Sparkle

The sparkle of Christmas is a lot of fun. Twinkling lights, tinsely halos and glittering crowns... It's fun to watch the children sing, to see the glimmer of anticipation in my son's eyes as he contemplates the gifts waiting for him, to eat supper in the soft glow of the advent candles... It's fun, but the depth of satisfaction that sparkle brings is not much deeper than the layer of sequins on a fancy Christmas sweater. The sparkle dies out long before it reaches the heart.

I'm glad that beyond the sparkle, at the very core of Christmas is the One who brings a joy that goes deeper than sequins, whose presence brings peace even in the midst of an unexpected six hour sit in the emergency room with my husband, so desperately confused by the darkness of deception that lurks within his thoughts. I am encouraged by my friend, Michele, a beautiful musician who faces a frightening surgery to replace the bone in her neck. She has been honest in her pain and yet very clear in proclaiming the source of our hope and joy. At the beginning of an email I received from her she says, "Today and tomorrow are going to be rough for me, and I need to cry and get it out, but I know that God will restore my joy."

Christmas is over, the sparkle is receding, but the joy remains.

“We are pressed on every side by trouble, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed!” 2 Cor. 4:8

Does God have a sense of humor?

Seven weeks ago, I was preparing to take my son Lucas and to board a train to North Dakota to visit my mother who was ill. On the way, at 5:30 a.m. as we were waiting for the train to refuel in Indianapolis, I received word that she had left us during the night and gone to be with our Lord. My brother, Joel, and his daughter, Lena, joined us in Chicago where we had to switch trains. It was obviously a rather somber meeting as we contemplated the reality that Mom would not be there when we arrived home.

As we were standing in the station talking, Joel mentioned that my sister had asked Mom what her favorite Bible verse was just a day or two earlier. She had said that it was Philippians 1:17. Neither of us could recall which verse that was, so Joel decided to look it up on his phone, wondering what wisdom she had desired to share. He had been reading from "The Message" earlier and so that was what version came up. He typed in Philippians 1:17 and this is what he read, "The others, now that I'm out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them."

So now we wonder if Mom really knew what verse she was talking about and was planning a joke on us, or if it was God, with a sense of humor, speaking through her, preparing a moment of laughter in the midst of our sorrow. Either way, we are grateful.

Opening the Window

There is more joy to be found in the sharing than in the hoarding. I am grateful to my sisters, Sara and Laura for their willingness to allow me glimpses into their lives through their blogs.

Though this journey may lead us down life paths that we would rather not take, there is always joy in the presence of our Creator, eternal pleasures at his right hand. He is the one I seek.