Sometimes you get to the end of a year, and you say, “I can’t believe we’re already at the end of ______!” (Insert current year there…) I don’t feel that way this year. It’s been a good, full year. Must have been not too full? That’s nice.

I thought it would be fun to make a list. So, here you go: (Warning, this list will most likely continue to grow…)

My Top 50 (or so…) Things from 2005 (in no particular order)

1. Finding out we were going to have another baby, and all is still well.
2. Podcasts
3. My own podcasts: basicmm radio, then Buffalo Bills Review.
4. Publishing my first book, A Journey Shared
5. Watching our daughter Kirsten move from infant to toddler, though she still won’t talk… 🙂
6. Watching God patiently transition us through various stages of our journey with him this year
7. This blog page – and all the great chances to think life through with so many of you
8. Apple. What can I say? I am a huge fan. 🙂
9. The Tones Family. They’re our neighbors, and great friends.
10. Old friends (local): Stupins, Weigels, Velasquezes, Joneses, Schoenfelders
11. New friends (local): Mahoneys, LaBarges (J/C), Shoemakers, McHenrys (the last three are new in that we never really got to hang out as much as we did in 2005)
12. Doing another Growing Kids God’s Way class with those last three families, and the several times I stuck my foot in my mouth (thanks for your patience everyone…)
13. Ian turned seven. Seven. We have a 7-yr-old.
14. PCTC 2005. A fun weekend with friends (our band: Mike, Ben & Jesse) and we even grabbed a great recording from it!
15. Basketball on Wednesday mornings with Steve
16. A great return trip through Florida, visiting family and friends – even a free visit to Disney!
17. Kirstie Turned One! 🙂
18. A very nice wrap up to three great years with Crosswinds
19. A new venture: GregsApples.com
20. Discovering that there really is no science to pulling a tooth. I paid a man to use a shiny pair of pliers to yank a tooth from my head. No special technique… just lots of yanking.
21. A crazy new schedule with lots more time for family, and friends. (With a big reduction in the number of meetings and gigs and other obligations.)
22. Seeing God provide work for me in web and graphic design, and watching him provide for our family through that.
23. Chill & Grill. 🙂
24. The Apple Store at Eastview Mall. Only 20 minutes from our house. Waiting in line with 1000 other crazy Apple fans for the grand opening, getting 5 free (COOL) t-shirts!
25. My Grandma’s 80th bday party, and my cousin Jimmie’s wedding – with almost all extended family present! Fun!
26. Traveling to Clinton, NY in heavy snow to sing for 10 people and then nearly getting snowed in that night on our way out to the hotel. On top of that, the driver side windshield wiper FLEW OFF (and broke). Very nice. 🙂
27. Getting to talk with three former Buffalo Bills (Don Beebe, Darryl Talley, and Frank Reich) in in-depth interview for the Buffalo Bills Review. That was fun.
28. Going to FOUR Bills games this year!
29. Having great conversations with friends about the reality of God in everyday life. Over dinners, over IM, on the phone… wherever and whenever God arranged for that to happen.
30. Hearing our baby’s heart beat. Seeing our baby moving.
31. An amazing weekend with my wife, whom I love, in Maine – WITHOUT KIDS – thanks to her amazing parents!
32. A great rest of the week with our kids up in Maine exploring waterfalls, playing games, watching the Dukes of Hazzard and eating great food.
33. Swimming in an outdoor pool in 30º weather! (It was heated… but still…) 🙂
34. Dukes of Hazzard. (Deserved a second mention)
35. Netflix.
36. A full year of using this amazing office my Dad made happen. (I work from our attic… that one year prior was completely unfinished. He’s pretty amazing, too.)
37. Being the recipient of my parents’ amazing generosity. My in-laws too.
38. Catching the winning touchdown pass while falling down in the end-zone in overtime in the 8th annual Chili Bowl
39. Singing a million and one Christmas songs in various coffee shops and other retail locations around Rochester, NY this December.
40. Have I mentioned Jen? Another year with Jen is always a privilege. God continues to shape me through her.
41. Watching Alex love football. He really, really loves it.
42. Setting up a fun computer station for the boys. (and kirstie..)
43. Online chats – what did we do before IM?
44. Skype is pretty cool, too…
45. Introducing Tara to Skype 🙂
46. Janet Reiprisch
47. Tuesday Night Bowling
48. 1st Fridays at Reflections
49. Cici’s Pizza and Skyline Chili within minutes of my parents house in Ohio
50. 100,000 miles on our faithful family van
51. Watching Ian learn to read, better than most 5th graders. (He just turned 7 yesterday.)
52. Reading with my daughter after her bath at night
53. Seeing Alex smile.
54. Reading the Bible with my boys when they wake up at nine-three-oh.
55. Monday Night walks to the Library.
56. Making home-made pizza with the boys.
57. Making Christmas cookies with the family.
58. Alex asking, “Is there football on tonight?” on Tuesdays.
59. “Discovering” Swift’s Landing park
60. Watching Star Trek at the end of most days with Jen
61. Free hot donuts at Krispy Kreme!

There’s obviously so much more. I might add a few more if I think of them. But, that’s a pretty decent list. We’re going to be traveling at the end of the year here, so this will probably be the final post for 2005. (Or, maybe not.) Hope your year was as great as mine.

By far the best thing this year though has been the amazing transformation God is working in our lives as a family, and especially in me personally to learn to trust Him more every day and to live in the reality of Him every day in every place. Deeper than I knew possible.

That has been my 2005.

Have you heard this term? It seems to be cropping up in many circles. I am not certain as to the totality of the meaning that phrase might encompass, but essentially, it seems to be the catch phrase for a new way of “doing church”.

It’s not necessarily a generational thing, though it does seem to have some foundation in the genuine relational aspects desired by the generations after the so-called Generation X. It’s not about the “Seeker-Driven” services made popular by the mega-churches, like Willow Creek in Chicago. It’s primary focus, it would seem, is in equipping believers to live life every day with Jesus and to go out into the world and make disciples, like the Great Commission says.

That’s all great! I am so for that! I love the fact that God is moving people’s hearts to long only for him, and a familial relationship with his people that transcends any building, or meeting, or pre-planned program. The church is far bigger than any box we can build! And it’s so much more than just planning great, engouraging, life-infusing programs and seminars that encourage people, but only leave them wanting more.

But. (You knew there was a but, now didn’t you?) 🙂

When I heard the mission statement of an indie Christian band today that included a line specifically referencing “the Emerging Church”, I became a bit flustered. While I love the heart of what people (and I believe, God) are doing with the renewed vision for what the church can be, I was so deeply saddened at the recognition of yet another reality we are attempting to capture in a catch phrase.

We have seen the previously mentioned “seeker-driven” mentality, where the focus of believers is (correctly) on the people who have not understood the Good News of the gospel. That’s great! We need to have eyes open to people around us who need to drink deeply of Father’s love – who have never understood that before. But, once we had a name for it, it became a formula, and now thousands upon thousands of churches emulate each other in planning perfectly honed programs that focus on those in attendance who have not yet trusted their lives to Jesus.

We have also seen the various “worship” movements. The transition from hymns to “choruses” and now the full-blown modern juggernaut that is Christian Worship music. The infusion of life, and real, honest lyrics, and modern music that the culture can relate to (somewhat akin to the seeker services) is a great thing, and brings the reality of our Father to a new level. Some really great fruit has been produced through this modern wave of change. My wife and I have seen some of that first-hand. And yet, when it has taken on a name, (such as “the modern Worship Movement”, or “Worship Evangelism”, etc.) or been passed along in outline form at a convention of Christian leaders, or written in countless books – it takes its place as another attempt to bottle something that can’t be contained.

I do believe in the emerging church. I have seen it. We have toured the country (in our musical travels) and visited so many churches in so many forms. In many of those locations, if not all locations we have seen God doing one main thing. There is a disdain for not just the old, or the traditional, but the institutional. There is a hunger for genuine relationships amongst believers. Various ways at achieving this have been proposed and even attempted. From changing the lighting or the furniture arrangement at a corporate gathering, to changing the name or the format of that gathering. In some cases, even the gathering itself was eliminated, and believers met at various times through the week in various places. However it is being fleshed out, the hunger in people’s hearts seems to be for an authentic, daily relationship with the living God, and with his people.

I know I personally can’t stop us from taking another great thing God is working in his church and trying to package it. I can’t. I won’t even try. Perhaps though, as you read this, the hunger he is building in you might be stirred? Perhaps you know exactly what I am talking about because our Father is drawing you to himself in a similar way. That doesn’t mean you and I should try to trace our steps and prepare detailed instructions to pass along to others so that they too can follow our step-by-step directions to achieve similar results. And no, it doesn’t mean we should give it a name! 🙂

Whenever we name something, I believe we have birthed a new entity, which, in the end, will only become a substitute for what we were initially hungering for – a realtionship with the real Living God.

Consider these words from an online book I have mentioned here before. This is from the most recent chapter posted last week:

“That’s what happens when an institution tries to do what it cannot do. By providing services to keep people coming, it unwittingly becomes a distraction to real spiritual life. It offers an illusion of spirituality in highly orchestrated experiences, but it cannot show people how to live each day in him through the real struggles of life.

“… in the first days of a new group forming the focus is usually on God, not the needs of the institution. But that usually fades over time as financial pressures and the desire for routine and order subvert the simplicity of following Jesus. Relationships grow stale in routine and when the machinery siphons off so much energy just to keep it running, it will grow increasingly irrelevant.”

I have seen this so, so often. Friends who give their entire lives to the furtherance of an institution because in so many ways it represents their own relationship with Father. It indeed, in a very subtle way, has become a substitute. Not by their own choice, or even usually, by their own admittance. But it has. All of their life and energy is devoted to maintaining the systems they have created – whose noble purpose is to encourage people’s relationships with God.

But no matter how noble the intentions to start, whatever system we might create – and whatever we may name it – always siphons the energy from us and ends up becoming our master. It demands our time, and energy and committment. Only God is deserving of that. And only he can fulfill the hunger in us – no system or institution or movement can satisfy that. Not one.

Organizing is not bad. Names are not bad. But in the end, there is only one name under heaven by which we can be saved. Only one name, of one person.

No, it’s not Wesley, or Luther, or Presby. (There really is a Presbyterian minister named Presby. Really! I’ve met him!) It’s not Mohammed, Buddha or Joseph Smith, either. It is not the Seeker-Driven or Purpose driven church that will save. It’s not the Emerging church or the Missional church. It’s not the House Church movement, or the Relational Church movement, and it’s definitely not the Bowel Movement. 🙂

If you’re looking for a name for your daily journey with God…

His name is Jesus.

You know, I hesitate to say anything about this, because, I am really not concerned at all with the details of this story, but it was fascinating enough to me that I can not help but comment. (I do seem to have that problem, don’t I?) 🙂

Last night I was watching Special Report with Brit Hume on the Fox News Channel (my Mom would be proud!). I rarely watch news programs, since I mostly don’t get into political goings on, or disasters, or homicides or things like that. Call me crazy, but I am not all that excited by such things… 🙂 But last night they did a story on a school in PA that had decided to (if I understand correctly) teach a theory that some people believe everything that exists is the result of Intelligent Design. Not a particular deity (like, Jesus, Allah, or Buddha or something) but just “a greater force”, or however they word it. I thought, alright, that seems fine. They still teach evolution as well… just offering different possiblities.

Well, 11 people took the school district to court, alleging that this was a violation of the good ol’ church and state thing. (Not that again!) And the crazy thing is, they won! The judge said that teaching Intelligent Design was a violation of the constitution? That seems really really crazy to me. I mean… how is that any different than teaching evolution? Evolution can’t be proven? Neither can intelligent design. They’re both theories, and both have strong proponents.

As I said before, I am not concerned with the details. I think the whole thing can’t work because you’re trying to teach one large group of kids the same thing, and all of them come from different backgrounds, and don’t think or believe the same thing. SO…. you’re going to have things that you don’t necessarily agree with. What really amazed me was that people would actually think this so important that they would challenge it in federal (I believe) court and attempt to get the idea banned from being taught (or mentioned?) in the school’s curriculum. They did not replace evolutionary theories with intelligent design theories… nor did they espouse one particular brand of religion. They just offered an alternative view.

How is it that we have gone so far that even suggesting a nameless God is unconstitutional?

I guess I just thought it was more evidence that we continue to move farther and farther away from God as a nation – when our judges are making decisions like this.

One more note, for the politically minded who read this blog… this will not be solved in the courts. You can’t win enough court battles, or hold on to any sort of legislative power that will make people want to keep God at the core of who we are. That is just impossible. The only way we can move people back toward an acceptance of him is person to person, sharing the love we have with everyone around us. I don’t mean launching a huge evangelistic campaign… just… loving God, and loving people. If God wants to, he will turn people back to him through that. Hearts can not be changed through legislation.

So, no big political push here… just found it amazing how strongly some people don’t like God even being an option.

Wouldn’t it be funny if you had to listen to this, instead of read my blog?

🙂

One more thing from Saturday (a very long, crazy day…)

We were out getting a few more things for Christmas, and I was going through the line at Wegman’s (a Rochester-area grocer.) I had the goodies ready to purchase, and as I was ready to pay I recalled the one other item I was supposed to get. The coupon in my hand with the nice picture of it did help jog my memory. 🙂 Well, there was a line, and it was not in that particular aisle, so I just grabbed the change and receipt along with the coupon and headed back hastily to the next aisle to get the special gum I was to retrieve for my wife.

As I was scanning the candy aisle (which we do not usually do) I felt some papers drop from my hand. I was shocked when I looked down and noticed that the papers were in fact US legal tender! I had dropped the $13 change I had gotten from my twenty dollar bill! I was a bit flustered, but just bent down and grabbed all the little green backs. I counted, and noticed one was missing… the ten! Doh! If only I had just lost one of the singles…

So, there I was in line at a very busy grocery store down on my hands and knees, rear end up in the air, peeking under the magazine and candy racks. It was a very interesting sight, I am sure. But I couldn’t find it! Anywhere!! Now I was really getting flustered.

It was my turn to make my purchase, so I told the cashier what had happened, and fumbled with the aforementioned gum and coupon, at least wanting to complete that transaction. After that, I spoke with a couple managers, and they shut down the lane so that we could move stuff and begin the recovery mission.

To our surprise, the $10 bill was better at hiding than it should have been. We found much loose change, and a cool ring, and some other items… but no ten dollar bill! Ahhh!!! How could this happen?! We watch every nickel and dime that we spend, and I just DROPPED a ten-dollar bill?!?!? I was so mad!!!

So, I get out to the car, just finally giving up, and I am steaming. Jen can tell something is obviously wrong. We sat in silence for quite some time. I think I had explained the story to her, but I was not mentally there. I was waging a fierce battle in my mind over the role of money in our lives. Eventually I believe I blurted out these words:

“I just wish money didn’t mean anything to me!”

What I meant, of course, was that most of my struggle was that we can not afford to just be flipping 10-dollar-bills round the floors of various and sundry grocers, carefree and skipping through the aisles. That does not currently jive with our budget. But what I noticed from my own words was much more frightening.

I do care about money. Money to some degree still controls me. If I really believed what I profess to believe, that God is in fact our provider, and every need we have is and ever will be met by him and him only… I would be able to laugh off the silly dissappearing ten-spot. But, that was not the case. My day was ruined because my stupidity had lost us $10. I was crushed, angry… and the day was toast.

What if I really trusted God with our finances. When will I be able to see it is not my own efforts to make or save or budget our monies that puts food on our tables and pays our bills? It is all from our Father, who loves us, and wants to take care of us. That is so, so hard for me to grasp. I am so far from that, it seems. But perhaps this was another piece in the puzzle.

To wrap up the story, God gave us the $10 back. No, Wegman’s did not call and let us know they found it. No, we did not return in the wee hours of the night scouring every nook and cranny to finally discover its secret location. We sold some CDs at a gig the next day… and two people paid $15 each for $10 CDs. Surplus of ten dollars. Exactly what I had lost, and lost so much life worrying over.

How ironic. 🙂

(click the banner to check out this cool deal!) 🙂

This weekend, we were singing at Wal-Mart in the nearby town of Newark, NY. I happen to be friends with the GM of that store, and he sets us up in the front of the store to sing Christmas tunes for a couple hours on a busy holiday Saturday. This was our second straight year.

Last year we discovered that Wal-Mart has some pretty strict rules regarding other organizations or groups coming in and promoting themselves in any way. We thought then that we might perhaps make some sales with a small little display right near us… holiday shoppers who liked the music could get a CD. Seemed good. But, if you want to sell something at or even near Wal-Mart, you must go through their central office in Bentonville, AR, and they will put the product in EVERY store. (Which was not going to happen for our happy little CD.)

So, we asked if we could just put up a little poster that told people who we were, and showed that we have CDs, and then gave our web address. Nope. That was no good either. At one store, they let us post the sign, but placed a big strip of paper over our CDs! (They’re serious!) 🙂

But this season, it was just a fun time, so we decided to do it again, even with nothing for us to gain. Wal-Mart was not paying us, we couldn’t sell any CDs, we can’t even tell anyone we have CDs!

So, there we are… two people sitting on stools with a guitar and a music stand… singing Christmas songs. Smiling, happy… and singing. We got lots of smiles. Kids loved to stop and watch. But the best part of the day was watching the several people who walked by with a bit of an inquisitive look on their faces trying to figure out why we were there. What did we want from them? Who were we representing?

Nothing! Nobody! We’re just singing! 🙂

But that’s not possible! We must want something????

Nope. 🙂

And that reminded me of a previous post where I was frustrated by people’s agendas. I was especially speaking of Christians, and their hidden agendas in forming relationships with people or in the public events that are planned with ulterior motives. But one of the comments was from an international friend of ours, who pointed out that having an agenda for everything was a very cultural, American thing. Boy was that evident at Wal-Mart on Saturday!!! Everyone expected we wanted somethingfrom them, or were promoting something… but… we weren’t!!! Crazy!

In the past, we have. We were either wanting to promote basic… so perhaps people would buy a CD, or we’d make a connection to do another concert. But not this time. Also, often, I will schedule events in order to make money that day, through sales or some sort of payment. But, not this time. There was no chance for that. And, perhaps most noble, in the past, I would consider the “agenda” for such a day having any opportunity to speak with people or sing to people about Jesus and how great he is. But, not this time. We really just went to sing, and put a smile on people’s faces! 🙂

That’s so hard to fathom I think in our culture. There are so many advertising schemes that come across as offering something for nothing, but there’s always a catch. There is always some sort of agenda. That’s just the way it is. So, when we appeared to not represent anyone, or be selling anything… it certainly brought some strange looks. But, many people got past the anomaly and just enjoyed the music and the smiles! Awesome.

Bonus of the day? One of the store managers thought it was so cool what we did, that he gave us a Wal-Mart gift card! Dude. That was cool. It’s just great to be freed of expectations, or, perhaps insert the word “Agendas”, and to just enjoy the moment… and everything else is bonus!

It was a great time at Wal-Mart, and I think God was continuing to show me the freedom of living life without an agenda.

Have you heard this hullabaloo? Until recently, I had no idea! We are so removed from that scene, that I had no idea people were so up in arms about many “churches” canceling their services for Christmas Day. I had a phone conversation with a worship leader from one “church” and then got an email from another pastor at a different “church”. Astounding.

Those churches that are choosing to forego gathering for worship on Christmas Sunday are exercising flawed judgment, MacArthur contends. “To me it is an indication of the superficiality, the shallowness, and the disinterest in really worshipping Christ — disinterest in truly exalting Him,” he says.

Despite widespread criticism, Pastor Jon Weese of Southland Christian Church in Kentucky has defended his church’s decision to cancel its December 25 services. In an AP report, he was quoted as saying that the Lord Jesus Himself was also criticized by people who “emphasized religion over relationship.”

It’s just incredible the centrality that the Sunday public service has in the lives of so many Christians. For many, it seems to be the most important piece of their relationship with God (if not, the entirety of their relationship with Him.)

Well, I find it fascinating. Just thought I’d pass it along.

Here’s the rest of the article at CrossWalk.com:

Crosswalk.com – Some Churches Taking Heat for Closing Doors Christmas Sunday

Have you ever noticed that there is a notion about God that he is somehow planning and controlling everything that happens, and so when bad stuff happens, that automatically necessitates that He is either evil, or just not there? I think I saw this on a movie or something recently (Or, perhaps it was real life? Everything feels like a blur of late…) but, anyway… someone was basing their conclusion on God’s existence on some bad thing he allowed in their life, or something they did not receive.

It’s the Santa Claus approach. Many kids go through the excitement of thinking that someone out there knows just what they want, and gives it to them when they ask, and then when it doesn’t happen… what else can they do but either question his goodness, or even scarier… his existence?

I thought of another analogy today. It reminds me of lab rats. There is the scientist who has a plan for everything the rats are to do. He carefully arranges circumstances so that they do what he is coaxing them to do. If the comply, they get a treat. If they do not choose correctly, either the treat is withheld, or there is some sort of consequence applied. Good rat, good scientist. Bad rat, bad scientist.

Isn’t that how we sometimes view God? He is arranging all of the circumstances in our lives so that we do what he wants, and if we perform, all will go well, and we’ll be rewarded with a treat (a “blessing”), while when we choose poorly, we fear his wrath. (The Scripture, “God disciplines those he loves.” has been used to bolster this thinking.) But the story we call the prodigal son perhaps shows the fallacy of such thinking. The son who had not strayed from what his father had taught him was upset when the bad kid got the big party. He felt he deserved it, since he had done all the right things. And likewise, his brother did not deserve it, since he had chosen to be stupid with his life, and disregard everything their dad had taught them. He felt like his dad should be Santa. “He’s makin’ a list… checkin’ it twice… Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice…” Naughty – no blessings. Nice – blessings! Isn’t that how it should work???

There’s so much wrong with this, I think I just realized I can’t actually cover it all in this blog. First, what exactly is a “blessing”? Is it a spiritual treat from God for performing well? Is it something that makes our life more comfortable? I don’t think so. There are many instances in scripture where suffering is considered a blessing. I think this term is far greater than the candy we have come to understand it as. But then, does it make sense that God would treat us as lab rats? Aren’t there examples, even from Jesus short life, where bad things happen, and they are not caused by God, nor are they punishment. Jesus said, “Were the 19 who died when that tower crashed on them greater sinners than anyone else who didn’t die?”, implying the answer was no. The Bible also reminds us that God lets the rain (a good thing) fall on the good and the bad. God does not reward performance, as we perceive it.

Now, there are definitely times when God chooses to “bless” someone (in the sense we would think of it) because of a choice they made. God often smiled on people who would make a stand based on a deep trust they had in him. (Think of all the miracles in Scripture… Daniel in the fiery furnace, or David killing Goliath are a couple that comes to mind…) But had they not chosen to employ their deep trust in God, would he have punished them? Probably not.

Sometimes, through my life, I have thought of myself as a lab rat. When things are going well in my life, I figure I am pleasing my Father somehow. And, conversely, when things are going poorly – very obviously poorly, and for some considerable length of time – I begin to look introspectively at what I am likely doing wrong to elicit such a punitive response from my loving Father. “What sin in my life is causing this break in the flow of blessings?” I would wonder. So, I would try and think of anything and everything that I was doing or thinking that was not in line with what God commanded of me, and I would set out to correct that. With the full expectation that I would receive his blessings again as soon as I corrected whatever mysterious sin was keeping his back turned from me. What I discovered was, that never really worked. Sometimes, no matter how “clean” I could make myself, I still did not receive the blessing I was looking for – or worse, it almost seemed like God didn’t care at all. And still at other times, even when my heart was definitely not right in many ways, God would “bless me”. How do you make sense of that?

God says he is love. God does discipline those he loves, but the term discipline is far greater than our limited view (where the term more implies punishment.) If God chooses to arrange circumstances in our lives to correct us, it is not as the remote scientist who is merely interested in the correct results. Father, as I would for my children, wants the best possible outcome for us. His understanding of that is far greater than ours. Similarly, I understand the things I do to help my kids far more than they currently do. So, there is an underlying trust that if something seems to be God’s doing in our lives, it is not punitive in response to our immediate wrong choices, but usually, it is part of a much bigger picture God has for us, and always for our good.

Finally, it does seem funny to me that we feel this way about God, that he rewards good behavior and punishes poor behavior, and then many of us, when we actually receive those results, question his existence because of that. 🙂 He didn’t answer my prayer, so, he must not exist! That’s pretty funny.

We’ve been reading the story of Jesus arrival over the past week or so, and the beginning of that story deals with this issue a bit. There was a couple who had honored God in every way they knew how, and they just wanted a baby. All they wanted was for God to give them a child. So far, he hadn’t. Obviously, they struggled with these same thoughts. What are we doing wrong, that God will not bless us? Is all we have heard about God true, since he can’t even do this one thing for us? Well, finally, God (in his much bigger plan) was going to grant their wish. He even sent an angel to make it more official. Zechariah, the father-to-be, questions and even mocks the angel, perhaps a result of bitterness toward God that had built over so many years of unrewarded obedience? The angel rebuffs him, and Zech is not allowed to speak until his baby is born.

All the angel said came true, and they finally had their baby. And he could speak. And the first things he said were some incredible things about God. Now, was the baby a blessing, and not speaking a punishment? Or, was that also a blessing? (Maybe his wife would know the answer to that one…) 🙂 We just have this funny view of what God SHOULD do in our lives. Perhaps we should let him govern the universe, eh?

So, while we sing about Santa, and ponder God’s interaction in our lives, just remember that he loves you. His motivation for any and all actions he takes in your life are only for your good. You’re not his lab rat. You can’t put good behavior in the machine and pop out blessings, nor can you predict that bad behavior will receive punitive actions.

Enjoy this day with your loving Father, and rest in the peace of his love for you. That is truly a blessing.

I have had a very hard time waking up in recent weeks. Even if I have a chance to get up early to get a jump on the day, I told Jen last night, it seems that my body will not allow me to do so. My head feels huge and heavy, as does my whole body actually. I don’t feel rested, so I will usually try to catch another 10 min of sleep or so and see if that helps. Often, it does not.

To what do I attribute this lethargy? Am I just lazy? Am I just getting old, and need more sleep?

I whittled it down to two things.

It’s either that I need more than 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night (which is what I have been getting for many nights over the past months now) or… it’s the 10 pounds of sugar products I consume each day. 🙂