Christmas is different once the kids have grown. The kids still come. And it's still a blast to bless each other with gifts we've actually THOUGHT about. But it's different.
Last year it was different in that I was struggling with severe depression. I just wanted it over. I struggled to be relational (and civil).
As I move through this Christmas morning, I am more reflective this year. The cloud of depression has mercifully lifted. And I find myself thinking back on the year...and many friends.
The faces of friends from a little village outside Nairobi, Kenya...Gatanga (Robert the prophet, George the entrepreneur, Samuel the pastor, Michael the builder, Jeri -single mother of three, Edwin the pastor, Elizabeth the student, others). The church there. The daycare and it's many wonderful children and care givers. My Kenyan friend Daniel, pstor, prophet, dreamer, who opened the door for the adventure there by 'giving me' land.
The faces of those in Malawi (William, Evans, others) and my dear friend Senior Pastor of Grace Community Church - East Africa, Rogers with whom such a powerful partnership has developed.
I think of others in Africa like Pastor Kofi outside Accra,Ghana with who we have yet to see how the partnership will form.
I think of a young pastor in Germany named Markus and his wife Glady and the amazing work they are doing there around Cologne in spite of much resistance.
I think of friends in New Mexico who I miss terribly today.
I think of my POE brothers scattered around North America with whom I am humbled and grateful to share life.
I think of my boating friends in Houston whom I treasure and miss.
I think of my family in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. How blessed I am to be a part of that family that has for decades known God's rich favor.
And I think of the many folks at GCC Winchester and soon-to-be Strasburg. Huge heart...amazing passion for God and people. How very blessed to know them, to serve them, to do life with them.
If Christmas is about gifts (like the greatest...Jesus) then I've listed just a few of my greatest gifts...gifts that have made this year rich beyond compare.
Merry Christmas!
Showing posts with label gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gifts. Show all posts
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
The Gift We Didn't Get...
Life is full of surprises. And if you're a Christ-follower, I believe there are even MORE surprises. Because the life of faith is the life of being open to whatever God chooses to bring into our lives.
Which means sometimes we DON'T get the gifts we want and we DO get the gifts we weren't looking for. It's a genuine adventure. And to make it even MORE interesting...sometimes the gifts don't LOOK like gifts.
Take the gift of my son being hit by a car when he was in the fourth grade. When I heard him scream and leaped from the bus to see him lying curiously UNDER a car, I could not have imagined that this would be a blessing as his mom and I took turns at the hospital night after night, day after day until he was fitted into a full body cast and brought home only to live in a reclining wheel chair. We developed a heightened sense of humor through it all and I learned that just about everything in life can be put on the back burner given proper motivation...even church stuff!
Or, take the gift of my wife's AVM (arterial venal malformation). For the better part of 3 years we lived with the possibility of a brain aneurysm which could have caused instant death. The gift was that we learned to live NOW...TODAY.
Neither of these LOOKED like gifts, but God taught us plenty in the process.
Maybe the bottom line is simply this: God can make good come from all KINDS of things...sort of a Romans 8:28 thing.
And perhaps with that in mind, I should live less about the gifts I haven't gotten and instead, be especially mindful of the many gifts around me. He's a GREAT God with a GOOD heart. And His gifts are wonderful...even the ones we don't recognize.
Which means sometimes we DON'T get the gifts we want and we DO get the gifts we weren't looking for. It's a genuine adventure. And to make it even MORE interesting...sometimes the gifts don't LOOK like gifts.
Take the gift of my son being hit by a car when he was in the fourth grade. When I heard him scream and leaped from the bus to see him lying curiously UNDER a car, I could not have imagined that this would be a blessing as his mom and I took turns at the hospital night after night, day after day until he was fitted into a full body cast and brought home only to live in a reclining wheel chair. We developed a heightened sense of humor through it all and I learned that just about everything in life can be put on the back burner given proper motivation...even church stuff!
Or, take the gift of my wife's AVM (arterial venal malformation). For the better part of 3 years we lived with the possibility of a brain aneurysm which could have caused instant death. The gift was that we learned to live NOW...TODAY.
Neither of these LOOKED like gifts, but God taught us plenty in the process.
Maybe the bottom line is simply this: God can make good come from all KINDS of things...sort of a Romans 8:28 thing.
And perhaps with that in mind, I should live less about the gifts I haven't gotten and instead, be especially mindful of the many gifts around me. He's a GREAT God with a GOOD heart. And His gifts are wonderful...even the ones we don't recognize.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
