Christmas/Boxing Day

Christmas is officially over. Yesterday was boxing day, which felt like an unofficial repeat of Christmas, but it's all over now. I think I'm relieved. Holidays are never as great as you build them up to be. It's hard to complain however, because spending Christmas in England brought with it lots of new experiences: caroling door to door, listening to a boys choir, playing the wii fit, eating minced pies, spitting out minced pies, etc. My favorite part of this holiday season was the walk we took yesterday. Our friend/choir director Angie likes to take her dog Nell for long walks in the forest and feilds around her house. We've gone with her 5 or 6 times now, and it has become some of our favorite memories! It was particularly beautiful on Boxing day because a thin layer of snow had covered everything. The limbs of the trees hung low under the weight of the snow. If I didn't know better I would have thought I'd stepped out of the wardrobe and into Narnia. We didn't know it at the time, but Angie took us on a 6 mile trek through Narnia. We were exhausted!  I was mostly tired from chasing some sheep in a big meadow. They were not happy. That night we at pork tenderloin briased in apples and creeme, with a REAL English triffle to finish! To balance dinner out we played some Wii fit aerobics and hula hoop. My first time trying a Wii fit! Fun for the whole family! (I wonder if I get royalties for saying that?)


Anyway, check out my flat mate marie's blog for christmas photos: pictures/Hiakus

Merry Christmas!!!

The WORD 

                      became flesh and 

moved into 

                      the neighborhood.

- John 1:14

(The Message)

1 more day until Christmas!

Christmas Eve <3

the christmas conspiracy

"Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a 
conspiracy of love." 

~ Hamilton Wright Mabie (1845-1916), 

American author, essayist and critic. 

If there is one thing we all know, it's that Christmas brings with it lots and lots of love (and calories). You hear it it the songs, you see it in the movies... 

Remember when the Grinches heart grows 3 sizes when he learns the true meaning of Christmas? I smile every time I watch it brake that cartoon heart scale. 

For me Christmas has become less and less about the presents -etc- and more about this rabbi I follow. I thought by now I'd be sick of the Christmas story... and in a way, I kinda am. I mean EVERY YEAR it's the same deal: Mary and the angle, journey to bethlehem, no room at the inn, shepherds, three wise men, yada yada yada...

Its a weird beginning to a weird story with a weird end. If you look at the bible, even just the New Testament you got lepers being healed, dead people coming back to life, saints falling off cliffs, African Eunichs getting baptized... you can't make this stuff up! 

Still, you get the feeling this is a love story. A love story which circles around one act, and this one act has implications for the whole world. It's a conspiracy of love. It's light sneaking up behind darkness. "It's the unexpected declaration of love," 

"because God has two names: God, and, surprise!"

Advent is an announcment to our hurting world that their is a remedy, a remedy made of flesh and blood. His love has no limits. It's a gift, one that doesn't stand frozen in time - he's not the beanie baby I got in '93 I foolishly took the tag off off and now cant get rid of to save my life! (side bar..)

What I mean is, His grace isn't static. He says "I gave, and I'll give,and give, and give..."

Then, realzing we're richly blessed, we richly bless others.

"For God so loved the world he gave.."

- John 3:16a

I wish I had a river I could skate away on...

You know the Joni Mitchell song, River? 

“It’s coming on Christmas, 

they’re cutting down trees,

they’re putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace

Oh, I wish i had a river i could skate away on...”

My itunes randomly chose it this morning on shuffle. 

It’s such a sad song. You don’t hear many sad Christmas songs, but this is a truly sad one. I think, “I’ll be home for Christmas,” is as melancholy as you get- but leave it to Joni Mitchell to bum you out, even on Christmas. 

Christmas does this to us doesn’t it? Ever year we anticipate its coming, because every December we begin to miss family, friends and old relationships more than we did the month before. For some of us Christmas is the best time of year...

I suspect for others.... Christmas is the least hopeful day in the whole calendar. 

Right now those people are probably listening to Joni Mitchell.

Today I remember those people for whom Christmas is not a joyful holiday. For those who find that one day a year one too many.

“I wish I had a river to so long i could teach my feet to fly...”

Why should we care about Advent?

(Excerpt from a recent article by Rob Bell in Relevant Magazine)

Why does Advent mean so much to me?

Because cynicism is the new religion of our world. Whatever it is, this religion teaches that it isn’t as good as it seems. It will let you down. It will betray you.

That institution? That church? That politician? That authority figure? They’ll all let you down.

Whatever you do, don’t get your hopes up. Whatever you think it is, whatever it appears to be, it will burn you, just give it time.

Advent confronts this corrosion of the heart with the insistence that God has not abandoned the world, hope is real and something is coming.

Advent charges into the temple of cynicism with a whip of hope, overturning the tables of despair, driving out the priests of that jaded cult, announcing there’s a new day and it’s not like the one that came before it.

“The not yet will be worth it,” Advent whispers in the dark.

Old man Simeon stands in the temple, holding the Christ child, rejoicing that now he can die because what he’d been waiting for actually arrived.

And so each December (though Advent starts the last Sunday of November this year), we enter into a season of waiting, expecting, longing. Spirit meets us in the ache.

We ask God to enter into the deepest places of cynicism, bitterness and hardness where we have stopped believing that tomorrow can be better than today.

We open up. We soften up. We turn our hearts in the direction of that day. That day when the baby cries His first cry and we, surrounded by shepherds and angels and everybody in between, celebrate that sound in time that brings our Spirits what we’ve been longing for.

-Rob Bell

Relevant Magazine

Par-tay in the U.K.!

On Saturday Marie and I were invited to a Christmas dinner for the teachers of Lidget Green. We heard it was going to snow that night so we really should have bundled up more than we did. At 7 we found ourselves outside in the cold dancing around taking pictures to distract us until our ride showed up. With the help of our lovely friend Barbara, we showed up to the hotel/restaurant in style! - Commando style that is- she picked us up in her sweet truck! It was like the car Patton drove. Our lack of warm clothing became less obvious when we pulled up and saw a whole limo of girls getting out in mini-cocktail dresses and 6 inch heels! 

The hotel was warm and inviting. I don’t know how pubs do it, but it’s as if they somehow pull together every inviting ascetic, instantly making you feel at home. We weren’t sure who would be there, but almost everyone showed up! In the beginning we sat in the lounge area while the staff were setting up the dinning area. It only took another 20 mins after we showed up to finish every last touch before they let us in. It was a large room, with 6-7 long tables on either side of the room. Our staff took up about 4 tables, with us at the last table. The school was kind enough to pay for our dinner, so all we had to do was sit back and enjoy. I had so much fun talking with our new friends and poking at every indistinguishable food item placed before us. But if I thought the conversation would be the best part of the evening, what came next proved me wrong! DANCING! 

Marie and I had so much fun dancing to almost every song that came on; no thanks to the DJ. I submit this guy for the worst DJ ever award. I’n not sure if he thought was working a wedding... or a bar mitzvah, or what??? Every overplayed-shame-educing song you can think of was played: the maccarena, the twist, cha cha slide, cotton eyed joe, etc... If we had stayed longer I’m sure he would have gotten in the electric slide or cupid shuffle somewhere. Nonetheless, we rocked ‘em all the same. 

Finally it was time to leave. Actually, it wasn't until the moment we had to leave that I thought about the weather. Turns out it had been snowing for a whole hour or so before we left. The snow crackled under my high heels. I looked across the road, all the small European cars hidden under a blanket of snow. I could see all the way down the deserted street. It was so beautiful. The snow was coming down fast and thick, and yet the sky was a clear dark blue somehow. 

Author Anne Lamott says there are two kinds of prayers: “Help me! Help me! Help me!” and “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

It was in that moment I offered up the latter prayer to God.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you....