Observations on the Holidays

On Holiday Parties:  Under the right conditions during a holiday party, a chocolate fountain can rotate loose from its moorings and spin wildly, spraying chocolate for yards in a circular pattern. Chocolate is a viscous substance and does not wipe up easily. Chocolate sprayed on the wall, however, is easily accessible for dogs or small children to lick. For dogs, chocolate acts like a happy drug in their systems. Trust me, this is not a good thing. Especially when they come down off their high and vomit on the rug. In front of the company.

A chocolate fountain, finding itself in good humor from the previous catastrophe, will gladly repeat the offense a second time during the party, this time waiting just until the hostess comes to the table to get some food before it breaks loose and sprays all over the place. When this happens, it is perfectly acceptable to just walk away from the mess, change into a clean shirt, and sit down with an adult beverage to enjoy the rest of the party. The dogs will help with the cleanup, anyway.

On Christmas Cookies:  No matter how much time and effort you put into creating home-made morsels of love, the kids will prefer the store-bought versions of cookies they are used to. They will even ignore the lovely goodies sitting right on the kitchen table and actually scale several shelves up into the pantry to reach the shiny commercialized packages.

Christmas cookies left on the counter will also be ignored by one’s husband, who prefers salty snacks anyway. The choice is then whether the cookies will go to waste, or to waist. Vigorously perusing the ads for sales on elliptical machines, treadmills and exercise bikes in the newspaper while eating cookies will increase your heart rate but will not reduce caloric intake.

On In-Laws:  No matter how much time and effort you spend cleaning your house and slaving over a hot stove, the in-grates (or is it out-laws?) will consume every morsel you prepare, not lift a finger to help clean up, and demand the very dessert they brought with them as a gift. Plus they will completely ignore you throughout the evening, never say thank you for the meal or your efforts, and when they leave they will comment that their own cooking is better. Not to mention that they never bothered to call to confirm they were coming over until your husband finally contacted them the day of the dinner, and when they did come, they brought extra uninvited guests with them. (True story.)

On Christmas Gifts:  Toy manufacturers do not actually want children playing with their toys. What with all the twist-ties, plastic restraints, and industrial-strength tape in toy packaging, parents need a degree in engineering to remove said toy from said package. Hours later, when the toys are finally freed and assembled, the children will prefer to play with the twist-ties and boxes. Neatness does not count with gifts for kids. Children don’t pause thoughtfully on Christmas morning to admire how carefully the packages are wrapped. It’s what’s under the wrap that matters. Providing that the parents can get the toys out of the packages for their children after all that neat wrapping paper has been ripped to shreds.

On Stockings: it is unnecessary to wrap every little item that goes into the stockings. Not only is it frustrating and time-consuming, it just delays the whole process. Also: even if it’s been a family tradition for generations, putting a fruit in the toe of a Christmas stocking will only prompt an annoyed roll of the eyes. But it’s worth it just to see the irritated look on the children’s faces when they pull out an apple as their final stocking gift.

Giving a ‘bean box’ (a large container filled with dried beans, scoops, funnels and measuring cups) to a  two year old with no history of throwing things, virtually guarantees that the two year old will suddenly discover a deeply repressed need to fling handfuls of dried beans all over the carpet, at the dog, her sibling, her parents, and into the heater vents.

And finally, whoever it was that came up with the saying, “It is better to give than to receive” never had days’ worth of picking up and cleaning to do after the whole gift-giving fiasco was over.

All the Difference in the World

by guest blogger,

Nicholas J. Fedele

Well it’s that time of year again. The colors run green and red, interspersed with gold twinkling lights and silver threads of tinsel.  Children's eyes are wide with wonder and magic, and for a couple weeks they’re all on their best behavior. Families reunite, feasts are prepared and everyone wishes for peace on Earth and goodwill towards men, if just for a little while.  Christmas is coming!

Then there's the glorious music!  The choruses ring out all over the world, beckoning the faithful and the curious to come and adore Him on this silent night.  But inevitably some boy comes to the stable banging on a little drum which wakes the sleeping baby, making him cry.  Annoyed, the shepherds throw the little drummer boy out on his keyster for disturbing the newborn babe in the straw.  At least that’s my version of the story.

Ah yes… 'What Child is this who laid to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping?' asks another timeless carol.  Good question.

When we think about it, everyone in some way is faced with that question every Christmas season.  The Child in question is everywhere!  He's unavoidable!  So who is He?  What do we do with Him?  Do we even give it any serious thought in the midst of all the busyness?  Does it really matter?  What difference does He make for our lives anyway?  For anyone’s life?

I'm thinking now of most of the people I encounter in my day-to-day.  Family, friends and acquaintances who are what we would call genuinely good people.  The salt of the earth.

From all appearances, they seem to have got it all together.  They have a loving marriage and 2.5 beautiful kids.  They say grace at their meals and go to church on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, just like proper believers should.

They're content with where they are in life and where they're going.  They have real joy in their hearts, sometimes despite their circumstances, again just like believers do.

They grow and mature in character through hardship and trial, what do ya’ know, just like believers grow! 

But here's the rub… They feel no need for true relationship with Christ.  Why should they?  What difference does He make?  What Child is this?

I've found these dear people to be the most resistant to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The reason often is that they have heard it all before many times.  And for the most part, not only have they heard it all before, but they’ll swear that they most certainly believe it to be true!  And again, for the most part, they actually do.

Where the problem arises is in this:  There is an insidious indifference present in their mindset.  A failure to connect their own goodness and righteousness to its focus and end point in a vital, life changing relationship with Jesus.

The apostle Paul speaks about people who are like this in Romans 10:1-4:

Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.  For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.  For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Jesus Christ is the source of all righteousness and recognizing and accepting the Lordship of Christ is what makes all the difference in the world.  As human beings, it is only in knowing Him that we fully become who we were created to be.

So can people be content and have a ‘got-it-all-together-life?’  Sure, but ‘Christ has come that we may have life, and have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10).

Can a person have joy in any circumstance?  I imagine so, but only in maintaining relationship with Jesus will His ‘joy be in you, and therefore your joy will be made full and complete’ (John 15:11).

Can people grow and mature through the hardship and trials that come their way?  Of course, but when God puts us through the fire to stretch and purify our character, His word states that our maturity is moving toward perfection.  We become more and more the person God designed us to be;  mature and complete, not lacking anything’ (James 1:2-4).

It is a deadly deception of Satan that allows a person to accept contentment, joy and maturity, but only for this life.  “It is enough,” they think.  Here and now.  This is all there is to existence.

We must understand that there is no temporal or eternal purpose in living life apart from God.  Vanity, vanity, all is vanity and life is futility, the wise man wrote.  Nothing lasts and nothing matters.  Not without Him. 

So what do we do this Christmas for people who feel no need for Christ but are awash in the ‘Christmas spirit’ and the ‘hope of the season’ as it were?  When that hope disappoints and the post-holiday blues set in, we can be there to quietly point the way past the manger scene to a ‘hope that does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us’ (Romans 5:5).

The Lord desires all of us to know Him and break free of the lie of superficial religiosity and so called ‘Christmas spirit.’  Let us just pray for wisdom and opportunity from the Holy Spirit to draw our loved ones to Him this Christmas season.  Be His hands and feet.  Be His eyes and ears.  Listen to His still small voice.  Be a living example of His love.  People are especially open to the gospel during this time of year.  So go tell it on the mountain – that Jesus Christ is born!  Remember, He makes all the difference in the world.

GOD BLESS US, EVERYONE!

Thanksgiving ... thanks for what?

Hidey ho there, fellow feast goers! Are you all geared up for the big T-day event? Got your table set, turkey brining, crafts for the kids ready, and everything running according to schedule? Okay, maybe someone out there has it all planned down to the last salad fork … but you can bet it’s not me.

This is one of those annoying holidays where you work like a slave (unpaid, and likely unshowered) for days, only to produce a meal that will be eaten in 19 minutes flat. Your kitchen will be trashed and the house will look like a tornado hit after the whole affair is over. Thanksgiving? Thanks for what??

I tend to look around and look inward at this time of year and wonder what in the world I’m really thankful for. It seems like the proper thing to do. Introspect. Retrospect. Try to make some sense 

of the yearly drudgery.

But honestly, how thankful can I be when my husband hates the very foods that make Thanksgiving the eating holiday of the year? He detests turkey, mashed potatoes and pie. Don’t ask me why; there’s no rhyme or reason to it. He’s not fussy with any other kind of food. Kind of puts a damper on the whole feast thing. Of course, that doesn’t stop me from cooking any of those dishes. Just means there’s more pie for me.

Let’s see, how about my kids? Well, I am thankful that my two daughters are pretty good eaters. But the thankfulness index plummets when it comes to their sleep habits. Or should I say the lack thereof. Neither of the girls seems to need more than a thimbleful of sleep each night. I've had big-time sleep deprivation for over thirteen years. In a row. Yet these are just minor irritants in my daily life. 

These things, in the end, don’t mean a whole lot. There’s just too much going on in the world nowadays to get upset by little stuff like food and sleep. What with terrorism, hurricanes, floods, fires, financial disasters, tsunamis, earthquakes, epidemics … and heartbreak from one end of the world to the other, the quote of the year is from a TV host who said:  "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

He’s certainly got a point. The news during these last few months has been rife with strife. But as we enter into the holiday season it’s easy to get so frazzled and unfocused that we forget the reason behind the season. When we take God out of the equation it reduces holidays like Thanksgiving to a meaningless exercise. It’s not about football and full tummies. Truly.

I’m thankful I have a God who knows me fully and still loves me, a God who cares about the little details in my life. I know there are many in the world that aren’t as fortunate as us. People who would be thankful for even a tiny portion of the feast we’ll have this year on Thanksgiving, much less the plenty we have from day to day.

So when I’m washing my millionth dish, or folding my billionth pile of laundry, or cleaning up the trillionth mess in the house, maybe I can do so with a little more grace. Because when I do stop long enough to count my blessings, you know what? I’ve got plenty to be thankful for.

And I bet you have too.