12.07.19 - week 32
on making christmas count
there is something in the magic of christmas that’s so central to the rhythm of our lives. the memories of finishing semesters, pictures that linger, favorite moments of presents opened, seeing old friends, etc etc etc.
and our family loves christmas. and that’s mainly because of kristen. my favorite holidays historically have been the third thursday/friday in march (when march madness starts), the tuesday after labor day (because summer’s over and everyone starts working again), and super bowl sunday. but kristen loves christmas. she loves to shop for others. she loves looking at lights. she loves christmas cookies and christmas parties and christmas sweaters. she loves hospitality (my exact favorite night ever in my life is a christmas party she threw for our staff team in 2016). she loves all of it. and because she does, after 12 years of marriage, i do too.
and so our kids do love it too. and we have worked over the years to make christmas meaningful + fun. without trying too hard or cultivating our entire persona to seem impressive on instagram. we made a list of the 7 best things we have learned and made a video. here’s us (with somewhat subpar audio) sharing them with you.
KG Korner
(a few wise words from lady kristen macdonald)
Sometimes I read God’s Word and am astounded at the examples in front of me : the faith to walk on water, the courage to fight Goliath, the willingness to sacrifice the son you waited decades for. I hope on my best day I would be like Peter or David or Abraham but a lot of days I’m really glad that he was asking that of them and not me.
There are other times in God’s Word where I’m grateful that the people he chose still messed up because they had brilliant moments of faith or courage or surrender but they also had moments of wavering or sin or discouragement. That’s the thread that is traced through scripture, right, that the need for a Savior is in the very fiber of our being and that God doesn’t need the perfect person he just needs willing people.
This week I was reminded of something I think is a target all believers can aim at but it is embodied by two women in Timothy’s life.
2 Timothy 1:5 says, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”
As a woman I get excited that these two women were mentioned because my first thought as a mom and wife is a lot of our job day in and day out is to do all the things no matter how mundane it feels. But in the midst of that the thing that shined through was their sincerity or genuineness or unfeigned or without hypocrisy faith. They weren’t remembered for their cooking or their christmas decorating, their best bedtime stories or their gifts- no - they were known not just by their own children, but their grandchildren also for their faith.
I would venture to say that as a man or woman this virtue is possible and needed in the lives around you. People are watching and taking note of your sincerity whether you think so or not - or the lack there of. I also think that the experience of their sincerity i dare to believe was even more than anything they could share with their words.
Earlier this year we had an experience with a warranty company that left a lot, a lot to be desired. There were words that they would say to us on the phone, we were mailed a pamphlet about the company as well as letters that our claim was in process but because our experience dictated something so drastically different the sincerity of things promised felt like just words. But sometimes I think we can come across the same way as Christians sincere in our beliefs without the action to back it up. Sincerity is felt and experienced and if we want those around us to know of ours we must do something today to show up and ooze the thing we all need most : love. I have a hunch to believe that will bolster up the people’s faith around you to continue and not quit believing for the very thing they are hoping for most.
Cup of Leadership
when we need people to pay our emotional bills, we are on the fast track to bankruptcy.
in galatians 6 we are asked to carry for others, but promised we have to carry ourselves. the occasional moment where someone shares our cross bearing or bears a burden must be a blessing not a necessity. it’s not that people don’t want to, they just usually can’t. the most committed spouse or friend can only understand a portion of what you are experiencing / feeling, let alone to somehow in real time help you weather it.
if you need people to take care of the check or pay the emotional balance, you will find yourself endlessly unhappy. work as hard as needed towards standing on your own two feet. deal with your stuff. counselors can help, but they are at best an interest free bridge loan. pull yourself up or find yourself down. that’s tough truth, but it is the truth.
Book Review
a drawback of christian books read by christian people is that our verbiage and phraseology becomes formulaic and stale. like scotch tape re-used, what was once potent is no longer as useful. david brooks has written a christian book about making the second half of your life more usual than the first. he shows how that happens by shifting your focus from accumulation of x (pleasure/power/possession/people etc) to release of the same x. but because it’s written from a respected secular writer, it’s written with a crisp freshness. if you have someone in your life going through a middle-life challenge, this might be a great book for them.
Podcasts This Week
the listenership is slowly but surely growing. would love for you to rate/review to help us along.
1. i had a fun conversation with my friend future congressman nathan elleson about finding love in your 20’s and cultivating encouters with celebritie
2. the heavenly report card – part 4 of my series on 1 thessalonians. a message on what matters to jesus.
Verse of the Week
watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for,
but may win a full reward.
2 john 1:8
Things I Liked This Week
1. luke’s christmas playlist … i made one of my favorites. click here to scope it out
2. background/study music – eric owyoung the guy behind ‘future of forestry’ has this side project making instrumental music. its genuinely gorgeous stuff for your study or background at a christmas part needs … check it out.
3. what do we do when we encounter evil? well 1 thessalonians 5:15 tells us … here’s me preaching for 5 minutes about it …