The Work of Christmas

It is just a few days after Christmas. The wrapping paper is cleaned up and most of the leftovers are eaten. The cookie tins hold only crumbs, and the new gifts are being played with. I always love this last stretch of the year between Christmas and New Year's Day where we reflect on the past year, and look forward to the next.

There is so much expectation, so much excitement for the one, glowing day of Christmas. But the beautiful thing is that it isn't just one day, it's our lives. We can be "Christmas" every day to those in need of hope, love, joy, and peace. We can do the true work of Christmas day in and day out in every corner of the world. I love this poem by Howard Thurman, and I've reflected on it the past few years. I want to share it with all of you as you wrap up your December.

When the song of the angels is stilled,

when the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

when the shepherds are back with their flock,

The Work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among people,

To make music in the heart.

How fitting it is that we close each year remembering "God with us" who came to change our stories, so that we could change stories all over the world. I encourage each of you in your ministry this year as you bring peace, search for those who have lost their way, feed the hungry, and rebuild the nations. May you experience God's love and grace as you go forward into 2013!



Just whispering

I said that I wouldn't "see" you all until next year, but since I'm starting to plan out blog posts, I just had to step in here to whisper a few little questions:

Is there anyone out there who wants to write a guest post? Or join the blog team?
What do you want to see in this space in 2013?

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas yesterday and are continuing to enjoy the holiday season with your families!

Advent PEACE

I won't ask, "Are you ready for Christmas?" (Ready or not, it's coming.) However, I do want us to ask ourselves if our hearts are ready for Christmas and for Christ in every one of our days.

It's already time for the last Advent devotional. Peace is a lovely idea to focus on in a week that can be quite crazy.

[Jesus said] Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27

One of the questions from the devotional, that I'd love to see you answer right here: How can Jesus bring peace into your life today? And another question: Is your heart ready to celebrate His birthday?

See you all NEXT YEAR!

Tuesday Topic: Preparing ahead

For this month I am using some ideas that Olive suggested as blog topics. Since most of our writers are taking a break, I'm going to let you write about these subjects each Tuesday!

Do you have any practical tips for getting things done in advance to make Christmas Day (or any of the big days in this season) less stressful?

(If you have a “Tuesday Topic” question, please email it to me at fylliska@gmail.com. Provide your blog address if you would like to be linked to, or specify if you would like to remain anonymous. Thanks!)

Advent JOY

The Joy devotional for week 3 of Advent is here. If you have an Advent wreath with the traditional colors of purple and pink, this will be the week to light the pink candle for JOY. Christmas is close....

I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
Luke 2:10

Here are some of Danielle's discussion questions, straight from the devotional: What is joy? What do you think this means? What makes you joyful? (I would love to hear your children's answers to those questions, as well as your own!)

Tuesday Topic: Family Christmases

For this month I am using some ideas that Olive suggested as blog topics. Since most of our writers are taking a break, I'm going to let you write about these subjects each Tuesday!

How do you maintain a "family feel" to your Christmas (and other holiday) celebrations when they're also involved in ministry?

(If you have a “Tuesday Topic” question, please email it to me at fylliska@gmail.com. Provide your blog address if you would like to be linked to, or specify if you would like to remain anonymous. Thanks!)

Advent LOVE

Here is this next week's printable page. We've enjoyed our first week of Advent here. To be honest, there have been many crazy moments. Having a toddler who is obsessed with blowing out candles makes things exciting! But there have also been quiet, thoughtful moments, and I pray that Jesus is using this time to draw us closer to Himself.

This week we'll move on from a focus on hope and start to think about love: love embodied in Christ who came into this world for us.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son.
1 John 4:10

How is this season going in your home? What is God teaching you?

Tuesday Topic: Holiday recipes (and answered prayer)

For this month I am using some ideas that Olive suggested as blog topics. Since most of our writers are taking a break, I'm going to let you write about these subjects each Tuesday!

First:
What are your favorite holiday dishes? Can you make them on the field? Do you have to adapt them? How?

Also, as a second topic:
It's been a month since we last asked for specific prayer requests. Do you have any special answers to share? Please go back and reread the comments from then, and then share here.

(If you have a “Tuesday Topic” question, please email it to me at fylliska@gmail.com. Provide your blog address if you would like to be linked to, or specify if you would like to remain anonymous. Thanks!)

Advent HOPE

This first week of the devotional that Danielle wrote and so kindly shared is ready for you to print out and read tomorrow night! (Or use it stretched out over the next week, or however fits for your family, of course. Some years we've found that Monday nights work much better than those tired and busy Sundays that ministry families tend to have.)

Here is Danielle's intro to her family Advent devotions:

Celebrating Advent is a way to help your children make meaningful connections, and focus on Jesus during the time leading up to Christmas. Each week, with the lighting of the candle, you can share with your children about the true Light of the World.

What is Advent?
Start the Advent season by introducing the concept to your children by explaining it is a special season where we look forward to the arrival of Jesus. The word “advent” comes from a word meaning “coming” or “arrival,” and the Advent season is all about waiting for the coming of Christ.

Waiting in expectation for something to happen means that we are excited for it to happen, just like each year as the weeks go by leading up to Christmas we get more and more excited for the day to arrive. The way we feel at Christmas is the way that people felt for many, many years as they waited for God’s promised gift, the Messiah, to arrive.

The Advent wreath is made of evergreen which is a symbol for eternal life--life that lasts forever and ever. It is always green so it reminds us of always being alive forever and ever. We can live forever because Jesus came to the earth.

The candles of Advent represent light. Jesus is the Light of the world, and He shines like a bright candle in the darkness. The world can be sad and hard sometimes but when we know Jesus we always have light and these candles remind us of that.

In our own family (this is Phyllis writing now) we had a fun night of "preparing to prepare" last night. Tonight we'll continue that, with pulling together our Advent wreath. And then on Sunday we should be ready to start reading and preparing our hearts along with all of you here.

Also, I've discovered a new-to-me resource for moms. I'll be reading their Advent devotionals myself, starting on Monday. Their themes match up perfectly with ours here; we're just a week behind them. So, if you have a minute, you might head over there, and watch their Advent intro or hope video and read a post they have about hope. (Another side note: I'm super excited about the translations GMG has available or in progress. Russian and Ukrainian are even coming soon! I could see myself printing out these books and sharing with a group next year....)

We'd really love to hear about Advent in your homes! If you write about it on your blog, please give us a link below, or just tell us in the comments about how this first week goes for you. And let's be thinking about hope: how do you define HOPE?