rebelling against low expectations
Unless you’re one of those early Christmas shoppers who have all their presents wrapped by Thanksgiving, Christmas gifts are probably on your mind right now. We all have special items we want to purchase for our family and friends and maybe a wish list of our own. If you’re stuck on what to give to the teens in your life, need some ideas on gifts that are both meaningful and fun, or want to give...
Christmas has always been the highest on my list of favorite holidays. It’s a magical time of year. The glowing lights, gift wrapping, shopping, classic movies, hot chocolate, cozy winter pajamas, family traditions, and special baking leave a sense of ready cheer and lightheartedness that is hard to “muster up” at other times of the year. These aspects of Christmas are nice; however, I began...
The holidays are approaching. There will be wonderful scents filling the kitchen as American families bake Thanksgiving meals. Casseroles cooking, turkey sizzling, and the sweet smell of pumpkin pie wafting through the air… can you smell it? After that, joyful music will be playing wherever you go, festive lights will brighten houses, and shopping centers will be decorated with wreaths. People...
Since I was small, I have loved poetry. The way it doesn’t just tell you something but helps you to see and feel it too. I’ve tried my hand at poetry many times, one such occasion was last Christmas. If there’s any time of year that lends itself to poetry, it’s Christmas. I sat on the sofa, staring at the tree, my pen poised above the paper. Half an hour later these stanzas looked at me from the...
All throughout the Bible, God appointed and chose people that were lowly in the eyes of the world to accomplish His will. One such example is Mary. Mary was just a normal girl, living in the city of Nazareth and betrothed to Joseph. Her age isn’t known, but it’s assumed that she was a teenager. I’m sure Mary had her own plans and expectations for how her life would go, until an angel appeared to...
Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy. It’s what all the Hallmark movies tell us, with their over-the-top decorations and picture-perfect events. It’s what all the songs talk about (It’s the most wonderful time of the year, right?) It’s advertised on every commercial and ad: if we just buy this or do that or decorate just so, we’ll be happy and we’ll have the best Christmas ever. Yet rather...
Last Christmas, I had a moment of real exasperation. I mean, yes, I could see where people were coming from. After all, I’ve heard the Christmas story countless times. So often that I keep thinking I should finally memorize Luke 2. Since I’ve heard it so often, memorizing that passage should be a piece of cake. But even though I’ve listened to it, read it – yes, even acted it out – a total of at...
One windy, chilly night in November as my dad worked on our cars in the driveway, we reminisced about Christmas memories. I talked fondly about three things I loved as a child: Fresh Christmas trees, cutting sugar cookies into festive shapes, then baking and decorating them with red and green sugar crystals, plus a cake to celebrate Jesus’ birthday complete with candles, if I remember right. My...
We don’t tend to think of dark things at Christmas. We think of light and joy; a content baby in a manger, who doesn’t even cry. (I always questioned that line in Away in a Manger.) Everything is sweet, happy, calm, and like a Hallmark movie. That’s what we think of when we think of Christmas. But 2020 has been anything but bright. A day ago, I saw a news station’s recap of 2020, and looked like...
My hopes of having a good holiday season this year weren’t that high. Because COVID has made 2020 stressful, isolating, and hard to navigate, I had my doubts that Christmas would be as enjoyable as other years. I didn’t expect to have a wonderful time because Christmas during a pandemic couldn’t be as special, right? In spite of such a hectic year, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to be savoring...
rebelling against low expectations
