Christmas Eve Service
It is 11pm Christmas Evening for us over here.
Most of you are sleeping and will wake soon to your Christmas morning. In a few hours, if you haven't already.
The lifestyle we live, it is customary for your high school graduate to move away after graduation, and that is true of many families.
So this is the last 'in our house under our roof in PNG' Christmas with our daughter for the foreseeable future.
Because this has the tendency to make us all sad, we outlawed the phrases 'for the last time' and such, so that we could keep it out of mind.
But our Christmas is over now, and I can write this blog entry without fear of breaking our rule.
Christmas is a time of many lights. Christ was a light to the world, we put up lights, we light candles.
My daughter is a light. Not just to our family but to any place she goes.
You've probably been in the Christmas Eve services where one flame lights one candle and it spreads out quickly until the entire room is lit.
That is my daughter's affect on a room.
I suppose we could look at the end of that service with sadness as we blow out the candle and say 'look the light was extinguished.'
But most of us leave that room thinking 'That was a remarkable thing that we were a part of.'
And that is my attitude about my daughter, preparing to go out into the world and light it up. Sure next Christmas our house will be a little dimmer, but someone else's will be that much more bright, and isn't that what you're after as parents?
Our prayer for her, is that God's kingdom would be magnified in her life, and that she would come to know Him and love Him more with each passing day.
Jesus is way more than 'the reason for the season' He's the reason for our existence.
He's the purpose of our lives, He's the light.
Our family wishes yours the best Christmas... full of light, God's light.
We know that not everyone is cheery this time of year, but even when things are grim, everyone could use a little light. For those who are in hospital waiting rooms, for those who are away from loved ones, for those who feel alone and lonely, for those who need some light...
We pray that God's light would find you and somehow, for even the briefest of moments, brighten your day somehow... today.
Merry Christmas.
It is 11pm Christmas Evening for us over here.
Most of you are sleeping and will wake soon to your Christmas morning. In a few hours, if you haven't already.
The lifestyle we live, it is customary for your high school graduate to move away after graduation, and that is true of many families.
So this is the last 'in our house under our roof in PNG' Christmas with our daughter for the foreseeable future.
Because this has the tendency to make us all sad, we outlawed the phrases 'for the last time' and such, so that we could keep it out of mind.
But our Christmas is over now, and I can write this blog entry without fear of breaking our rule.
Christmas is a time of many lights. Christ was a light to the world, we put up lights, we light candles.
My daughter is a light. Not just to our family but to any place she goes.
You've probably been in the Christmas Eve services where one flame lights one candle and it spreads out quickly until the entire room is lit.
That is my daughter's affect on a room.
I suppose we could look at the end of that service with sadness as we blow out the candle and say 'look the light was extinguished.'
But most of us leave that room thinking 'That was a remarkable thing that we were a part of.'
And that is my attitude about my daughter, preparing to go out into the world and light it up. Sure next Christmas our house will be a little dimmer, but someone else's will be that much more bright, and isn't that what you're after as parents?
Our prayer for her, is that God's kingdom would be magnified in her life, and that she would come to know Him and love Him more with each passing day.
Jesus is way more than 'the reason for the season' He's the reason for our existence.
He's the purpose of our lives, He's the light.
Our family wishes yours the best Christmas... full of light, God's light.
We know that not everyone is cheery this time of year, but even when things are grim, everyone could use a little light. For those who are in hospital waiting rooms, for those who are away from loved ones, for those who feel alone and lonely, for those who need some light...
We pray that God's light would find you and somehow, for even the briefest of moments, brighten your day somehow... today.
Merry Christmas.
