Christmas Week
Where to begin?I need this to be concise because I'm still not in blogging mode yet. But I am not blessed with a great memory, so if I don't get a few things down now, I never will. So...
Christmas was wonderful. I missed having my side of the family around on Christmas morning while James opened his gifts. And I missed being there while they opened each others'. But Lisa's side was all with us and that was wonderful. James got four different remote controlled cars (tractors, jeeps, etc.) so that quickly became a theme. I received an embarrassing wealth of Amazon/Best Buy/Barnes & Noble money, so my next few weeks are going to be a lot of fun. ALL 3 of my nieces were in town and that was one of the best parts of the day. My favorite gift may have been the Sweet Tarts that James bought for me. He picked out a gift for me, for my nephew Avery, my niece Ashley, and one for the whole family. That's right, Lisa got the ol' shafteroo.
While I'm thinking of it, Greg, my Christmas Eve sermon was a little less than 10 minutes long. Seriously, there was an announcement afterwards that lasted longer. People were very happy.
The week following Christmas was notable for some good friends I got to see. My buddy Jay (who I hadn't seen for a few years) went to breakfast with me on Tuesday and, as those of you who jump to her blog know, Wendy and Rick joined us on Wednesday. I received the yummy jam on behalf of preachers everywhere but I should point out that Randy's name did come up during the breakfast. It was SO good to see these friends who we love so much. Rick and Wendy were on hand to witness my awesome parenting skills as I tripped my son on the way to the bathroom and caused him to bang his head on the tile floor. And there was much rejoicing.
The rest of the week held times of golf (it's about 60 here in the afternoon), reading, studying for Sunday's message, TV viewing, playing with my kid's presents, blog lurking, taking out the tree (and cutting it up with my new chainsaw, Aarh aarh aarrrhhhhhh!), picking out a cushy new chair for the office, playing games with friends, and winning a CIV IV campaign as the French because I figure it's the only way they'll ever win a war.
This week promises more golf, more reading, LOTS more studying, a long-awaited doctor's appointment, and probably even a massage.
I'm out of shape and all blogged out. So I'll leave you with a comment request. Leave me some "What if" questions about the church. For instance, "What if the church were more devoted to prayer?" or "What if the church put more emphasis on our similarities within the body than on our differences?" The floor is yours.
posted by Thurman8er @ 4:24 PM
6 Comments:
Glad Christmas went well and that you are able to hit some golf balls.
As for what ifs… What if I learned to love my brothers and sisters where they are and spoke the oracles of God with love? What if?
Glad you had a good Christmas.
What if............everyone in the church really did treat everyone else like they would like to be treated and loved like they would like to be loved?
What a fun time you've been having and I hope it keeps happening over the year!
What if we acted like we were part of the answers to prayer and took action about making the world a better place, instead of just mouthing words?
Didn't someone take James out to get his mommy a present??? Bitter!
I didn't notice you tripping him, but I did notice how gently and thoroughly you comforted him afterward. You're a good daddy.
Let's see...what if we looked at Christ more than we look at Christians? And, what could be accomplished if an entire body of believers had hands He could use?
SO glad this Christmas was good for all, but to Randy...tubes? Vicodan? Sounds serious...) I too enjoyed Rick and Wendy...we had such a good time.
What if...Christians were more able to resist the temptation (as most human beings cannot do) to "pigeon-hole" or label their fellow Christian brothers and sisters and could resist the tendency to "read" others' motives without knowing all the circumstances...and that we could all put our Christianity to "action" and not to just "words".
That's a lot, huh?
BTW. to Stoogelover, I think it's OK to worry about others - otherwise, we would not be called to action, should someone need help...what we need to do less of is "taking others' inventory" and passing judgement. I think that's what you really meant.
What if the church acknowledged that we're all saved by God's abiding grace, rather than some Pharisaic list of deeds that we can *do* to be saved?
Makes me think of the punch line to several denomination-related jokes... "How did you get here?" when people see others they didn't expect to be in Heaven. The only answer is by God's grace.
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