Christmas Day (Things to Remember)

Remember to wake up early
Remember to turn the oven on.
Remember to put the turkey in the oven.
Remember to wear surprised and delighted face as stockings are unwrapped
even when the gifts were dealt with late last night.
Remember to email friend/relative you forgot to send a card to.
Remember to dig gifts out from under the guest bed where they were hidden from rummaging hands.
Remember to smile and nod as aged relative arrives and repeats a tale you have heard before
several times.
Remember to ring family scattered across the globe
trying not to wake them up.
Remember to remember the cooking in all the excitement.
Remember to thank everyone for all the gifts
welcome or not.
Remember not to start an argument while playing Monopoly
It can end badly for all concerned.
Remember not to eat too much
you will regret it.
Remember to ask for help with the clearing up.
Remember to be thankful for the blessings of the day
and let go of anything else.

Remember Jesus

Remember Jesus

Remember Jesus

It's His birth we are celebrating!

Fulfilment (Revisited)

There is a sense of fulfilment that people search for their entire lives
but can never find
because they are looking in the wrong places
at the wrong times
with the wrong people.
Life is full of tragedies that come from this
frantic
destructive
searching.
Some seek fulfilment in noise
some in pleasure
some in hard work
some in fame.
We look at the richly famous,
the very attractive people,
ambassadors for all that is desirable in the world.
We hang on their every word,
until the day they fall from their shiny pedestal,
leaving others to rake through the ashes of their lives.

There is a fulfilment
so simple
so profound
that everyone can receive it.
It's the fulfilment of a promise made to the first of humankind.

Grace and truth lived among us.
It's what we celebrate at Christmas.
God was born as a baby.
His name is Jesus.

Waiting (Revisited)

How long do you wait
for someone to return your call
for a friend to make an expected visit
for a bus or train or plane that's been delayed?
Waiting can be
frustrating
even for those mastering the elusive art of patience
in this instant gratification world.
You can look at it as a waste of your precious
ever
running
out
time.
The Bible says that those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength.
How long am I meant to wait?
And what will I do if
He arrives in a way
I'm not expecting
and I don't recognize Him?
How many of those waiting
for the Messiah
didn't recognize Him?
How many still wait?

Longing (Revisited)

God longs for you to know Him better.
Do you know that?
Do you believe it?
Does it change the way you behave every day?
Can you imagine why the Creator of the universe would want you to know Him better?

Some talk about relationship with God
and then act
like it's just another religion.

I wouldn't talk to my best friend on the phone
and not expect her to say something back.
I wouldn't ask her to help me with something
and then not expect to see a response.

You might say
God must be busy with bigger issues than my life.
I don't even like myself sometimes.
How can He be interested?
Why should He care about me?

So you say to yourself
I will just stay busy trying to solve my own issues
and pretend I know enough about life to get through it
so people think everything's okay with me

but I've got this longing

deep inside.