A large group gathered together in a dark upper room. The door locked out of fear. No one had bothered to light the lamp. No one wanted to speak. Complete darkness. It was not only a physical surrounding but also an emotional feeling.
Their best friend, their leader... was dead. Three years earlier they'd given up everything to follow Him. This is not what they had expected.
Not even a week earlier He'd been celebrated. He was welcomed as a king. Not forty-eight hours previous they'd enjoyed a meal together. Now He was gone. Everything happened so quickly.
The room was filled with a myriad of emotions: hurt, regret, failure, longing, desperation, depression, darkness, confusion, loneliness, loss... the list goes on. Yet the most prevalent had to be hopelessness.
"How could this have happened?"
"I really didn't see this coming. Did He?"
"Now what?"
"Where do we go from here?"
The incessant number of unanswerable questions plagued them as they sat, paced, and cried.
Silence in a crowd. Darkness in the middle of the day. Loneliness among great friends.
"Peace be with you." A voice rudely interrupts their pensiveness. Who would offer peace on such a dreary day?
Only the One who can bring light into their darkness. Only the One who brings hope to the hopeless. Only the One who was dead but lives again!
Can you imagine the relief of the disciples? Can you imagine the pure joy?
Place yourself in the upper room with the disciples. Kneel before Jesus.
Notice the holes in his feet. Touch the wound in His side. When His nail-scarred hand slides under your chin and lifts gently, don't be ashamed. When your teary eyes meet His compassionate ones, don't look away. Think about all of the power those eyes hold, but now their focus is on you.
"I love you."
Accept the warm embrace from the living Savior and never, ever let go.
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
A Lot Can Change
"A lot can change in four weeks." Using that often-forgotten fact, I was encouraged about post-graduation life.
Of all weeks to be reminded of that small fact, Holy Week. The time of the year when we remember Christ's warm welcome, final meal, prayerful agony, betrayal, sacrifice, lonely death, and wonderful resurrection.
A lot can change in a week.
On the day now commemorated as Palm Sunday, Christ was warmly welcomed as He entered Jerusalem.
The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!"
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
John 12:12-19
Of course, the next week the same crowd shouted for the death of the same Christ.
As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw [Jesus], they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
John 19:6
A lot can change in a week. A lot can change in four weeks. The challenges that seem overwhelming this week may seem petty next week. Things you rejoice in this week could be devestating next week. And neither is too big for our God to handle.
Take peace in that this week as you remember when God defeated the biggest problem (sin) in the most humiliating, agonizing way (a criminal's death).
<>< Katie
Of all weeks to be reminded of that small fact, Holy Week. The time of the year when we remember Christ's warm welcome, final meal, prayerful agony, betrayal, sacrifice, lonely death, and wonderful resurrection.
A lot can change in a week.
On the day now commemorated as Palm Sunday, Christ was warmly welcomed as He entered Jerusalem.
The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!"
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
John 12:12-19
Of course, the next week the same crowd shouted for the death of the same Christ.
As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw [Jesus], they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
John 19:6
A lot can change in a week. A lot can change in four weeks. The challenges that seem overwhelming this week may seem petty next week. Things you rejoice in this week could be devestating next week. And neither is too big for our God to handle.
Take peace in that this week as you remember when God defeated the biggest problem (sin) in the most humiliating, agonizing way (a criminal's death).
<>< Katie
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A Lenten Promise
It started in November when it was still sporadically warm enough to wear shorts. We wanted to avoid No-Shave-November to keep our options open.
Enter No-Soda-November. For the month of November, my suitemates and I gave up soda. There was a little bit ofcheating forgetting but, as a whole, we did well. Not going to lie, on December first I had root beer mixed with milk. It sounds gross, but it's delicious. I don't think I've had any soda since.
In December, Allyson and Jennifer gave up fried foods. A little bit more failure. Always justified in some bizarre way or another.
In January, the two gave up eating after eight pm. By now the other four of us were beginning to realize this habit of giving something up was more about stubbornness than it was health. More about temporary sacrifice and self control than building better habits. We started to convince them that exceptions could be made. "This fresh out of the oven cookie is still part of dinner. Dessert just wasn't ready yet because we at dinner at 7:30."
In February, the shortest month, Jennifer and Allyson started their hardest mission: no sweets. No chocolate, no desserts, no mochas, no Valentines candy... They began to consume potato chips at the speed of light. I kid you not, Jennifer ate an entire bag of cheddar Lays in one sitting. Around the middle of February, they went to Taco Bell and declared cinnamon twists chips rather than sweets. Allyson even poured the remaining cinnamon and sugar into her mouth. Needless to say, we declared them failures. For the rest of the month, they hid their sweet-eating from judgmental persons.
They did not give up anything for the month of March. Ironically, the month in which Lent starts.
Today, Ash Wednesday, a lot of the Christian community around the world is sacrificing something. However, unlike Jennifer and Allyson, our sacrifice is not out of stubbornness. Our sacrifice is to honor the One who sacrificed His life on the cross. Our sacrifice is about growing spiritually closer to our Savior.
Figuring out what to give up for Lent is always a challenge for me. I try to avoid giving up anything food-related because we'll just be honest: I'm a skinny kid. Skinny kids and food sacrifices don't sit well with the rest of the world.
Two years ago I gave up facebook... and learned refreshing the page actually helps me think.
Last year I vowed to blog no more frequently than every other day... a habit I have kept.
This year I'm thinking about:
- giving up my car to save on gas... but I only drive the car pool one Sunday morning out of every three
- giving up socks... that was Nikki's idea
- giving up the color purple... I might get in trouble for public indecency.
- giving up my thesis... ooh, I like that idea
- getting more exercise... can you see this skinny kid on a treadmill?
- drinking only milk and water... oh, wait, that's pretty much covers it.
- giving up breathing... what's that?
For Lent this year, I'm going to work on two things:
1 - spending more time in serious prayer, ideally in the form of 20 minutes or more a day in our campus prayer room.
2 - affirming or encouraging at least one person every day, perhaps through the mail or in other Project 7-like ways.
What are you giving up or adding for Lent?
<>< Katie
PS: Guess what? Today's Ash Wednesday meaning... in 40 days I get to go home for Easter! (I haven't been home since Christmas).
Enter No-Soda-November. For the month of November, my suitemates and I gave up soda. There was a little bit of
In December, Allyson and Jennifer gave up fried foods. A little bit more failure. Always justified in some bizarre way or another.
In January, the two gave up eating after eight pm. By now the other four of us were beginning to realize this habit of giving something up was more about stubbornness than it was health. More about temporary sacrifice and self control than building better habits. We started to convince them that exceptions could be made. "This fresh out of the oven cookie is still part of dinner. Dessert just wasn't ready yet because we at dinner at 7:30."
In February, the shortest month, Jennifer and Allyson started their hardest mission: no sweets. No chocolate, no desserts, no mochas, no Valentines candy... They began to consume potato chips at the speed of light. I kid you not, Jennifer ate an entire bag of cheddar Lays in one sitting. Around the middle of February, they went to Taco Bell and declared cinnamon twists chips rather than sweets. Allyson even poured the remaining cinnamon and sugar into her mouth. Needless to say, we declared them failures. For the rest of the month, they hid their sweet-eating from judgmental persons.
They did not give up anything for the month of March. Ironically, the month in which Lent starts.
Today, Ash Wednesday, a lot of the Christian community around the world is sacrificing something. However, unlike Jennifer and Allyson, our sacrifice is not out of stubbornness. Our sacrifice is to honor the One who sacrificed His life on the cross. Our sacrifice is about growing spiritually closer to our Savior.
Figuring out what to give up for Lent is always a challenge for me. I try to avoid giving up anything food-related because we'll just be honest: I'm a skinny kid. Skinny kids and food sacrifices don't sit well with the rest of the world.
Two years ago I gave up facebook... and learned refreshing the page actually helps me think.
Last year I vowed to blog no more frequently than every other day... a habit I have kept.
This year I'm thinking about:
- giving up my car to save on gas... but I only drive the car pool one Sunday morning out of every three
- giving up socks... that was Nikki's idea
- giving up the color purple... I might get in trouble for public indecency.
- giving up my thesis... ooh, I like that idea
- getting more exercise... can you see this skinny kid on a treadmill?
- drinking only milk and water... oh, wait, that's pretty much covers it.
- giving up breathing... what's that?
For Lent this year, I'm going to work on two things:
1 - spending more time in serious prayer, ideally in the form of 20 minutes or more a day in our campus prayer room.
2 - affirming or encouraging at least one person every day, perhaps through the mail or in other Project 7-like ways.
What are you giving up or adding for Lent?
<>< Katie
PS: Guess what? Today's Ash Wednesday meaning... in 40 days I get to go home for Easter! (I haven't been home since Christmas).
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Baptist Easter
I was nervous about my first Easter in Baptist Country. Come to find out, it was just me being a pessimist. Big surprise. I was wrong. My Easter was very good! Even if no one responded when I called, "He is risen!"
Sometimes when you live in a dorm room you forget what it's like to live in a house. You forget what it's like to not be able to swipe your card and get a (maybe) hot meal but instead have a fully stocked pantry.
Lunch on Friday was a challenge. I can't really call it "lunch." A more accurate term may be: the massive amounts of bizarre food consumed around mid-day. It was Good Friday, so I couldn't eat meat and I don't eat Ramen (so many college students live on Ramen noodles that it's my goal to graduate without eating them), Elizabeth can't cook anything except mac & cheese and there wasn't any, Jennifer only wanted cereal, and Emily only likes food that begins with the letter "c" and won't eat food that begins with "p." Thus our lunch dilemma. We ate: Ramen (not me), rice and cinnamon, cereal, cantaloupe, applesauce, pudding, and string cheese. Don't tell Mrs. Mary. :-)
When you live in a house you have to remember that the blurry red lights across the bedroom aren't just there to be annoying but to someone they reveal the time in the middle of the night...
Something you may not know about me: I am a bad bed partner. I talk, I kick, I really hate sleeping on the top bunk without a safety bar because, well, I use the whole bed and sometimes more. When I learned Elizabeth and I were going to be sharing a double bed for five nights I was scared... for her sake. Even if I only kicked her once every night that would still leave five painful bruises on her legs. As it turns out, I never kicked her but instead I took an elbow to the face in the middle of the night. Thanks, friend. She said it's because I stole the covers. I told her if she would have asked nicely I would have given them back but nooooo she had to get violent on me. :-)
In a home, everything has a place and the only thing out of place is Bananagrams, the most frequently played game in the house.
When I close my eyes to go to sleep at night, I see Bananagrams letters. I'm kind of experiencing withdrawals being back on campus. It's a word game kind of like Scrabble but better; we played for hours every day. This is marvelous for word-lovers like me. Not so great for the weird math-lovers like my future roommate Jennifer or friend Chris. No one is still quite sure how Andy was able to play Bananagrams with one hand and look up spellings in the dictionary with the other. Either way his "n comes after m" got really annoying... If you can't use a word in a sentence, define it, or spell it then you can't use it!
When you live on campus sometimes you forget driving can actually be faster than walking...
Since I wasn't home for Easter, some traditions had to be broken... like sitting in a dark closet for three hours on Friday afternoon to commemorate Jesus' time on the cross. One tradition I refused to sacrifice was the Good Friday Service of Darkness. It's an incredibly powerful service for Jesus reflecting on the seven things He said from the cross. I forced Chris, Andy, and Elizabeth into funeral clothes and to the Lutheran church down the road (not to be confused with the funeral home). We were teasing about the five cars outside and all of us leaving wearing black; people were going to start calling asking who died. Jesus did. Well, we walked into church and the first person we saw was wearing bright green scrubs. Another person was wearing an Easter bonnet. And there we were all dressed in black... So maybe this Lutheran church is a bit different than mine. My three Baptist friends were good sports about it, though.
When you live in a house you forget that in some places of the world there are commitments before 8am.
Including Elizabeth and her two sisters, Andy, and me there were five of us fighting for one bathroom. We were really expecting this to be a huge problem Easter morning, but it actually wasn't too bad! For the first time in years we made it to the Sonrise service on time! I'd never been to a Sonrise service, so it was a cool experience to stand in the parking lot and put flowers on the cross. It a beautiful tradition and it works in Baptist Country, but it wouldn't work in place where a white Easter is feasible.
When you live in a house you have real dishes and nice china, too.
This Easter was the first holiday without my family. I handled it a lot better than I anticipated... until Mrs. Mary asked me to set the table and handed me a set of plates. The china pattern was the exact same as my mom's. Our also rarely-used good china was being placed around a rarely used dining room table 900 miles away where, according to an earlier text from my sister, a place had been set for me. I think I'm going to be late...
All in all, my Easter was great!
Care for some quotes for good measure?
Emily: What's the lowest note you can sing?
Andy: Um... I think a seven.
Emily: Will you do it?
Andy walks in carrying a heap of blankets
Elizabeth: What's that?
Andy: My gardening utensils.
Jennifer: Will you hold my Nerds? And don't tell me I am what I eat!
Elizabeth: I feel like a limp noodle!
Andy: Emily, can I put this pig in your speed bump?
<>< Katie
Sometimes when you live in a dorm room you forget what it's like to live in a house. You forget what it's like to not be able to swipe your card and get a (maybe) hot meal but instead have a fully stocked pantry.
Lunch on Friday was a challenge. I can't really call it "lunch." A more accurate term may be: the massive amounts of bizarre food consumed around mid-day. It was Good Friday, so I couldn't eat meat and I don't eat Ramen (so many college students live on Ramen noodles that it's my goal to graduate without eating them), Elizabeth can't cook anything except mac & cheese and there wasn't any, Jennifer only wanted cereal, and Emily only likes food that begins with the letter "c" and won't eat food that begins with "p." Thus our lunch dilemma. We ate: Ramen (not me), rice and cinnamon, cereal, cantaloupe, applesauce, pudding, and string cheese. Don't tell Mrs. Mary. :-)
When you live in a house you have to remember that the blurry red lights across the bedroom aren't just there to be annoying but to someone they reveal the time in the middle of the night...
Something you may not know about me: I am a bad bed partner. I talk, I kick, I really hate sleeping on the top bunk without a safety bar because, well, I use the whole bed and sometimes more. When I learned Elizabeth and I were going to be sharing a double bed for five nights I was scared... for her sake. Even if I only kicked her once every night that would still leave five painful bruises on her legs. As it turns out, I never kicked her but instead I took an elbow to the face in the middle of the night. Thanks, friend. She said it's because I stole the covers. I told her if she would have asked nicely I would have given them back but nooooo she had to get violent on me. :-)
In a home, everything has a place and the only thing out of place is Bananagrams, the most frequently played game in the house.
When I close my eyes to go to sleep at night, I see Bananagrams letters. I'm kind of experiencing withdrawals being back on campus. It's a word game kind of like Scrabble but better; we played for hours every day. This is marvelous for word-lovers like me. Not so great for the weird math-lovers like my future roommate Jennifer or friend Chris. No one is still quite sure how Andy was able to play Bananagrams with one hand and look up spellings in the dictionary with the other. Either way his "n comes after m" got really annoying... If you can't use a word in a sentence, define it, or spell it then you can't use it!
When you live on campus sometimes you forget driving can actually be faster than walking...
Since I wasn't home for Easter, some traditions had to be broken... like sitting in a dark closet for three hours on Friday afternoon to commemorate Jesus' time on the cross. One tradition I refused to sacrifice was the Good Friday Service of Darkness. It's an incredibly powerful service for Jesus reflecting on the seven things He said from the cross. I forced Chris, Andy, and Elizabeth into funeral clothes and to the Lutheran church down the road (not to be confused with the funeral home). We were teasing about the five cars outside and all of us leaving wearing black; people were going to start calling asking who died. Jesus did. Well, we walked into church and the first person we saw was wearing bright green scrubs. Another person was wearing an Easter bonnet. And there we were all dressed in black... So maybe this Lutheran church is a bit different than mine. My three Baptist friends were good sports about it, though.
When you live in a house you forget that in some places of the world there are commitments before 8am.
Including Elizabeth and her two sisters, Andy, and me there were five of us fighting for one bathroom. We were really expecting this to be a huge problem Easter morning, but it actually wasn't too bad! For the first time in years we made it to the Sonrise service on time! I'd never been to a Sonrise service, so it was a cool experience to stand in the parking lot and put flowers on the cross. It a beautiful tradition and it works in Baptist Country, but it wouldn't work in place where a white Easter is feasible.
When you live in a house you have real dishes and nice china, too.
This Easter was the first holiday without my family. I handled it a lot better than I anticipated... until Mrs. Mary asked me to set the table and handed me a set of plates. The china pattern was the exact same as my mom's. Our also rarely-used good china was being placed around a rarely used dining room table 900 miles away where, according to an earlier text from my sister, a place had been set for me. I think I'm going to be late...
All in all, my Easter was great!
Care for some quotes for good measure?
Emily: What's the lowest note you can sing?
Andy: Um... I think a seven.
Emily: Will you do it?
Andy walks in carrying a heap of blankets
Elizabeth: What's that?
Andy: My gardening utensils.
Jennifer: Will you hold my Nerds? And don't tell me I am what I eat!
Elizabeth: I feel like a limp noodle!
Andy: Emily, can I put this pig in your speed bump?
<>< Katie
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday.
Quite possibly the darkest day of the year. Jesus is dead. Imagine the hopelessness the disciples felt today. Can we relate?
For the disciples, today was even more depressing than a Lutheran being stuck in Baptist Country over Easter. It was even more desperate than being rejected after seeking a job for two years. Darker than abandoning high school graduation party preparations to plan the funeral of a five year old. Can imagine what the disciples felt today?
A large group gathered together in a dark upper room. The door locked out of fear. No one had bothered to light the lamp. No one wanted to speak. Complete darkness. It was not only a physical surrounding but also an emotional feeling. Their best friend, their leader... was dead. Not even a week earlier He'd been celebrated. He was welcomed as a king. Not even forty-eight hours previous they'd enjoyed a meal together. Now He was gone. Everything happened so quickly.
The room was filled with a myriad of emotions: hurt, regret, failure, longing, desperation, depression, darkness, confusion, loneliness, loss... the list goes on. Yet the most prevalent had to be hopelessness.
"Where do we go from here?" They must have asked. If not aloud, then in their minds and in their hearts.
"How could this have happened?"
"I really didn't see this coming. Did He?"
"Now what?"
The incessant number of unanswerable questions plagued them as they sat, paced, and cried.
Silence in a crowd. Darkness in the middle of the day. Loneliness among great friends.
Maybe we've been there. Unlike the disciples, we know the rest of the story. Unlike the disciples, we have hope.
"Peace be with you." A voice rudely interrupts their ponderings. Who would offer peace on such a dreary day?
Every head lifted. Every eye turned. They saw Jesus. Their sins collided with their Savior and their Savior won. Think about the first time you ever saw Him. Think about your first encounter with the Christ. Rope yourself in that moment. Resurrect the relief. Recall the purity. Summon forth the passion. Can you remember? Do yourself a favor and place yourself in the upper room with the disciples. Kneel before Jesus.
Run your fingers over His feet. Place your hand in His pierced side. When His nail-scarred hand slides under your chin and lifts gently, don't flee. When your teary eyes meet His compassionate ones, don't look away. Look in to those eyes, those same eyes that melted the gates of hell, sent the demons scurrying, and Satan running. Look at them as they look at you. Accept the warm embrace from the living Savior and never, ever let go.
Note: the final to paragraphs are modified from Max Lucado's Six Hours On Friday.
Quite possibly the darkest day of the year. Jesus is dead. Imagine the hopelessness the disciples felt today. Can we relate?
For the disciples, today was even more depressing than a Lutheran being stuck in Baptist Country over Easter. It was even more desperate than being rejected after seeking a job for two years. Darker than abandoning high school graduation party preparations to plan the funeral of a five year old. Can imagine what the disciples felt today?
A large group gathered together in a dark upper room. The door locked out of fear. No one had bothered to light the lamp. No one wanted to speak. Complete darkness. It was not only a physical surrounding but also an emotional feeling. Their best friend, their leader... was dead. Not even a week earlier He'd been celebrated. He was welcomed as a king. Not even forty-eight hours previous they'd enjoyed a meal together. Now He was gone. Everything happened so quickly.
The room was filled with a myriad of emotions: hurt, regret, failure, longing, desperation, depression, darkness, confusion, loneliness, loss... the list goes on. Yet the most prevalent had to be hopelessness.
"Where do we go from here?" They must have asked. If not aloud, then in their minds and in their hearts.
"How could this have happened?"
"I really didn't see this coming. Did He?"
"Now what?"
The incessant number of unanswerable questions plagued them as they sat, paced, and cried.
Silence in a crowd. Darkness in the middle of the day. Loneliness among great friends.
Maybe we've been there. Unlike the disciples, we know the rest of the story. Unlike the disciples, we have hope.
"Peace be with you." A voice rudely interrupts their ponderings. Who would offer peace on such a dreary day?
Every head lifted. Every eye turned. They saw Jesus. Their sins collided with their Savior and their Savior won. Think about the first time you ever saw Him. Think about your first encounter with the Christ. Rope yourself in that moment. Resurrect the relief. Recall the purity. Summon forth the passion. Can you remember? Do yourself a favor and place yourself in the upper room with the disciples. Kneel before Jesus.
Run your fingers over His feet. Place your hand in His pierced side. When His nail-scarred hand slides under your chin and lifts gently, don't flee. When your teary eyes meet His compassionate ones, don't look away. Look in to those eyes, those same eyes that melted the gates of hell, sent the demons scurrying, and Satan running. Look at them as they look at you. Accept the warm embrace from the living Savior and never, ever let go.
Note: the final to paragraphs are modified from Max Lucado's Six Hours On Friday.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Hope, Pray, Wish
I didn't come up with this idea but rather stole it from another blog I read.
Hope, Pray, Wish
I hope you all have a blessed, healthy, and safe white Christmas. This is especially important for my family because it would be a significant first if we made it through Christmas without a glitch. Let's just say we're gotten really good at throwing flaming items into snowbanks, and we tease my sister that it isn't Christmas until she almost passes out. :-) However, we always have a good time, laugh a lot, and take a million photos enjoying each others' company.
I pray for those who aren't with their families this holiday. I am thankful we know if in all of our brouhaha we need emergency personnel they're on the other end of 9-1-1 ready to take our call, but this also means they are not celebrating with their families. Likewise, I pray for those who are fighting for our freedom both here and abroad. I pray for those too sick to enjoy today the way we think when we think of Christmas. I pray for those stranded both due to problematic travel plans and financial difficulties.
I wish for everyone to know the real reason to be joyful this Christmas season. It's not about the big man in red who magically squeezes down the chimney. It's not about the candy. It's not about the pretty lights outside. It's not about the gifts under the tree. It's about the Gift God gave when He sent His Son to leave the heavenly realms and become a baby. What a marvelous gift.
Every time I write "Hope, pray, wish" I have to think because it reminds me of "Tears, Hopes, and Promises" a wonderful Easter song that discusses how after Jesus died on Good Friday there were many tears, lost hopes, and broken promises. However, those of us who know the rest of the story know the tears became tears of joy, the hopes came to fruition, and the promises were fulfilled. May your Christmas be filled with hope, prayer, wishes, joyful tears, and promises.
I thank you for reading and I thank you for putting up with my grammar errors this blog. We're leaving in twenty minutes and my hair is still wet, but I had to post this before my Christmas got too wrapped up in the traditions and I hadn't taken a minute to remember the real reason we celebrate.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
<>< Katie
Hope, Pray, Wish
I hope you all have a blessed, healthy, and safe white Christmas. This is especially important for my family because it would be a significant first if we made it through Christmas without a glitch. Let's just say we're gotten really good at throwing flaming items into snowbanks, and we tease my sister that it isn't Christmas until she almost passes out. :-) However, we always have a good time, laugh a lot, and take a million photos enjoying each others' company.
I pray for those who aren't with their families this holiday. I am thankful we know if in all of our brouhaha we need emergency personnel they're on the other end of 9-1-1 ready to take our call, but this also means they are not celebrating with their families. Likewise, I pray for those who are fighting for our freedom both here and abroad. I pray for those too sick to enjoy today the way we think when we think of Christmas. I pray for those stranded both due to problematic travel plans and financial difficulties.
I wish for everyone to know the real reason to be joyful this Christmas season. It's not about the big man in red who magically squeezes down the chimney. It's not about the candy. It's not about the pretty lights outside. It's not about the gifts under the tree. It's about the Gift God gave when He sent His Son to leave the heavenly realms and become a baby. What a marvelous gift.
Every time I write "Hope, pray, wish" I have to think because it reminds me of "Tears, Hopes, and Promises" a wonderful Easter song that discusses how after Jesus died on Good Friday there were many tears, lost hopes, and broken promises. However, those of us who know the rest of the story know the tears became tears of joy, the hopes came to fruition, and the promises were fulfilled. May your Christmas be filled with hope, prayer, wishes, joyful tears, and promises.
I thank you for reading and I thank you for putting up with my grammar errors this blog. We're leaving in twenty minutes and my hair is still wet, but I had to post this before my Christmas got too wrapped up in the traditions and I hadn't taken a minute to remember the real reason we celebrate.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
<>< Katie
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