christmas

it's christmas. i sure am a lucky girl.

i took a walk tonight to look at christmas lights in our neighborhood and call some of my "family" that lives far away. i stepped on a slug.

last night the family went to a mega-church for christmas eve service. we were packed in like sardines (but it was better than last year when we were relegated to the overflow sanctuary). the woman in front of me had on troll earrings dressed as santa claus with bright green hair.

sometimes it's hard in the midst of everything to remember what this whole holiday is really about. but when i stop and think of it i am amazed. i have read the christmas story in matthew and luke 1-2 every year of my life. i hope i will always be filled with wonder and awe, no matter how many times i hear it.
this year the thing that really strikes me the most is the way all of the people react. we just always hear about how Jesus was born to a virgin and accept it without really thinking about what this might have been like. or how, instead of avoiding public ridicule and shame, which would have been so much easier and more convenient for joseph, he went ahead and took mary home anyway because of this "dream" he had. or how the shepherds just dropped what they were doing and went to the manger. the way the whole story is told is just so straightforward, so matter of fact, so simple. and everyone involved just accepts their situation and does what God asks of them without question or argument--even though what they are being asked is completely insane. they are totally obedient. because they know that God is good and they trust him.
that is a kind of faith i may never understand.

merry christmas, friends. i hope you are all well, that you are surrounded by people who make you feel loved, and that this whole thing is more than just a nice story to you today.
blessings.