Tag Archives: shopping

Give Me Jesus

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Have you ever eaten lots of “junk” and sugary stuff to the point that the next time you feel hungry you crave real food – meat and potatoes, home cooked, hot, delicious and nutritious real food?

That’s a pretty good description of how I feel (the feeling seems to have grown in the last few years) when I watch some of the Christmas shows and movies on TV or hear some of the songs that are played over the Muzak at work.  Not bad, not offensive, just no real substance.  There is that one song that for some reason makes me want to shoot the speakers with a BB gun.  You may have heard it, “last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very next day you gave it away. This year to save me from tears I’ll give it to someone special…”  It kind of sets my teeth on edge.

For me it’s not enough to say Christmas is about children, snow, cookies, Santa, shopping, giving gifts, or about family, or about being kind, or about helping homeless or needy people.  Those are all good things but there’s so much more.

I feel a suppressed frustration, almost anger, that the meaning of Christmas has been diluted so much by some in our culture.  To cut Jesus out of Christmas for me is like asking me to survive on a diet of nothing but marshmallow fluff. Continue reading →

Are you ready for Christmas?

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“Are you ready for Christmas?” is the question of the week.  I’ve heard it a bazillion times from friends and patients at work and wherever I go – to the gas station, grocery store, church, on Facebook, etc.  Okay, maybe not a bazillion times, but a lot.

Since we’re planning on a simple Christmas, which has always proven to be the most meaningful to us anyway, I’m not sure how to answer people since they’re probably talking about shopping for presents, entertaining, etc.  This afternoon as I was thinking about it some more I realized I’m more than ready.

Am I ready to celebrate the fact that God loves people, including me, and spared nothing to draw us close to Himself?  Yes.  Am I ready to remember and wonder at the mystery of a bigger-than-the-universe God shrunken down into a human girl’s womb?  To be amazed Jesus would willingly be contained in a body like ours knowing those 33 years of life on this planet would end in betrayal and death?  Always.  He came and joined our temporal, earthy experience anyway.  He loved and gave then, loves and gives now.  Am I ready to have my heart centered again, its gaze locked on the beautiful baby King?  To be nestled in peace?  More than ready.  Am I ready to spend time with friends and family, people I love?  Of course!  How about being ready to welcome Jesus to my heart once more, making sure I’ve cleared away and swept clean every space inside so that He can have all the room he wants within me?

Oh yeah.

I’m ready for Christmas!

The people who walked in darkness 
      have seen a great light. 
   They lived in a land of shadows, 
      but now light is shining on them.
 You have given them great joy, Lord; 
      you have made them happy. 
   They rejoice in what you have done…

 A child is born to us! 
      A son is given to us! 
      And he will be our ruler. 
   He will be called, 
         Wonderful Counselor,
         Mighty God, 
         Eternal Father,
         Prince of Peace.  (Isaiah 9:1-9 Good News Translation)

Pondering peace, love and other Christmas stuff

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I was quietly enjoying a breakfast burrito at McDonald’s and catching up on twitter on my phone this morning when all of a sudden I heard a woman’s angry voice shouting, “This is the worst service EVER!!  You suck!!”  Then someone else shouted “Merry Christmas!”  I didn’t see it happen but I’m assuming she stormed out after hurling that piece of her mind at the surprised workers behind the counter.  It’s true they were a little slow today and it was very busy there, but I’m not sure their less-than-speedy service warranted that attack.  My first thought was how mean and unfair it was for her to do that and that if I was that worker I would probably be fighting back tears.  I hate to get yelled at.  Now that I think about it, does anyone like getting yelled at?   My next thought was that she must be stressed-out or already worked up about something else to react so strongly.  And down deep, she must be hurting.  Hurt usually leads to anger.

The first few weeks of December when we had no money to buy presents and were anticipating a very simple Christmas, God gave me a little (emphasis on little) perspective of what it’s like for so many people every year.  There are lots of families who struggle to make ends meet and aren’t able to do much, if anything, in the gift buying and giving department.  You know, there is a lot of pressure from people’s expectations and TV commercials about buying stuff, buying stuff, and buying more stuff.  I hadn’t realized it as much until this year.  Often the first question in passing conversation is “Have you gotten your shopping done?”   Continue reading →