A Really Cute Scarf

On the 3rd day of Christmas

12 days

“If what it takes for you this year to be present in this sacred, thin place, to feel the breath and presence of a Holy God, is to forgo the cookies and the cards and the rushing and the lists, then we’ll be all right with cookies from the store and a few less gifts. It would be a great loss for you to miss this season, the soul of it, because you’re too busy pushing and rushing. And it would be a great loss if the people in your life receive your perfectly wrapped gifts, but not your love or your full attention or your spirit. This is my prayer for us, that we would give and receive the most important gifts this season—the palpable presence of a Holy God, the kindness of well-chosen words, the generosity of spirit and soul. My prayer is that what you’ve lost, and what I’ve lost this year, will fade a little bit in the beauty of this season, that for a few moments at least, what is right and good and worth believing will outshine all the darkness, within us and around us. And I hope that someone who loves you gives you a really cute scarf. Merry Christmas.”

-Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way

Some one who loves me did give me a really cute scarf.  How *merry* is that?

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On the 3rd day of Christmas, Dave and his cast are striking the set following the outrageously successful run of “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!”    Stephanie and Tristan are celebrating their anniversary and we get the kids.  All 9 nine grandbebes were here yesterday for a while and I woke up to 6 of them this morning.  Candy and gum wrappers are everywhere (I have no idea how they got ahold of that stuff), a little fur-ball we call Tuppy-the-Puppy guarding my house with ferocious yipping and hair brushes and bows and sparkly little girl make-up and perfume filling the air.  Hunter went to take his morning shower and commented,  “That whole bathroom is full of little girls’ pants…ies.  They are everywhere!”  Yep, we are heavy on the grand-girls.

My niece, Rhonda, is moving to Colorado!  She just posted that the truck is packed and she is hitting the road from Oklahoma.  Everyone just back off and let her get here!  :)

A solid truth for the third day of Christmas?  I know you are just waiting for these everyday, aren’t you?

Jesus did not come to be served, but He came to serve and give His life as a ransom payment for us.  This blows my mind.   He tried to help the disciples understand that His Kingdom is upside down, but I think we still, even in the family-of-God, seem to run the whole show like we aren’t people of the Light.

Jesus told His peeps, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.”**  Jesus is the greatest.  And He came to serve.  He paid your debt.  Enjoy and receive His generous gifts and help in the time of need.

 

Rocky is our silliest

**Makes me think the next time we see some great ministry personality onstage, wow-ing the crowds and getting applause, we should look for the people who set up the chairs and vacuum afterwards or run the book table – the anonymous servant nobody seems to notice.  They probably have more insight from heaven than the face everyone wants to “friend.”

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