When she had left for her cousin’s home, Mary had only been a few weeks pregnant, a secret easy to keep. But now she was almost halfway through the pregnancy and her situation was blatantly obvious. Life the past few months had been wonderful. Elizabeth and Zechariah knew the truth and celebrated the coming Messiah with her, as she in turn celebrated with them and the birth of their son, John. Everyone there just saw a pregnant relative of Elizabeth's and assumed nothing sinister. It was a shock to come home after the months of peace. Her parents said they believed her, but the looks her parents shared around her spoke volumes on there own. And then there was Joseph. She had seen only his back as he avoided her these past few days. She had told Joseph about the angel’s visit before she left, but it seemed that he hadn’t believed her. Maybe he had thought that she was addled from long hours in the hot sun. Maybe he thought she was putting too much weight on an odd dream. Regardless, it was obvious that he now thought the worst, that she had been unfaithful and trying to cover it up.

Little Sparks

About a year ago, my wife found a journal that she just had to get me (it’s a Star Wars Moleskin). I decided to use it to keep track of the little moments I like to call “Everyday Jesus”. Why “Everyday Jesus”? Well, I’m glad you asked! It’s because I firmly believe that a little bit of spiritual truth can be found in everything we see. The problem is we often do not take the time to notice. In no way am I saying that Jesus is ordinary or uninteresting. In fact, it’s just the opposite. He is extra-ordinary! He chooses to insert Himself into our lives just so He can draw us into a closer relationship. I believe that this is one of the keys to the Christian life. Yes, read your Bible. Yes, pray, tithe, and help the poor. By all means, share the Good News! Do all these things but also build an actual relationship with Jesus. Listen for when Jesus whispers to you during your waking hours. Look for Him in all that you see and wherever you go. Let your mind wander to Him instead of to the latest news headline or work problem. Time spent dwelling on Jesus and his spiritual truths is worth so much more than the paltry things we normally fill our extra time with. Here’s one of the first one’s I wrote back in April of 2014.

1x1x1=1

Have you ever tried to explain something to a preschooler? With four kids, I have tons of stories of them trying to understand something that is way beyond their little minds. Some of the time they are hysterical, other times their questions have a ring of simple truth, but sometimes they can't hope to understand. Right now they are going through one of these times. My oldest son is 8 years old and right now he and my wife are in Bethesda, MD going through the beginning stages of a bone marrow transplant. They left June 1 and are hoping to be back around the first part of October if everything goes well. My other three children are 4, 4, and 3. They look at their dad and say, "I miss momma..." or "I miss my brother...".Because of the distance and because of the risk to their brother, they won't get to see them for at least three months and that's only if he is doing well enough for them to visit. As a father I understand all of this. I can see that this is necessary and that good will come out of it, but they can't. I've tried my best to explain to them that their mom and brother will be back, but that it will be a long time. The hardest time for them, and for me, is when I have to leave them some place. Whether it's daycare, babysitter, or grandparents, they don't want me to leave. My four year old son is the strong type. He gives me a hug and then walk resigned into the daycare. He'll stand at each window and wave to me as I walk to the van. He doesn't cry, but he doesn't smile either, he simply  accepts that I will be back. His four year old sister gives me a hug and is gone though I can tell by her eyes that she doesn't like this any better than her brothers; she seems to adapt the fastest to all this. My little one is not as big as his siblings. "But I miss you dad", is all he'll say as he clings to my neck , or leg, or hides behind me. So we hug and talk and give lots of kisses. I try to remind all of them that I will be back, it's just for a little while. I remind them of the things they do understand to help them accept the things they can't. Yes, I'm tearing up as I write this, but emotion is not why I began with this. There are some things about God that we cannot understand, we just have to accept them. One of those things is the idea of the Trinity.