i couldn't resist...

gotta love the dutch revolution...

kleenex moment

I learned something today from YouTube - sounds crazy, I know - and it only took a couple minutes of my time...something I've been distributing poorly as of late *sigh*.
I learned something about sacrifice and hope. I learned outlook and uplook is everything...and I saw the face of Jesus in broken humanity...it was beautiful...
and I cried...




I didn't post these to bring tears - but rather a reminder of a greater song that is sung in our lives when we're willing to sacrifice.
When we're willing to live HOPE out in our lives despite the painful and overwhelming circumstances.
When we tune our hearts to the upward calling in Christ Jesus - Creator, Saviour and the author and finisher of our faith.
He will run the race with us.
He will sacrifice at all cost.
He already has.

bah and humbug...

It’s beginning to look alot like...um...November?!!!
Already the stores are prepping us for the largest consumer event of the year...string up the lights folks, deck those halls and wrap those gifts...it's Christmas! Prepare to write off the next two calendar months with extensive gift lists, dinner parties, and countless shopping trips to "packed-to-the-max" malls filled with ruthless shoppers and over-worked employees.
So much for glad tidings...
I used to look forward to this holiday, but somewhere along the line I have lost my enthusiasm. Perhaps it is partially due to the amount of rude people I encounter whenever I find myself sucked into the vortex of shopping in the tail-end months of the year, or the fact that I have two months straight to listen to the 20 bagillion versions of "I'll be home for Christmas" and "Jingle Bell Rock". Maybe it's the tiresome treadmill of parties I have to attend and people I have to buy for that never seems to end, or the guilt trips I get to go on for not having something for everyone on "the list".
Or maybe, just maybe, it is the nature of the beast - the overindulgent materialistic all-consuming attitude that wraps its fingers around shoppers and party-goers alike - that has me disenchanted with the whole season. Media and marketers scream from every screen and shop - buy! buy! buy! more! more! more! Just when you think you've got the latest in gifts, decorations, or party dishes...something new hits the scene and causes a frenzie. We can't even consume enough in a regular shopping day, that stores have to open 24 hours to ensure everyone's tree is spilling out with giftware and the stockings are brimming! Tis the season for the most affluent society to show the world that we don't have enough already, as families will go into debt over today's "must buys" that will soon be tomorrow's dust collectors. I think I'd be physically sick to see the bottom line of how much our North American culture ponies up in the pursuit of a "happy holiday"...
Don't get me wrong - I love Christmas. I love getting together. I love giving to people. I love throwing parties. And I love Jesus. He was the greatest gift-giver there ever was...but somewhere in the midst of eggnog and icicle lights we've lost sight of that. We've lost touch with His heart - and instead of the ball, we've dropped the baby...
Another Christmas rant for all the grinches in the mix...