Hi everyone,
We are just a couple days out from Christmas, and it really is crunch time. We all have our preparations prepared and our plans planned. We have our decorations decorated and our presents presentable. And we have at least one sermon written (I think).
But in the hustle and bustle, I’m just glad that the kids are out of school. Because my goodness does taking them to and from school ever put a damper on the day. It doesn’t sound like much, but the stress of getting them there on time, having to fight the parent traffic, and hoping to heck that there is an available parking spot near their classroom (especially if it’s raining) is basically through the roof.
And so having a break from that is really nice. It allows me to focus on other things, like say… writing sermons. It gives me a chance to catch my breath. It enables me to be in a different headspace, gives me a different perspective, affords me time to actually appreciate my kids and their innocence instead of rushing them out the door or they’ll be late for goodness sake.
Yes, we’re still talking about driving the kids, but it is representative of life, I think. We get caught up in the doing the tasks that we sometimes lose sight of the being in the moment. And this Christmas, I hope we be in that moment of hope, peace, joy, and love.
Here are the readings for next week:
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Psalm 148
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52
And a video of them being read:
I am happy to say that in all the years of stress around driving our kids to school and various other places, I have never lost one of them. I may have temporarily misplaced one, but they always found their way back. This isn’t to say that I’m a better parent than Mary and Joseph by any means, as I don’t think any of our kids will grow up to be the saviour of the world, but it is to say that this level of stress and preoccupied-ness happens to us all.
And sometimes when it does, we lose sight of what really matters.
Maybe we’ll lose a kid. Maybe we’ll lose precious time that we won’t get back. Maybe we’ll lose the meaning of God with us.
But don’t feel bad, because even in those times that we forget and are distracted and overlook things, God continues to be with us, calling us, abiding with us, and forgiving us for all the mishaps.
I’m not saying that we should purposely fill up our time with stuff so we have an excuse to be forgetful, but I’m saying that sometimes life gets hectic and we have a lot on our plate, and in those times Jesus might be hard to find even if we are frantically looking. But we can be reminded that he’ll never be far away, and probably in the most obvious place that we didn’t think to look.
Maybe he can be found in our loved ones. Maybe he can be seen in our communities. Or maybe we can even experience him in the hectic busyness of life. But rest assured, he is there.
With us. Among us. Loving us to pieces.
Thanks be to God! Have a great week and a very Merry Christmas!