On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary and they bowed down and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. Matthew 11:2 We come with the wise men to the Christ Child.  We quiet ourselves. We bow down. We bow before this child, given to us.  Vulnerable.  God-with-us.  Mystery. We worship the God who pursues us with love.  The God who comes … [Read more...] about Worshipping the Christ Child

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given. Isaiah 9:6 We wrap this day we call Christmas with ribbon and bright paper.  We mark it off in red on our calendars and have high expectations for an extraordinary day. Sometimes in doing this we miss the day all together. The day Jesus was born was not wrapped in ribbon or marked in red on anybody’s calendar. Perhaps the real wonder of … [Read more...] about Extraordinary Wrapped in the Ordinary

And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children… to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:7 We need to be made ready for the coming of Immanuel.  This time of waiting is a time of preparation.  Our minds and hearts are not in a state of that is receptive to this miracle of love, to this surprise of grace.  … [Read more...] about Preparing our Hearts

Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord said to her will be accomplished. Luke1:45 Mary believed.  God sent the angel Gabriel to tell her that God wanted to do something astonishing through her. Gabriel told her, that if she consented, she would become pregnant and give birth to a child who would be the long awaited Messiah.  It was a lot to believe. But Mary believed that what God … [Read more...] about Believing at Christmas

The Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him. Isaiah 30:18 Advent is a time of waiting—not a waiting that is full of fear or dread—but a waiting that is marked by hope. Our hope in this time of waiting is based on God’s self revelation. God longs to be gracious to us. God rises to show us … [Read more...] about Waiting With Hope

The year our oldest son dropped out of high school and became an addict was a very dark and difficult year for us. It was also a time of deeper exposure to life’s most important lessons. I didn’t fully realize it until much later, but it was during that anguished time that I gained a greater understanding of humility, honesty, courage, trust and grace. In this week’s post I want to share with … [Read more...] about What I Learned While Our Son Was Still Using Drugs – Part V

The year our oldest son dropped out of high school and became an addict was a very dark and difficult year for us. It was also a time of deeper exposure to life’s most important lessons. I didn’t fully realize it until much later, but it was during that anguished time that I gained a greater understanding of humility, honesty, courage, trust and grace. In this week’s post I want to share with … [Read more...] about What I Learned While Our Son Was Still Using Drugs: Part IV