Christmas

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We Fit More People In Than I Thought We Could

You can always fit more people in than you think you can. This has been proven over and over, but we just proved it once again. 

We Fit More People In

I remember in the 70’s – before seat belts were a must – we would, at times, pile insane amounts of people into cars.

Sometime we would do it for fun, but mostly it was out of necessity. We frequently needed to transport more people than there were available seats in the vehicles. It was routine that we would go somewhere with friends, often sitting in the back seat, squished between two guys, with two or three girls sitting on our laps. 

It was similar to a gang tackle in football, only we were under the pile a lot longer. 

Sometimes we would shoehorn so many friends into a car that we had to ask someone to move a bit so we could shift gears. For long trips that wasn’t bad, but for city driving it meant for a lot of moving parts.

Well, for the first time in 24 years, we hosted the Christmas meal at our home. We really should have done it the first year we moved back to Ontario – we would have had a few less people. But having the whole family for Christmas dinner at our place this year, as apposed to 24 years ago, created an even bigger space issue. 

In 1996, 6 of the 14 family members at the meal were 7 and under. Not now – everyone is an adult – no little people anymore. 

We have a dining table that seats 8. With some creativity and ingenuity from my wife, we were able to up that to 12 people. That left 6 people eating standing up, so we brought in a folding table that extended into the living room.

It was going to work we could fit everyone in. But when everyone started to arrive and the tables were set up, it didn’t leave a lot of room for people to mingle. 

There were people sitting in the living room but then a whole lot of others standing around the perimeter of the room … much like a bunch of junior highers at a school dance.

 Fortunately we soon saddled up to the tables and got down to some serious eating. 

And when dinner was over, we pushed the extra table against a railing in the living room and shortened the dining room table. People spread out to other parts of the house; some went downstairs to the family room. Before too long the family was fitting in the space.  

I’ve been to parties where there was a crowd in every room you entered, wall-to-wall people. It was not nearly that bad … certainly not too crowded for a day.

The day after I was talking with a friend and told him about the 18 people we had over to our little home and he just smiled at me. Then he said, “We have 16 people living in our house all the time.” 

… Maybe we should have the whole family over every weekend.

Here’s the thing: People have joined God’s family for over 2000 years, putting their faith in Jesus Christ. We don’t know when Christ will come back, but one thing we know is that there will always be room to fit more in. So if you have not joined God’s family by claiming Christ as your Saviour, the time to do that is now.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How can you strengthen you family ties? Leave your questions and comments below.

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It’s The Worst Part Of Christmas

What’s the worst part of Christmas? … I know it’s not what you would usually think of at this time of year, but I was faced with something I don’t really like and that’s when I started wondering. 

worst part of Christmas

I’m sure that everyone has their own idea of the worst part of Christmas. For some people it might be the stress of entertaining. For others it’s all the gatherings. For most children it’s probably the waiting.

For me, maybe the worst part of Christmas is the wrapping of presents. 

I’ve just never really liked it. Much like shopping, it seems to suck the life out of me. After spending an hour wrapping four or five presents, I’m tired and exhausted.

Yes, I know some of you are questioning what takes me so long to wrap presents.  

Maybe it’s my dislike of the task that drags it out for me. I just can’t wrap presents quickly.

I liked it about twenty years ago when people would put a present in a bag with drawstrings. It was like a hoody for presents! Wrapping took no time. 

Sadly, it seems that that fad has faded and we are left with the good old wrapping paper and tape.

When I was a kid, my aunt wrapped presents the best. They were perfect, and perfectly coordinated with the bow. … I can never seem to get the corners sharp or the paper tight around the present. 

Some people are able to do a nice job of wrapping a present, but they cheat. They use so much tape that it’s near impossible to unwrap their gift. Those people have lost the focus that it’s the gift and not the wrapping that is the most important thing. 

However, a well-wrapped gift is sure inviting … it’s just so painful to do. Sometimes you have to work with a subject that is an odd size or shape, making the task even more difficult and painstaking. 

At least the wrapping paper creators have done one thing that is nice. They have put little guidelines on the back side of the paper to help with cutting. There’s still skill involved because, even with the grid pattern, I can’t seem to cut a straight line.

And then there is the aftermath. After you’ve worked so hard and long at wrapping the gift, it is opened in a second or two … unless you doubled down on the tape.

I remember the days in the living room of the home I grew up in. Mom stressed with every present that was being opened, pleading, “Save the paper!” 

She was so ahead of her time, wanting to save the trees. What an environmentalist she was.

Now that paper hits a green garbage bag before the plastic shrink wrap is ripped off the box.

Wrapping presents – it’s the worst part of Christmas. Let’s bring back present hoodies.

Here’s the thing: I think the worst part of Christmas for Mary and Joseph might have been right after Jesus was born. I imagine they looked around at where they were, and at their baby who didn’t look any different than any other baby. It had been a hard and difficult nine months. Nothing seemed special about this child. Maybe they questioned the angel visits they had both had. But then the shepherds came in. They told the story of what the angels had said and sung about their little baby. And then looking at the face of Jesus, Mary and Joseph knew God had done this. They were actually holding this gift. Make sure you are holding God’s gift this Christmas. You can’t hold Him in your arms, rather hold Him in your heart. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Questions: What’s the hardest part of Christmas for you? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I Can Predict Stress In Others

There are times when stress can be very predictable: when you are moving into the last phase of a project and experiencing a time crunch, or when there is a lot on the line and there’s no margin for error.

… Or when you are going to a Christmas gathering with family. 

Family times when I was young were never stressful, but I do remember that my mom especially would show signs of stress at some points. 

Now, as an adult, I understand the stress that is involved in family Christmas gatherings. And sometimes that stress makes everything a little more taxing on our emotions. 

For instance, each Christmas we do a trip up to Ottawa and a trip down to Toronto to cover both sides of our family.

Though we have to travel, we also have some responsibilities in the preparation of the events. 

For the trip to Ottawa, I, apparently, had to bring my computer for a game. Lil, well, she just had to buy some presents, wrap them, make a salad and cook one main dish for the meal.

For my role, I needed to plug the charger into my computer to be sure the battery was at 100% and I had to cut out of hockey early to make sure I was home in time to leave. 

Now this is an aside, but it seems that every time we get extra ice time, I have some commitment preventing me from staying as long as I’d like. 

This was the case this morning. I stayed longer than I should have and was all prepared for a lecture on tardiness and that we should have already left.

That didn’t happen because Lil was busy putting the final touches on the salad and bemoaning the fact that she burnt the meatballs.

She had me taste one to see if they were really burnt and, yes, they were. Apparently she had forgotten to turn the slow cooker off at midnight.

So a discussion took place about what we could do. There was one opinion of, “Hey, sometimes you get burnt meat balls; no big deal!” 

But Lil didn’t want to bring inferior food. 

So, at the last minute, I headed to the grocery store to buy more meatballs while Lily made more sauce. The plan was to start cooking the new batch in the slow cooker at home and then continue the cooking process in the slow cooker in the vehicle on our drive to Ottawa.

Saturday mornings are usually pretty quiet and calm around here, but this morning we had two extra bodies with our kids home for Christmas and, of course, we had the stress of getting up to Ottawa with food for family Christmas dinner.

I thought once we were in the car some of the stress would be gone … but there were road conditions, the speed of the driver, and who was in control of the music.

… All those variables have the potential of raising the stress in the vehicle.

And all this stress is caused by expectations – what certain people expect, and what they think others will expect. It is compounded when other people in the family don’t live up to expectations or they don’t help others meet their expectations.

… Our two hour drive gave us time to refocus on relating to one another rather than the expectations we each had had.

Here’s the thing:  We can be stressed with God if we feel we are not meeting His expectations. We could even be stressed thinking that God is not helping us meet our expectations. But if you simply stop thinking about His expectations and start to thinking about His love for you, that will influence your actions, responses and thoughts … and remove your stress.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has you stressed lately? Leave your comments below.

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Is it Really Over?

Today’s post is from a guest writer, my wife. Every now and then Lily gets inspired to write a post of her own. It comes at the right time to give me a little break. Merry Christmas and enjoy.

It’s December 26th and, just like that, it’s over. 

In the last few weeks, we bought presents, baked, decorated two trees, strung lights, put up decorations, organized costumes and children programs, prepared readings, gave gifts, cooked food, planned services, set up extra beds, wrapped presents, delivered poinsettias, sang carols … and now it’s over.

Our daughter has packed up and gone home; our son will leave later today. Work is calling.

December 25th was a peaceful day. The hustle and bustle of the previous weeks stopped and we paused to gather and celebrate, eat, relax and reflect. It was Christmas. 

As I went for a walk this morning – the morning after – the neighbourhood was still fairly quiet … just a few signs of life, of people stirring after a day of quiet and peaceful celebration. 

A few cars were warming up in driveways, getting ready to take their owners back home from the holiday. Two people were out walking their dogs, getting back into routine after a day of relaxing.

But as I turned a corner, I saw a sight that stopped me in my tracks. A woman was hauling a Christmas tree out her front door. She lugged it down the driveway and heaved it into the back of a pick-up truck. And there it lay, upside-down and bare, except for one lonely piece of tinsel that stubbornly clung to one of its branches. 

I couldn’t help but notice that it was a beautiful tree. It had a perfect conical shape, and was a lovely shade of green. It still looked very much alive … and very out-of-place dumped in the back of a truck like garbage.

To think that the day before it had been the centrepiece of that home, beautifully adorned with hundreds of lights, and carefully chosen ornaments. 

And in a mere 24 hours it had gone from the home’s showpiece to a meaningless extra that was quickly discarded. 

The sight somehow made me sad. … Was it really all over that quickly? Done? Finished? Discarded for another year? … Do I already need to start packing everything away?

Christmas Day seems like a serene pause in an otherwise chaotic world. It’s the only day that seems to have that effect on our society, our world. I wish it didn’t have to end!

But does it?

Sure, the trees and decorations eventually need to come down. And yes, most of us need to return to work … and for sure all of us need to stop binging on Christmas baking.

But, when you think about it, Christmas was never meant to be a one day celebration!

Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. In Matthew 1:20 in the Bible, it says, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.”

Immanuel – God with us. 

The Almighty God of the universe is with us. His appearance and presence on this earth was not a one day event. He is Immanuel, God with us … still … now.

Here’s the thing: God with us … Why would we ever want to discard that truth or even pack it up and ignore it most of the year? When you think about it, God should be the centrepiece and focus of our lives all year round, not discarded like an old Christmas tree the day after Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Lily

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Just In Time For Christmas!

Just two days before Christmas we got a light covering of snow here in Kingston, Ontario. The white stuff came just in time for Christmas day. 

Some how, for us living in Canada, the presence of snow puts us in the Christmas mood. It feels like Christmas when everything glistens in white under the moon.  Snow makes Christmas.

There is a passage in the Bible that says, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.”

Like the snow came at just the right time, this year, Jesus came to us at just the right time.

That passage goes on to say, “God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.” (Galatians 4:4-5, NLT)

At just the right time, Jesus came, so that we could be made right with God. God wanted us to be part of his family, and Jesus makes it possible.

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.

And thank you for reading my blog.

That’s Life!

Paul

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A Change Can Be As Good As Something New

Sometimes a change is as good as something new. I’ve heard that saying, or something like it, before.

It’s often true – if you change something, you’ll get the same reaction or feeling as if you got something new. 

The other day I put the Christmas lights up on our house. It was a perfect time to do it; it wasn’t raining and the temperature was a mild, 8 degrees Celsius. 

I had heard that the temperatures were going to drop the next day so it was the right time to get those lights up. 

We’ve lived in our house for over 22 years – that’s 22 Christmases. All that time, I’ve had basically the same pattern of lights on the house. 

It’s not fancy – I’m not trying to compete for the most decorated house on the street or the neighbourhood. I have no desire to have people driving by our house every night just to see the lights and display. 

… When we lived in Edmonton, there was a street they called Candy Cane Lane. I don’t know what it’s like now, but when we lived there the police would have to alter the traffic and make the street one way during the Christmas season.

Every house on the street had elaborate Christmas displays. There was one house that had wrapped Christmas presents hanging all over a big old tree in the front yard. All the presents were to Dad from Santa … lucky guy!

Charities collected gifts for the needy and sold hot chocolate to raise money. 

Let me tell you, it was a production! Home owners really went all out to make it a special occasion for the thousands who would do the slow drive down the street, or park and walk it. 

I’m sure people buying homes on that street had to sign a waiver that they would continue to promote the Christmas spirit by decorating the front of their houses each year.

Well, that’s not me. I have a standard lighting configuration. I string lights along our garage and up and down the peak of our roof. 

There was a short time when I put some lights along a fence, but that didn’t last. 

Oh, and I always put a couple of coloured spotlights pointed at the house, to light up some bushes, the front brick and living room window. 

It’s worked well for years. I can put those lights up in my sleep.

But this year I had an idea: Instead of lighting up the front of the house with the spotlights, why not light up the big tree in the middle of our front yard? 

Why didn’t I think of this years ago? 

It’s like a whole new display this year!  And all I did was buy a longer extension chord, and point a red spot directly on our big rock by the tree. I pointed the other red and green spots up at the tree, letting the colours blend together as they shone on the branches. 

It’s just a little change but it looks and feels like something new.

Here’s the thing: Maybe you’ve been spending time with God the same way for years, or you’ve been serving in the same ministry for a long time. Maybe you’ve had the same long time friend for years. You don’t have to quit what you are doing, or do something radically different to spruce things up. All you need is a little change and that time with God, that ministry you serve in, or that friendship will feel new and fresh again. Just a little change can make all the difference.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What could you change to make something new again? Leave your comments below.

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I Propose We Make An Adjustment To Christmas

I’ve been doing a bit of a review of Christmas and I think we need to make an adjustment going forward.

This, of course, is coming from a guy who only works one day a week and on the same day every week … they call us pastors.

No.

I don’t really only work one day a week, but I’ve had many conversations with people over the years who think I only punch the clock on Sundays.

But like that same, one day I work each week, I think that we should celebrate Christmas on the same day of the week every year.

You know, they do that with the Super Bowl and with Thanksgiving and, well, there are many holidays we celebrate on a certain day of the week.

It’s birthdays we don’t celebrate on any particular day of the week, but on whichever day they land on.

… I guess I see the point of Christmas falling on different days of the week. After all, we are celebrating the birthday of Christ.

But the thing is we don’t really know what day he was born on so the actual day is not as significant as, say, what day June 16th falls on. That’s my birthday, by the way.

And here is my big appeal, my proposal for when we celebrate Christmas: let’s set Christmas Day as being the Monday on or following December 25th.

So what if some years Christmas would fall on New Year’s Eve – like next year? That’s even better – we’d get two holidays in a row!

Sure, some people who normally get the week off between Christmas and New Year’s would get ripped off a little. … Maybe they could just give everyone the week off following Christmas/New Year’s.

I’m just proposing this because a Monday Christmas would work so much better into a pastor’s schedule.

And who’s the busy guy around Christmas anyway?

No, not Santa – a pastor!

This Christmas has been the easiest on my life in years. And I have to wait for 2023 until this same scenario comes around again.

This year there was thankfully no Christmas Eve Service on a Wednesday, leaving me just two days to get a sermon ready while trying to enjoy my family being around.

Yes, there are things we pastors do to prepare for those kinds of years, but it definitely puts more pressure on us.

We don’t get to relax and fully immerse ourselves in family, fun and food … well, maybe we do get to fully engage in the food part.

The bottom line is that having Christmas on a Monday gives me the most time to be prepare for the next Sunday. It gives me more wiggle room to be all in for both Christmas celebrating and Christmas work.

Something tells me that this is only a pipe-dream of mine and that we are not going to set a specific day of the week to celebrate Christmas on.

I guess I’ll just have to keep preparing for Christmas like always and look forward to six years from now when I’ll get to enjoy Christmas like I did this year.

Here’s the thing: We can enjoy the Christmas holiday; we can also busy ourselves so that it’s not so enjoyable. The most important thing is that we celebrate and worship Christ all year long, every day. There should be no set day for that. Make every day the day you spend time with God, and thank Him for sending Jesus.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What did you like best about this Christmas? Leave your comments below.

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I’m All Prepared For Christmas

This time of year is all about being prepared. Christmas has a deadline that seems to sneak up on most of us every year.

There have been years, like this one, where I have been prepared for Christmas. Coming down to the last few days, I’m not panicked about still finding that one main gift for Lily.

But this year may be more of an exception for me. I don’t remember feeling this ready for Christmas very often.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those people who has my shopping done by mid-September. But this year, I bought Lily’s main gift in early November.

That might not be early for some people, but for me that’s like buying Christmas presents in July – it was a very early purchase.

And I wrapped things up a full five days before the big day. For me that’s so liberating because other things are also pressing on me.

One thing I was not prepared for this week was my board meeting. I had all the reports and data ready for the meeting but it was the presentation, the flow of the meeting that I was not prepared for.

I thought I had scheduled enough time to put some thought into how long to spend on each section and item, and how to present one new thing I wanted to start with the board.

But I ran into a few unexpected and unplanned encounters and I was late. I was only prepared on paper and not completely prepared to lead that meeting.

As for how the meeting went, let’s just say I didn’t sleep very well that night and I was still kicking myself the next day.

The funny thing about being prepared for Christmas is that we know when it is every year. It comes as no surprise.

The stores advertise well and offer bargains before Christmas to get you to come in and buy your presents.

We’re also becoming programmed by the US to start thinking about Christmas shopping at the end of November. Canadian stores even offer Black Friday sales the same weekend they do in the States … and we don’t even have a holiday then!

There really is no reason not to be prepared for Christmas every year. Yet if we procrastinate, and finish just at the deadline, we probably won’t change. It will become our pattern and we’ll run the risk of not being prepared for Christmas year after year.

Here’s the thing:  Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of Christ, His coming into the world. It may feel like a deadline, but it’s really a beginning – a beginning that leads to a deadline. Christ came into the world so that we could be prepared for the end of our time here. He did all the work for us by dying on the cross for our sin and rising to bring us a relationship with His Father. Our deadline is what we need to be prepared for and to not put off; we never know what tomorrow will bring. It’s the most important deadline there is for each of us. Be prepared; be prepared well in advance.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s the deadline that has you stressed right now? Leave your comments below.

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My Family Christmas Is Filled With Anticipation and Expectation

Every trip we take is packed with anticipation and expectation.

It doesn’t matter how long the trip will be or what kind of trip it is, these two elements are stuffed into everywhere we go.

Let me explain …

As I write this piece, it’s 6:30 am – about an hour and a half before we leave for our annual trip to Toronto for my side of the family’s Christmas.

We’ve made this one-day, 3 hours there and 3 hours back trip for the last 21 years in a row.

And I am anticipating the trip. … I think my blood pressure was up a little today just knowing that we will be leaving soon.

I woke up this morning before my alarm – which doesn’t happen too often – which is another indicator of my anticipation.

I’ve been thinking of what I have to do, and the timing for getting everything ready to leave on time.

We have anticipation for every place we go, even if it is going to the corner store for milk.

The other element is the expectation. Here is where the trip gets interesting. This expectation is based on and feeds off of our history, experience and knowledge.

For instance, today when we leave I have 21 years of experience making this trip at this time of year. So when I see or hear of possible road conditions, I immediately think of several trips that had the same conditions.

Last night it was snowing and the roads were pretty greasy. That type of snow on the roads will make for a more stress-filled trip.

It brings to mind our trip in 2004 when there was only one lane of traffic and every car was in single file going 40 km’s per hour.

Well, that was until a bus blew by us going 100 and I realized that was our only chance to make it. I plowed over the ruts, got in the bus’s tracks and left the traffic in the dust … I guess I should technically say we left the traffic in the snow.

Last night the snow stopped at about 1 a.m.; the road crews should have cleared the highway of snow by now.

So my experience tells me today’s trip will be a little less stressful and a little quicker.

When the roads are clear, my expectations change and it impacts my anticipation.

I know when we have to leave, and what I need to gather together to be ready to leave, and at what time I need to do various things to be ready to leave on time.

I have my anticipation and expectation locked for this trip.

Wait! Stop the presses! My son just texted me; I have to pick him up right now.

Wow – everything has suddenly changed and my mind and emotions have to adjust to reset my expectation and my anticipation.

Here’s the thing: Every time we pray to God, it is like a trip we take with Him. We approach God with anticipation and expectation. But God is all-knowing and all-powerful; He may change your expectations and your anticipation in a flash. Don’t try to figure God out or put Him in a box; just go with the conditions and trust Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: In what ways have you put God in a box? Leave your comments below.

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I’m Feeling The Christmas Pressure

It must be time to put up the Christmas lights; I’m feeling the pressure.

Today I’m watching Lily decorate our upstairs Christmas tree. That’s right, we have an upstairs and a downstairs Christmas tree.

The upstairs one is hers. She decides what goes on it, and she does all the work. The downstairs tree is sort of the family’s tree; it has home-made decorations that we have given each other over the years.

Lily pretty much … well, actually completely puts that one up, too.

My line is that she takes care of the inside and I do the outside.

Just watching her do her thing puts the pressure on me to get moving with the outside lights.

But that’s not the only place from which I’m being pressured to get my task done.

There are several neighbours who already have their lights up. And when I drive down the next street, the homes there seem very much into the Christmas spirit.

About seven years ago I started thinking that people were putting more effort into Halloween decorations than they were Christmas. Now I think people are putting the same effort into decorating for Christmas as they do for Halloween.

For generations Christmas lights have basically been the same. You figured out a pattern of lights that worked on your house and you put them up every year. The only thing that you changed was the bulbs when they burned out.

Now there’s way more stuff!

They have big blow-up Christmas characters – I’m not talking about the baby Jesus and wise men; I’m talking about Frosty and Santa. Some of these blow-ups are as tall as a house!

There are also elaborate laser light shows that change rapidly and cover the whole front of a house.

It’s a big deal! And it seems that every year it’s getting to be an even bigger deal.

Not for me though. I’m old school; I have my pattern of how the lights go up and I just repeat that every year. I’m not trying to add anything new. I just hope that I can find the same eavestrough hooks I used last year.

What’s got me feeling the pressure to get my lights up today is that so many of my neighbours have their lights up, but I’m the Christian guy.

I’m the one who is really supposed to be into Christmas and I feel like not having my lights up yet is saying to them all that I don’t care as much as I should.

There is one other pressure and that’s the weather. It’s a nice day out there today – a balmy 8° Celsius (46 Fahrenheit). The chances that it will stay this warm for much longer are slim.

So between my wife, the neighbourhood, my perceived neighbours’ expectations of me and the weather, today’s the day when the lights go up.

I’m feeling the pressure.

Here’s the thing:  We feel pressure to do outward things, but do we feel pressure to do inward things? It’s hard not to give in to what we see in the world around us or what others are doing. But are you compelled in the same way to respond to what God wants you to do? The pressure to do outward things like put up the lights comes from within; we pressure ourselves. We should put that kind of pressure on ourselves to respond in obedience to what God wants us to do. Faith without obedience is not much good at all.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What should you put pressure on yourself to be doing? Leave your comments below.