As we enter the season of Advent, I brought back a post from eight years ago (with a little editing). I still remember our first Christmas with our children. It was an awesome season filled with a special wonder and joy. Our long season of prayerful expectation was now replaced with three precious lives come to share life with us. What a wonderful Christmas that […]
May you enjoy God’s richest blessings on this glorious day! Merry Christmas!
Christmas is less than two weeks away and many of us are busily preparing for its arrival. For several weeks, my staff and I have been addressing the details of that season, especially our celebrations on Christmas Eve. Our Sunday School children are working hard to prepare for their program and our outreach ministries are keeping us focused on ways to bless others. Personally, our […]
It’s about time I start writing again. It seems like I said this too many times before. Life has an interesting way of becoming overfull before you know it. Since my last post in 2011, we celebrated several major holidays, helped two of our children settle into college, and experienced a myriad of changes at church. It’s been a time filled with excitement and with […]
This is the month our culture turns its attention to the celebration of the gift of love. Special dinners, chocolates and other special gifts become symbols of our emotions as we celebrate Valentine’s Day. While some may say it is little more than a holiday created to sell more cards and gifts, at least there is a moment when we pause to reflect on the […]
Easter Day is over, but the Easter season continues on. Not only are there another 49 days to this year’s season, but our lives are shaped by Easter. In the hymn, Easter People Raise Your Voices, the songwriter declares, “Every day to us is Easter with it’s resurrection song.” Indeed, we are an Easter People with the power of the resurrection singing through us all […]
The story of the first Christmas is filled with images to remember and celebrate. The drama around Elizabeth’s pregnancy and the birth of her son John, the annunciation of the coming King to Mary and then to Joseph, the stable in Bethlehem, and the host of angels declaring good news to shepherds, these are some of the images the season brings to mind. One important […]
There is something about good art and the wonder of the artist’s eye that opens our eyes to the beauty that is around us. When we look through this creative vision, we see the grand wonders of creation, but we are also drawn to the smaller pieces that make up the whole. Even each color and brushstroke are pieces of beauty hidden within the bigger […]
A Childis born to usand His name shall be calledWonderful, Counselor, MightyThe King. A sonis given nowof His kingdom and peacethere shall be no end. He will reignalways. JesusLight of the worldfound in human likenessHe is here to deliver hopeto all. Saviorwe welcome YouCome make our hearts Your home.Be born in us anew each dayAmen. (A Holiday Cinquain)
Thanksgiving is over and the leftovers enjoyed, now we prepare to enter the Advent season and make our way to the great celebration of Christmas. In just four weeks, we will prepare ourselves to experience the power of the greatest gift of God, given two millennia ago, and we make our hearts and spirits ready to welcome the presence of Jesus afresh in our lives […]