Read It Again, Mommy!

     I continue to be amazed at how my young children can listen to stories over and over and over again.  Just as soon as the last page is read, I invariably hear, "Read it again, Mommy!"  The same goes for videos or CDs in the car.  How can children hear the same thing so many times?  Don't they already know the characters, the plot, and how it all ends?  In fact, my 4 year old is starting to recite various lines from movies, books, and songs because he knows them so well.  What is this fascination with listening to the same story over and over again?  Maybe it's the way human beings learn, even absorb stories and lessons and truth.  It starts to shape us, our thinking, our behavior, our speech. 

     Perhaps that is the reason for the rhythm of the church calendar.  After all it's the same stories over and over and over again, Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost.  The same stories in scripture such as the Good Samaritan, the Widow offering her two last coins at the temple, the Woman at the Well, Jesus with the Children, the Greatest Commandments, salt and light and sheep and goats.  Attending church on a regular basis, we will hear all these stories multiple times.  Maybe it's the way Christians learn, even absorb the stories and lessons and Truth that God has to teach us.  And it starts to shape us, our thinking, our behavior, our speech.
     As you hear the Christmas story once again this weekend, ask God to "Read it again!"  It's not that we don't know the story.  But maybe it's that we need to allow that story to re-create us, shape our thinking, our behavior, our speech.  Maybe we need to absorb that story, even memorize some of its lines, so that it becomes a part of us each and every day of the year.  God's love became flesh and lived among us.  May you know God's love, living among you, this Christmas season.

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

    If there ever was a time of year when children lead us adults in joy, wonder, and imagination, it's Christmas time.  Seeing through the eyes of a child, we experience the magic of Christmas once again.  Remember when the days leading up to Christmas seemed to last forever?  Remember when the possibilities seemed endless when you filled out your Christmas list?  Remember when you woke up WAY before dawn to rush into the living room where presents were stacked around the Christmas tree?  There was no such thing as stress or pressure during this time.  Only excitement and happiness and wonder.  Don't you wish you could recapture some of that childlike excitment this time of year?
    I'm fortunate to experience Christmas with a 4 and 2 year old this year.  I love watching their eyes dance when we open our advent calendars and light candles.  I love witnessing their excitement as they pick toys for other children listed on the angel tree.  I love watching them become animated as we anticipate lighting the advent wreath in church this Sunday, or the coming of grandma and grandpoo, or reiterating the one or two things they really want for Christmas.
    My children have helped me to dream and imagine once again.  If the possibilities are endless, what do I want for Christmas?  Peace, hope, wisdom, joy.  That's at least a good start.  And why not?  Are these not gifts that come from God for those who ask, seek, and knock? 
    After all, who is putting all that adult stress and pressure and expectation on me, anyway?  So maybe this year I'm going to be a little less adultlike, and a little more childlike.  Maybe I'll wonder a little more, allow the excitement to seep into my bones,  and awaken my imagination to the endless possibilities that Christmas brings.  And my little children shall lead me.

Interruptions!

   I'm a list person.  Every week I write a list of the things I want to accomplish and the days I plan to do them.  Problem is, there are always interruptions!  Maybe a child is sick and the daycare says he has to go home.  Maybe someone went to the hospital and I need to go visit.  Maybe something just takes a lot longer than I had planned and my schedule is thrown off.  When all is said and done, the week never goes as planned.  All the interruptions got in the way!

   But I have come to realize that the interruptions can also be opportunities.  That day at home with a sick child is a wonderful time to cuddle and soothe and comfort my now two year old "baby."  Those moments will be gone all too soon.  That visit to the hospital is a way to be the face of Jesus to someone who is hurting and scared.  What a privilege to be the vehicle through which God works!  That project that takes far too long, needed a little more time for God to bring the right thoughts, the right people, the right energy together to make it really meaningful.

   Yes, more often than not, it's the interruptions that are the really important things in life.  It's where ministry happens.  It's where relationships are deepened.  It's where life becomes abundant.
   As you go about your busy Christmas season, don't get frustrated by the interruptions.  Welcome them.  See them as opportunities to engage in what is really important in life.  After all, God is all about interruptions.  God is in the interruptions.  God came into the world through an interruption called Jesus.

Inviting Advent Inn

It's hard to believe it's that time of year again.  Advent is upon us.  The time when we are supposed to take four weeks to prepare for Christmas.  I find it ironic that just as life gets busier with Christmas cards, extra church activities, presents, travelling, and various Christmas events, the church year asks us to prepare for the coming of Christ.  PREPARE?!?  I don't have time to prepare.  I can do it in the summer when there's a little slower pace, but not now.  Life gets more and more crowded with things to do.  I can't add one more devotional, or prayer time, or ritual to my day!

I wonder if that's how the innkeeper felt so long ago.  It was the busy time of year with all the crowds coming in for the census.  Business was good...but it was busy.  So when Mary and Joseph arrive, there's just no room, no time, no way.  I believe the innkeeper wanted to help this young couple in desperate need which is why he tried to provide for them.  But what he didn't do was MAKE room.  He didn't set PRIORITIES. 

I feel like that's what happens to me sometimes.  I just let Advent and Christmas happen...the cards, the presents, the activities...but it's almost as if they control me, not the other way around.  Maybe this year it's time to MAKE room in my life, because I know that room isn't just going to happen.  Maybe this year it's time to set priorities and put first things first.  Maybe this year, I need to invite Advent inn, preparing a space so that Christ can be born in my heart once again.

Are you inviting Advent inn this year?

New Logo for Mulberry

This is the new logo for Mulberry Prebyterian Church.  It is the heart of what we are about.  Building on the two greatest commandments from Jesus we first love God with our whole beings.  Because of that love, we reach out to love one another as ourselves.  Our location was chosen because of the grove of Mulberry trees that provded shade, rest, and renewal to weary travellers on their way to Charlotte.  Today, Mulberry is still providing that rest and renewal for weary souls.  Reaching beyond our campus we strive to love all we meet demonstrating through what we say and do that God loves all people, unconditionally.  What an awesome message we get to tell others!