The Day After Christmas

Merry Christmas!

I'm sitting here at my laptop while listening to the new ipod Nano that my wife gave me for Christmas. I've packed out its supposed 2 G capacity (it seems to only hold 1.7 G), and enjoying it. My wife really surprised me with it, as I was never expected such a gift. I only hinted at how nice it would be to have one just a week or so ago (she had already purchased it weeks before!), and lo and behold.

And speaking of lo and behold, as cool as it is to finally have my own ipod, it is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone once more. Christmas Eve for my family started with us going to our church's second service (no Sunday School that day, so we slept in, and went to a local restaurant for brunch before heading over to worship). After worship and celebrating the fourth Sunday of Advent, we came home, cleaned up some for family coming over later (actually my wife did most of the prep while I played some video games with the kids). My mom and my cousin and her husband came over later in the afternoon, and we all headed back to the sanctuary for our "Family" Christmas Eve service, alias, the "noisy, I don't know how to behave in worship" service (but hey, I'm not bitter!). It actually was nice over all. My daughters both sang as part of the children's choir, and both my oldest daughter and I read from the gospel accounts of Christ's birth.

There's more to our Christmas evening, but I really want to just mention a thought about Christ's birth. To stop and think about it, it is absolutely incredible that such a thing happened, and became reality. The idea of God becoming a human being, and yet, still fully God. It is the most amazing act of love and compassion conceivable. God became one of us. God among us. And that effects of the incarnation still go on. In late Spring we'll celebrate Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to those who confess Christ as Lord. The Holy Spirit keeps the power of the incarnation alive in each of us.

This is God's love for us. Jesus Christ. Son of God. God with us. I hope that as you continue enjoy what time you have off from work or school, as you have fun with whatever Christmas presents you received, that you would remember this greatest of presents. May you be blessed by that great event of some two thousand years ago. Merry Christmas!!!