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I looked at my calendar today and was surprised at how few days are left in this year. 2009 has gone by very quickly and I have had my share of good and bad times. As I reflect on this I have really had a great year. My personal life has been good. My family not only speaks to me but speak words of love and encouragement. Even my dog seems better this year. (He is on some meds for sore joints) I can say without reservation that God has been good to me. However, as I think back I know that I have messed up many times. I have done and said things that I wish I could go back and undo. Words spoken without thinking seem to be my big undoing. I also have been too sensitive when I should have been more loving.
Being the type of person that thinks about life and does a lot of internalizing, I love the start of a New Year. For me it signals a fresh beginning. It is a time to let the past go and begin anew. I love that feeling. That is one of the reasons I love walking with God. Every day is a New Day and a New Beginning.
Looking out my office window does not look too much like Christmas and yet it is Christmas eve (yes, I work on that day). It is raining not snowing and I have a cold that is stopping me from doing any real deep thinking (not that I am too capable of that anyway). My one son is packing up his stuff getting ready to go to his in-laws for their Christmas celebration and Phyllis is working away on getting the house back in order. In a few minutes I will go to make a couple of hospital calls and then get ready for the Christmas eve services. It is a busy day indeed but one that I have grown to love. Christmas eve services are very special to me. They just seem to be alive with excitement and joy.
As you read these words Christmas may be past but the Spirit of Christmas is still alive and well. I wish you a Lasting Christmas that is with you throughout the entire year. Merry Eternal Christmas.
In just a few days Christmas will be here. Our family Christmas will not begin until the 27th. That is the date that our entire family will be together. This year our sons are with their in-laws for Christmas day. But as I write these words I know that my family is much broader than my wife and sons. I have been blessed through the years with many great friends and always a church family that has helped me in many ways. I have my problems with the Church but it has been there for me in so many ways that I have grown to love it more and more.
Because of my love for the Church and the Christ of the Church I am excited about the upcoming Christmas Eve services. I am a little afraid of the
Yesterday our Church had a Christmas program at two of the four services. Attending those two services I felt God speaking to me again. The music was uplifting and the stories of individual’s experiences with Christmas prayers were amazing. I went home, ate lunch, visited with a person whose son died recently and made a hospital visit. When all that was over, I came home to rest. I even fell asleep in front of the television set. (This is not new to me.) After resting I got on the Church’s web site (offumc.org) and began to listen to the sermon that Phyllis (my spouse) preached at the other two services. (She had a great sermon).
It is amazing to me that I am now a part of a church that has not only different styles of worship but offers many options. This is hard for me because I cannot know everything that is happening. That is a wonderful reminder to me that O’Fallon First United Methodist Church is not about me but about God. That is a fact that I want to hold on to and continually meditate on.
Waiting for Phyllis I sat down. We were scheduled to play racket ball and she was running late. I watched as two young adults finished their game. They were very good and I enjoyed seeing them show their skills. When they got done, they started talking to me. They were new to the area. She is an engineer working on a power plant near the area. They both love racket ball. She was telling me about her shopping experience on Saturday. She said that she went to the mall and traffic was heavy. According to her there was even a policeman directing traffic. She told me in detail about her experience and then she surprised me. She said she loved it. Yes, love it. I look surprised and then she said she was from Los Angeles and it reminded her of home. I was taken back but she did point me to a valuable lesson in life.
Each of us comes at life from a different perspective. Heavy traffic may raise blood pressures for some and for others it brings back warm memories of home. Listening to others tell their stories is a very interesting activity and one that can help us see the world differently. I hope today I listen and maybe I will gain a different view of life.
For me life goes by very quickly. My life is filled with many good events. It seems like only yesterday that I was just starting out in a small rural church. Every time I look at my sons I cannot believe how quickly they have become grown men. Because of all of this I am taking a closer and more deliberate look at life itself. Some things that used to be of extreme importance just don’t seem to be such a high priority. The longer I live the more sweet life seems to taste and the more I am able to sort out the eternal from the mundane.
However, there are many times I still get caught up in some minor happenings that I elevate to major. But I with God’s help am gaining a better perspective on life, itself. And I do believe it takes God’s help. An eternal God helps me to see life with more an eye on the eternal. I hope that I will more and more to have a truly godly view of life.