Christmas in Macro

Thursday morning I came into the hospital after a sleepless night of stomach pains. I thought I'd be home again in no time, even drove myself in. But one doctor led to another, and in the end I was in the operating room for my appendix.

It is Sunday and I am still in the hospital, hoping to be released tomorrow. Today is Sunday, the 3rd Sunday of advent.

It is hard to be stuck in the hospital when the day is so lovely and you know everyone is making Christmas preparations.

And yet for several weeks I had this feeling that this year had to be different, that there needed to be a quiet in my life and a refocus on Christmas.

Now as I focus my thoughts on what has been and the unknown of recovery and Christmas I know that God has a reason for keeping my planning smaller this year. I usually bake tons of cookies to share, this year that won't happen. With all of the comforts and even diet of my normal life stripped away I have time to see my world differently.

I feel as if I have been given a new lens through which to see this season. And as I examine where I have been and look at Christmas through my macro lens this is what I see (because in macro  you focus on detail).

Look, there is the baby.
Not just any baby, but a baby intended to save this world. 

Look back a week and you can see his mother preparing, waiting, expecting, longing to meet her child. She would have been huge with child, and heavy. And as she and Joseph headed to Bethlehem should would have been uncomfortable, jostled, perhaps even in pain. 

Turning my lens forward I see that we too are a people longing for peace, joy, calm. We are expecting , we are waiting. Groaning and awaiting the coming of our Savior once again. Yet everyone is distracted, and runs about madly. Turning their thoughts to so many other things- their focus is too broad- their true purpose lost. 

Look again, focus in on the baby. There He is. In all his quiet glory. He came to innocent, weak, small, a child. Why? For you, for me, for eternity. 

If you look ahead and focus your lens on His future you will see the reason He came. It did not end at Christmas, or in the small baby born. But His story lives on in the crucifixion and Resurrection of a King who came to save and redeem His beloved world. 

So where is your focus? Which lens are you using?

Before I was using a wide-view lens and all the rush and bustle and gift buying of Christmas was taking all my attention and focus. But now, as I lie in my bed and think and ponder I see that this season, this Christmas, this year, this day and each opportunity I am given I will seek to direct our thoughts and my thoughts and my children's thoughts to Jesus.

Yes, we will have gifts. We will have a tree. But lets not get overwhelmed with the bustle, lets take the time close the doors and turn off the technology and marvel over this baby, and meet this King who came to save our broken world.

Keeping it Real

Christmas is fast approaching. The kids are waiting in anticipation for the 24th when they know we will open gifts.

Every day is a rush to live life- get homework done, fulfill my commitments, decorate, and somehow try to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

But there are these moments when we all melt down. My kids refuse to listen and stubbornness and sinful attitudes reign. I grow sad and weary as I try to teach my young ones that disobedience is neither effective nor pleasing and try to speak truth to their young hearts. Yet sometimes even this fails and they glare back with belligerence in their eyes and I wonder, "How do I keep their hearts tender?"

I love this season of expectation. I long to make our home festive with decorations and prepare for the season by passing love and joy to those around me. Yet, I feel that something different is required this year. I feel like I must readjust my life and not get swept away by the tide of culture.

And so I stop and ponder and wonder how to "redeem" these dear old traditions and make them into something that turns our hearts towards heaven and the real reason we celebrate.

My Cookie Craziness

I love going all out with cookies at Christmas. Clicking on the photo will take you to my cooking blog for the whole deal :)

Crowded

Her time had come and together with her new husband they were trudging along towards a crowded Bethlehem. 

Between contractions and bumps they made their way towards that noisy city; full of travelers there to register. 

This young woman with her story no human could ever believe without faith, was carrying a babe that would change the course of history. 

They searched from inn to inn and house to house for a place to rest their weary bones. 

Between signs and pains of birth this crowded city ignored. 

Then at last they found a place to shelter them from the night. A stable, small and meant for beasts. 

Yet, here in this humble place of crowded slumber. 

A King was born. 

- - - -

The other day we were building a Lego manger scene with the kids. For the first time it struck me how very crowded that stable must have been. With animals, and later shepards there would have been little to no privacy.

But Jesus came to be with the people.From the very first hours of his life he was with the people- born in an overflowing city and crowded stable.

Later in his life he was always compassionate to the people, never pushing them away for the sake of his privacy.

In our times we sometimes fret and complain because we have no space, no worldly mansion, no place of our own.

Yet perhaps we need to look beyond that to the one who came to prepare for us a home that will never fade, and learn a lesson from him who didn't even have a place to lay his head.

Advent Calendar

I had never done an advent calendar with my kids, and am not sure that we ever did growing up either. But since this year we had our big calendar on the wall that I had made for the kids, it just seemed like we MUST have an advent calendar.

I really didn't even know what that meant. . I did some research. I decided I didn't want my kids just to get treats every day. I want them and myself to be prepared for the real meaning of Christmas by doing something meaningful. I searched Pinterest and found lots of ideas.

The one we ended up doing was found here, and here is our version of that.

Thanks to my friend Ieva and her amazing Sizzex I made these little envelopes and ornaments. Each day has an assignment to help us prepare ourselves for Christmas. Some of those are: make a manger scene from play-dough, help someone in need, bake Christmas cookies together, read the Christmas story, get a Christmas tree, etc.

So far the kids are really enjoying this and I like that it keeps us in a mood of preparation for the birthday of the KING.

What are you doing for advent?