Tag: Christmas
I Can’t Do It All, But God Can!
A little background first: My sixteen-month-old son, Caleb, has an enduring fascination with lights. Streetlights, lamps, desk lights, parking lot lights, hallway lights, you name it, he loves them all. He loves pointing them out to me and his mother. Whenever there is a light that is off and he notices, he asks us to turn it on by using the American sign language form of the word “please” that we taught him. When we turn it on, he looks at it with a look of sheer, absolute, innocent delight and then looks at us with the same look. → Read more...
Mary, Did You Know?
It’s interesting: the process of aging, getting older, usually means that when you hear the same stories that you’ve heard before, sometimes you discover something that you hadn’t noticed before. Life has given you a different perspective from when you heard the story originally. Nowhere else, for me at least, has this held true than the Christmas story. By age 30 – if you’ve been a life-long Christian like I am – the story gets very familiar. → Read more...
Remember Our Responsibility
My goal this year is to slow down and take a breath every now and then and renew and refocus my mind on what’s really important in this season: God and family, whether it is by blood or by the family we’ve built for ourselves through friends. So, for the month of December, this space will provide all of us with reminders of what’s really important this month. This week’s theme is: Remember Our Responsibility. In the past couple of weeks, we’ve reminded ourselves that Jesus is the reason for the season and that, in the frenzy of the holidays, we shouldn’t forget others, especially those in retail and customer service who are working tirelessly with many frustrated customers. → Read more...
Remember Those Who Serve You
Well, that didn’t take long. It’s officially December. By now, most people have turned their focus to Christmas. Decorations are going up, lights are being turned on, food is being cooked, plans are being made, and yes, gifts are being bought. This is the crazy time of the year that we love and hate. Love because of everything it stands for: family, gifts, love and warmth. Hate because of the money it costs, extra traffic, the frenzied traveling, and yes, sometimes family. → Read more...
Give Us Each Day Our Daily Bread
It’s been a tough holiday season for me so far. Well, that’s not really true. I’m fine, but there are a few friends of mine who are going through some emotional turmoil from a wide range of events including losses of jobs and divorces. One friend of mine didn’t get a Christmas tree this year as she and her husband needed money for groceries. It’s always easier to read about things like that happening to other people in the newspaper or hear it on the television. → Read more...
Seven More Days Until Christmas
Yikes. Just seven? I’d better get to shopping and finish off my gifts! I’ve got a lot to do between now and then. There’s wrapping to be done, last minute gifts to be gotten, packages to be delivered and Christmas cards to be sent! And I have to do all of this while balancing my budget and making sure we can pay for everything that we need this month! Wait a minute. Why is it that when I hear that there’s only seven days until Christmas, it fills me up with stress and dread, reminding me of all the work I have yet to do to get ready for the holiday? → Read more...
Season’s Greedings
So, the biggest news of this week? Of course, it’s the arrest and indictment of Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich on a bunch of corruption charges. The charges can basically boil down to this: shaking people down for political favors and money for himself and his family. It’s another black eye for the Illinois political system which has become synonymous with the expression “pay-for-play,” which can easily be tracked back to when Chicago was run by the mob, including the famous Al Capone. → Read more...
Celebrate the Holidays?
Well, we’re in the middle of the holiday season. The radio is blaring Christmas music, the mall parking lots are slowly filling up, and everyone’s gearing up for a great time, right? Well, not necessarily. As I’ve talked about in the past, holidays can be a tough time for a lot of people who are struggling with grief. Someone sent me this article by Marjorie Kooy who is a counselor for Chicago Christian Counseling Center. She also facilitates a grief support group. → Read more...
Ending the Year Well
December 26, 2013
Calvary
Comments Off on Ending the Year Well
Matt
Wow. Well, that was quick. Seems like Christmas was just yesterday. Wait, it was! Lame jokes aside, it’s the perfect opening for a quick meditation on what to do in the weird holiday zone between Christmas and New Years’ Eve. Many people are still on holiday, vacation and may still have a couple more Christmas parties on the docket, but by large, most of us have turned our focus on to the party that is New Year’s Eve. → Read more...
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