Two sleeps to go

I imagine that most families that celebrate Christmas have some sort of countdown similar to ours. We have counted down the sleeps to Christmas for many years now and we also use a similar countdown to other major events, but Christmas is the big one. So as you can see there are two sleeps to Christmas.

I recall counting down the sleeps when I was a child in Ireland. I remember waiting for Christmas morning to arrive to see what treasures Santa would bring. I vividly recall a Christmas when I sat by my bedroom window straining to hear the bells from the sleigh. I would sneak downstairs  in the hopes of catching Santa in the act. Unfortunately I was never successful at catching him, he was too quick for me, and of course all others.

Moving forward to my years of being a father to young ones, I recall their excitement as they waited for the big day. When they were little we had a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas eve, dressing Josh up as Joseph and Alex as Mary with baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling cloths in her lap. Somehow they do not want to dress up any more. In those days we would have the countdown as I did when I was much younger

Now that they are older and even though there are no teens in this house, the excitement is still there. Now they enjoy shopping and purchasing for others. They have caught the joy of doing something to bless others. They realize how much of a benefit there is in watching the eyes of the receiver as they open a gift planned and bought in love.

What an amazing transition, from wide eyed child to wide eyed father watching my beloved children as they have traversed the pages of time and seeing them with new eyes as their adult lives have begun to unfold. My gift this year will be watching them  give to others without reservation and to their Mom and I.

Two sleeps to go and I am eagerly anticipating being awoken early on Christmas morning by a 23 and 20 year old as they prolong their tradition of serenading us awake to their version of "We wish you a Merry Christmas". How else would I want it?

Two sleeps to go and I am so excited.

The shopping is done

Wow, unlike previous years I am finished with my Christmas shopping. For gifts that is. There's lots to do for the big meal yet, but I have completed the task of shopping for gifts for my beloved.

Now what?

I have time to stop.  That's an interesting sentence, "I have time to stop". The hustle and bustle have been completed and I have no other reason to go and negotiate for parking spots or anything else in the mall or on "main" street.

Now, my focus is on my final preparations for Christmas, which of course is so much more than a day. Christmas is a season, a time, a state of mind. In preparation I have been trying to read the applicable scriptures and A Christmas Carol. Now, I can stop and enjoy the warmth of the fire, the sweetness of the tea, the soothing of gentle music, the smell of ink on page and the sounds of my family as they laugh with and at together.

Now I can stop and think about the choice that was made long before the universe began. I can think about when the fullness of time God sent His son, born of a woman to redeem all of us who are "under the law". I can wonder, question, and scratch my head until my fingers ache and still not understand how this came about and yet it doesn't matter how because I know why. Why did all this happen? It did not happen so we could enjoy the season, it didn't happen so we could sorrow over those who will be missing from the table, it didn't happen to allow us to lavish our love on one another, not it happened because God wanted to lavish His love on us.

Simple really. He loves us so He sent us our "get out of jail free card" if I can be so crass.  This creation He loved needs a redeemer kinsman and this little babe in swaddling clothes grew to be the redeemer kinsman. We could only be bought and redeemed by one who understood our station, who know what it means to hurt, who knows what it means to be overjoyed by love, who knows what it means to cry.

Yes, the shopping is done, the final price is paid, the most amazing gift has been given.

What will you do with this gift this Christmas? Will you accept it or give it back. It cannot be regifted because everyone has been offered this gift. What will you do with this Christmas gift? It is time. The  question "now what" has been answered.

Yes or No?

Your eternal life hangs in the balance.

How are you preparing for Christmas?

So, with all this talk of buying and giving and wanting and all that what are you doing to prepare for the big day, or the season of Christmas? It's here already, the season that is, but what else are you doing to make it special for you and others.

 Some watch all the Christmas specials, the old ones, I cannot get through Christmas without seeing "A Charlie Brown Christmas", or Boris Karloff in "How the Grinch stole Christmas". Others put the music on, for me it has to be "The Messiah" and a collection of my favourite oldies, "White Christmas", the "Chestnuts" song by Nat and even "The Littler Drummer Boy" duet with Bing and Bowie. Others read the Luke 2 version and still others read Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".

We can't just let Christmas come without preparing. I'm not talking about the purchases, the food, the tinsel. I am talking about the emotional stuff that causes us to remember. I remember the first time I watched Charlie Brown and heard Linus speak those famous words about shepherds in the field. I cry every year when I watch the cartoon. Why? Because Charles Schultz got it right when he used the peanuts gang as an inclusive troupe to tell the real story about Christmas.

For me this year, I am reading A Christmas Carol. I don't like the Alistar Sim original version of the movie, I much prefer books. I will also spend time reading the gospels as they tell the story and charge us to "tell it on the mountain". Of course music will be playing regularly as I and we prepare for our son to be "Home for Christmas".

I am preparing for that 11 day period when the family foursome is finally together again, possibly the last Christmas we spend together in Canada for some time. His work may require him to be away next year and we will endeavour to join him wherever he is, so that we will be together for the Christmas season.

I am also preparing by thinking of those who are no longer with us on this earth. Both my parents passed at Christmas time over the years and you know of the loss of our friend this August. I will miss my Mom and Dad and my friend Ruth and will continue to do some of the things that my parents taught me about Christmas as part of a tribute and as a passing on of tradition and memories.

No matter how you are preparing for the celebration of Christmas, make time to remember why we celebrate Christmas. In the midst of the food, fun, gifts, movies, music and pandemonium take a moment and thank God for Jesus.

Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat and so are we

Snow is falling, carols are playing, presents are being purchased and wrapped, the malls are busy, the roads are clogged and for the most part, people have started to become pleasant again. Why is it that during the Christmas season a certain pleasantness comes over people? Well, except in the parking lot of the mall where finding a spot is a little like the proverbial needle ion the haystack, or more appropriately, the white iphone in the snow bank.

I love Christmas, I have the perfect picture in my mind as to how Christmas should be, it's a little between the "ideals" magazine and a Rockwell picture. But, it often ends up a lot more like an Escher picture. Why? We(myself included) set amazing expectations for ourselves and others about how Christmas should be. But it's never like that is it? Christmas brings disappointments just as every other day does.

There is a way to change and eliminate the disappointments and that is to change the focus. I wonder what would happen if we all agreed to stop spending outrageous amounts on each other and even on people we may not like and give all that money to a shelter for abused women or a mission who feed people who live on the street? Oh to assuage our guilt we may throw a few bucks into the kettle as we walk from store to store racking up hundreds nay thousands of dollars on credit to make others "happy".

I am starting to sound angry and I am ...........at myself. I love my family and friends, do I need to buy them things to show my love? I already have too much compared to 80% of the people in this world. When do we make changes that make differences to other people?

Emmanuel had everything, but he found that obedience was more important than holding onto a crown. So on that first Christmas in an amazing feat, He took off His crown and became a man child. He came that we would be forgiven and not have to buy our way into heaven, that would have been impossible. "O Holy Night" is playing as I type and the third verse says

"truly He  taught us to love one another, 

His law is love and His gospel is Peace

chains shall He break for the slave is our brother 

and in His name all oppression shall cease"

Instead of becoming fatter (like the goose) this year, why not give to someone else and show a little piece of that love to another person who really needs that tie, scarf or whatever. Do something to cease the oppression of poverty, homelessness and abuse. Maybe, just maybe that joy you give will continue as others bring joy and that peace that we all so desperately need will come.

Merry Christmas...................................your move..................and mine!

Christmas is coming

I am not on Facebook by choice.

I have enough electronic stuff to try to use without trying to use one to get friends. However, my beloved called me into the office a few hours ago to ask me to watch something that she had just received on Facebook.

I was blown away, I was in tears, I was awestruck. Just once I would love to be surprised by this even if it was in a mall. One thing, besides the quality of the musicians that struck me was the people who although not performing, stood. They stood in honour of the one who was being sung about and sung to.

How inspiring.

May you use this and other methods to prepare for Christmas. Some of you, just like my family will "celebrate" this Christmas with the absence of a loved one. This will undoubtedly be difficult, but focus on the reason for the season. We celebrate Christmas because death no longer has a sting, because the  grave has lost its' victory. 

We celebrate because of the birth of a babe in Bethlehem. His 33 years mean more than the sum of all time, because "He shall reign for ever and ever.............Hallelujah" 

Thank you Mr. Handel, thank you choir and thank you Jesus.

I was thinking about sandals recently........

Yes, sandals, and no, not the expensive resort although we have been planning a trip to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.

I have been thinking about the piece of foot apparel. I am not developing a fetish, so you can forget about those crazy ideas. I was thinking about these wonderful sandals that my beloved had me buy because they are supportive (both of them, the sandals and my beloved) and they should help me with my recovery. They were not cheap, they weren't even inexpensive, and they will help.

Thinking on those lines, I remembered as a youngster what my father would do in the late spring and early summer, when my feet would be getting too big for my shoes and there was no money for buying new shoes. My dad, along with all the dads on our street and probably most of Walkinstown and Dublin, would cut the front out of the shoes so that my toes could wiggle freely in the air without restriction. There was no shame in all this, everyone did it. Clearly, no one could afford the luxury of new shoes the way that we can buy them to the tune of Imelda Marcos. It doesn't appear to be something that happened in North America, at least my beloved never had this type of home made sandal.

It makes me think of the limited resources that my parents had. The were both born in 1921 and were married on June 5, 1944. They lived through times of abject poverty both in financial and emotional terms. But they found a way. My parents raised 7 children in a home smaller than my first home of 1000 square feet. They didn't have central heating (never mind air conditioning). The heated our home (the home I was born in; 109 Bunting Road, Walkinstown, Dublin 12) with coal. I can still remember the coal delivery days having to put newspapers down to try to minimize the inevitable dust the collier would leave behind. I remember going out to the coal shed to fill the scuttle and bring it in to heat the house. I remember laughter and singing. I remember the angry times too but as I get older the sad and bad memories are being replaced with the good and happy ones. I remember the many Irish Christmas mornings (I celebrated 11 there) and the orange in the stocking. We didn't have and couldn't afford fresh fruit, so Christmas was about more than toy presents, it was about a Jaffa orange, all the way from Israel. There was the mesh packets of Cadbury's chocolate, the annual compendium of games and the books, usually followed by my Dad saying to me "Robin, read everything you can get your hands on, it will be the best education you can get".

My Dad's pet name for me was Robin. I can't recall when that started, probably when I couldn't comprehend anything but food and nappies. He continued to call me that even for many years after we came to Canada. It was one of the ways that he demonstrated fondness towards me. There were many more, I'm sure.

That's what I love about doing this blog thing. One single thought, a mental picture becomes an engine through which my mind takes me through the forgotten recesses of memory. A simple thought about a sandal, a mere piece of footwear, has brought me back 45 or more years. What a gift I have been given with the ability to remember.

I wonder what will stimulate the next venture and bring the next memories to light? I have my book by my side so that when they do arrive like the birds at the feeder, I can write them down so as not to lose the thought.

Are you Ready?

"Are you Ready?"

Three of the most used words at this time of the year. For those who celebrate Christmas this has a multitude of meanings. It often means "have you finished your shopping yet?" it may also mean "are you ready for the onslaught of family as they trickle or avalanche in?" It may also mean "do you have enough booze"? as for some this is is a season of excess, and not just drink, food too. I wonder how many third world families I could feed with the food I am preparing for my family over the 48 hours of Christmas eve and day? That's another post at another time.

As a Christ follower, I have to ask myself "am I ready to participate in the celebration of His birth"? How do you prepare for such an event? The obligatory Christmas carols are playing (with a little Charlie Brown slipped in for good measure, thanks goodness for Vince Guaraldi). The family (four of us) is home, just like the song says. The stockings will be hung by the chimney (with care). We will go to church Christmas eve to hear nice music and a short message (thanks Dan) and then retire for some traditional (for us) fare. But what does all this have to do being ready? Glad I asked. It has nothing to do with "being ready" as far as I am concerned.

Being ready for Emmanuel (God with us) has nothing physical required in it's prescription, it requires actions of the heart and that is the challenge. It requires me to look into myself and complete a mental and spiritual checklist (not unlike seeing if I've been naughty or nice) to assess my readiness for the celebration of His birth. Looking into the word of God is a great part of this assessment and personally at this time, once again the Peanuts gang makes this easier for me, see the video below:

That's it!

Fear not!

Tidings of great joy for all people.

Saviour who is Christ the Lord

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth Peace and goodwill towards men

That's the assessment: I am not to fear, because there is great Joy because of the Saviour and this is not about me, but about God who will bring Peace and goodwill to all people (including me).

All I have to do is make a choice to be ready.

I'm ready, are you?

Merry Christmas!

Well I'm back -------- again

It's been a while and yes I have used that name for a post before. And yes, it's still the last three(or four if you want to be grammatically correct) words from The Lord of The Rings, as spoken by Samwise Gamgee.

I have taken a self imposed rest from the blog. I'm not sure why, but I did and I feel fine about that. Funny enough, twice this week, people mentioned that they missed the blog and wondered what I am doing.

I have so much to write about, I am feeling better, birthdays have passed, Christmas is coming, I am on Christmas holidays, Josh is coming home soon, you know all that stuff and of course there's "tiger".

He has been the fodder for many since his indiscretions became public. Let's start with him. I do not condone his behaviour. What he did was/is wrong and he disrespected his wife, family and the people he spent time doing things with too. Here is what I think, but first:

I am reminded of a story in the bible where Jesus encounters a woman, surrounded by some "godly men" apparently caught in adultery is about to be stoned (what punishment was prescribed to the man is unknown and leaves me wondering, but I digress, as usual). Jesus asks a few questions of her, and then kneels in the dirt and begins to write. The "godly" men who were about to stone her are seen leaving until no one is left (I have always wondered what Jesus wrote, I believe it is an account of their transgressions, but really have no idea). Jesus then asks her where her accusers are, and she tells Him the obvious, there is no one left to accuse her, and He then says, "neither do I, go and sin no more".

If each of us would be willing to measure ourselves by the same measuring stick that we measure tiger and others would we be left wanting? Of course, not many of us would be found guilty of adultery, but what about gossip, character assassination, theft, lying and so many more? Who measures sin? Oops that's what it all is. In God's eyes, "all have fallen short" each of these behaviours are unacceptable, yet in our self righteous manner we gossip (a sin that is mentioned as the tongue is dangerous thing) about tiger, cluck our tongues about his indiscretions and then hide our own from the rest of the world.

What hypocrites we are!

Until we get to the point in our lives that we recognize and are honest our own moral failings we have no place casting aspersions on anyone, no matter what they have done. We are not the judge and jury, that job has been taken by one who will not be usurped by a sin filled human.

Then there is Emmanuel, "God with us". Perfect in every way who came to set us free from the very things that we accuse others of. Please take a few moments and let the words of this song flow over you.

Three months to Christmas

I love Christmas, I love everything about Christmas, even the snow, which can leave on Dec.26 if I have my way. I am really looking forward to Christmas, I'm taking some time off, Josh will be home and I'm already starting to think about the menu.

We have loads of fun as a family and have begun to add new traditions. One that we started last year is that when Josh comes home we have a family dinner at Casa Rugantino in Kitchener. if you've never been there, you are missing a significant gastronomical treat. If you have had the pleasure, then you know what I'm talking about. It was great to sit in the dimly lit, tiny restaurant and enjoy the glow of an absolutely fabulous meal with Jo-Anne and the kids.

I have the opportunity to go there once in a while for lunch (their puffs are amazing, have the meat sauce on the side), it is much more special when it is the four of us. The service is awesome and the food is wonderful.

I don't like to wish my life away. You will never hear me hoping for the weekend, just to get past Monday or whatever day it is. I want to get everything possible out of today and (you know I almost said but) I am looking forward and anticipating Christmas and all that brings.

If you happen by my desk, you may even start to hear some Christmas music soon. Happy Christmas to all and to all a good "day".