This Christmas in pictures...

My sister and me a few days before Christmas

Oops, Auto-timer seems to have left one out!













Christmas Card 2007



















Charlie's Angels plus Charlie, slightly distracted

















Classic and Old School

Grab-bag

* Friday night, some girl friends and I went contra-dancing down in my town for my birthday. Conversation with my first dance partner of the night went something like this:

Me: "So, what are you doing here in Chapel Hill?"
Him: "Well, I'm working on the Unified Theory of Forces... do you know what that is?"
Me: "Ohhhh, so, you're a physicist, huh?"

After that, he was hooked. My inherent knowledge of the forces had very clear pick-up value, for once in my life. The only problem was that he was somewhere in the 55 range, bald, and rather sweaty, and he kept trying to cut in when I was dancing with the young, attractive, and not so physics-y savvy men. Go figure.

* My friend Krystal and I convinced our friend Jordan that we were taking him belly dancing.

* I have been officially kicked off the match-making board. And I am not displeased with that.

* The Myers-Briggs personality test has always been fascinating to me. Going into college, I was an ENTJ (extroverted, intuitive, thinking, judging). By the end of college, thanks to living with my roommate of three years, I had become an ENTP (p is perceiving). This past week, as I browsed through historical folks who shared my personality typology, I discovered that Hitler was an ENTJ. I was quite delighted to discover that I was no longer a Hitler. My roommate was delighted as well. However, I was not so delighted to learn that I now share the same results as Osama Bin Laden. Welcome to the reign of the tyrants.

And on that note... I'm going to go and hang snow flakes all over my living room.

UR vs. ASU

I might not like football very much, but I do dig my Spiders...

And so, when the Spiders make the semifinals of the NCAA Division I tournament for the first time in 50 years, despite the fact that it's a Friday night... despite the fact that no one else wants to watch the game with me... despite the fact that watching men in spandex run around in frigid cold weather is not my favorite sight... despite the fact that our chances of winning are slim-to-none... despite all of that, I plop down on my couch to watch the entire game. Why? Because...

I'm Spider-born and Spider-bred
And when I die, I'll be Spider-dead!

And, I must say, as the the only school in the country with a spider for a mascot, University of Richmond is the only place in which I can proudly associate myself with the arachnoid family.

And, despite the fact that we did not win (ASU 55, UR 35), I am mighty proud of my Spiders for a game well-fought... one first at a time!

... next up, Spiders in Space!

Christmas

As Eartha Kitt saucily drums out 'Santa Baby..' for the twelfth time on the radio, and the population of small twinkling lights and inflatable figures of jolly old men increases all around, I am starting to get the message that this season called 'Christmas' is upon us once again! Plus, the 6 foot tall red-gold-and-tacky Christmas tree in my living room possibly gives it away. If not, then the Santa hats, which I have readily available in my book bag, certainly do...

Have you ever noticed that everyone wears red near Christmas time?

Have you noticed that gift giving is increasingly pressure-filled? To get the 'right' gift, to spend the same amount, to give someone their wildest dreams?

Have you noticed that Santa is everywhere?

Have you noticed that you have about ten gazillion parties to attend between now and Dec. 24th?

Have you noticed that when Dec. 25th rolls around, it strangely feels like a let-down after 31 days of build-up and hype?

Me too.

But what if... instead of these being silly things that we do around Christmastime, they are actually reflections of what we're really longing for? What if, instead of being things which distract us from the message of Christmas, they are reflections of our heart-longings for the true message of Christmas?

What if our desire to give the perfect gift is a reflection of the fact that Christmas is about the giving of the One perfect, spotless, unblemished gift? That's the theme of the season... yet we become so absorbed with our own "perfect" gifts that we lose sight of the perfect gift which we have already been given. When you give the "perfect" gift to someone, you know it! You see their look of pleasure, and you know that you have found something that delights them, satisfies them, and gives them joy. And it gives you joy to give it! How much more does our Heavenly Father take joy in giving us the perfect gift! What if, gift giving this season became an act of worship, rather than a position of pressure? What if we sought to give the "perfect" gift in recognition that we've already received the perfect gift, on this holiday that we celebrate?

What if Santa's prevalence is merely reflective of the fact that we're anxiously seeking after the one who can give us good gifts? We long for the one who can grant our wildest desires? Deep down, we all want joy and happiness, and all too often, we are looking in the wrong places for the Gift Giver. What if Santa is gives cheap imitations of the good gifts that we were designed for?

What if we celebrate with parties crammed into Christmas season, because that's what we were designed to do in light of Christmas? Have you ever wondered why we celebrate Christmas, in absence of Christ? What if we celebrate because the angels celebrated? The wise men left their houses, wrapped their gifts, and went to a party... (Herod was the five-0h shutting down the party). But what if our instinct to celebrate, party, and have fun during Christmas season is a reflection of the joy that we SHOULD have in light of Christ's birth, reflected even into the secular world?

And what if our disappointment at the end of Christmas day comes because Christmas celebrations do not END on December 25th? What if, we were designed to celebrate, have joy, and give good gifts, year-round. What if our let-down at the end of the Christmas-day comes because we realize that what we're basing our holiday on is missing the meat-and-potatoes? Christmas in absence of Christ is never satisfying. And Christmas that does not carry into the rest of the year is empty. At the end of Christmas day, the gifts we give and receive are never satisfying because they pale in light of the Good Gift that we were designed for, given Christmas day. At the end of Christmas, the party shouldn't end, because our joy doesn't depend on a fat jolly man. And at the end of Christmas, our story isn't over....

I can't do anything with the red legitimately. I'm very sorry. I have failed you. BUT, consider this: the Christmas story, the perfect gift, is not the completion of the story. The perfect gift came specifically for you and me, in full recognition that that would take going to the cross. That would mean the intention sacrifice of the perfect Son of God. What if, every time you see red this Christmas season, you and I remember that the Christmas story is not the end of the story. What if, that red leads you to remember the cross. And what if the cross leads you to remember the empty tomb?

What if the perfect gift isn't done giving? What if the party isn't over? And what if, when we speak the name of Christ in context during Christmas time, we see the whole picture? Not just the baby in the manager, not just the man upon the cross, but the risen Lord completing the perfect gift? It is finished.

What if everything about this season is a reflection of the real meaning of the season? What if, even in secular traditions, we see truth?

That's something to think about.

Just because...

Context: I emailed a woman at my current church, who knows someone from my home church in Winston-Salem, and she responded by telling me this story about our common acquaintances:

"This guy named Jim lived downstairs. He used to put his snakes out on the crepe myrtle in the backyard so it could sun itself while Beth and I were lying out back doing the same thing."

Side note: Jim and Beth are now happily married and have been for over 20 years.

Just goes to show...