Christmas Eve 2012

I think what I like best about the Christmas celebration of the birth of Jesus is that it reminds me that I am loved.

And this takes me a while to digest every time I think about it.

I am plain-looking at best.  I have overgrown front teeth.  A rapidly receding hairline.  My legs are short and stumpy.  So are my fingers.  I've wrestled with a weight problem virtually all my life.  Yet I am loved. 

I have few talents to speak of.  I forget things constantly.  My work desk is a mess.  My organizational skills are weak.  I get impatient when i should be calm.  I get frustrated with myself on a daily basis.  Yet I am loved.

I have disappointed people, some deeply.  I have said stupid, stupid things.  I have fallen short of goals many times in my life.  I deeply regret idiotic decisions I have made when people depended on me.  Yet I am loved.

I am a boring person.  I wear black every day to work.  My pants are almost always wrinkled and my shoes are falling apart.  I am anything but fashion-conscious.  Yet I am loved.

I grow old.  I have two teeth missing in my mouth, and my eyesight slips every year.  I battle depression due to a thyroid ailment.  My sinuses are a constant problem.  Insomnia hits me weekly.  I am not specimen of physical prowess.  Yet I am loved. 

God sees right through me, warts and all.  He knows my weaknesses and yet He not only accepts me, He cares for me.  He sent His Son to die for me and He wants me to join Him in a forever relationship.  This is something that constantly amazes me.  His ways astound me.I celebrate that.

Christmas Break 2012

It's Christmas break and I finally have time to rid myself of the last vestiges of this flu and put away the schoolwork so that I can have time to reflect and rest.  And, boy, do I need this rest.  The week-long virus has hung on and battled the household - Nicholas came to visit and picked it up, taking it back with him to Johnson City - and cold weather has been chilling the shopping experience as we tool around town.  I won't bore you with details.

What I do want to say is this is the break where I get to be with my closest friends:  my family and my God. 

In both cases, I get a chance to control time rather than letting time control me.  I can sit and converse, play, listen, reflect and enjoy.  Really enjoy.

There have been numerous distractions during this past year.  Now is the time to let it all fade away and concentrate on my loves.

Romans 1:4 says that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God ... that word "declared" is horizo.  It means "boundary" or "limit" and it's where we get the English word "horizon".  Paul is saying:  "I show you Jesus Christ, and here are His boundaries... He's God!" Sort of blows away the fences, doesn't it?   Paul is saying "Do you want me to tell you the limitations of this man Jesus?  That's like trying to tell you the limits of God, since He is God.  There are no limits!  He is omniscient, omnipresent, omni-present..."

This is the Jesus I want to enjoy this holiday.  I want a vacation into the Secret Place of the Most High.