Life Is Great...and I hope it is for you also!

Two days before Christmas. Where has this year gone? I don't know about you, but 2005 has seemed like a blur. Not that a lot hasn't happened - it has. Maybe so much has happened that I can't really remember it all. Memory is a funny thing. I heard a discussion the other day that the best memory recall is when you don't have many distractions in life. No wonder I can't remember a darn thing!! Remember this - remember that. Don't forget the kids. Don't forget to tell so and so about that. Maybe one of those voice activated recorders will help. Who knows.

So this week we have had four gatherings at Meadow Heights Church. We have had a lot of positive feedback about having our gatherings during the week and spending the weekend with family. And then we have had a few complaints about taking Jesus out of "Christmas Day" etc. I know the debate is starting to dwindle, or at least the last few days the topic has lost momentum. Christmas. Holiday. So much debate about a title instead of a lifestyle. Don't even get me started on the true "birth date" of Jesus. We could go on and on. Who really cares what you call it?

I realized today (I know...it took me long enough) that I too have lost the true meaning of Christmas in my hustle and bustle. It hit me that I wouldn't be living the life I have now without the grace and love of Jesus. Where would I be now without Him? I imagine a life of many accomplishments but no meaning. I imagine a life without many friends, possibly without a family. I imagine a life without the authentic and real relationships that I find myself surrounded by now. And I imagine a life without hope. No hope for today and no hope for tomorrow. I love the phrase a dear friend of mine uses to sign off on his blog each day (and of course he has no shortage of quaint phrases!!) - he says that "life is great...and I hope it is for all of you also." I love that outlook in life. And that is the story I find myself in this Christmas. No matter how busy, no matter how many challenges or struggles, no matter what financial worries may be looming, I can truly say that "life is great" because of my relationship with Jesus. Let's not forget why this life is truly great this Christmas (and yes, Holiday) season.

Life As A Rhino

I just checked my blog for the first time in a while...actually I noticed I have posted since October. YIKES!! Besides Thanksgiving, I don't recall many relational moments with anyone except my family. This leads to my question - "Where have all the people gone?"

Funny isn't it? Sometimes from our own perspective we move around the world. We get so busy, so caught up in the moment that we seem to revolve around life. Think of it this way - are you on the merry-go-round sharing in the journey with everyone else? Or are you sitting and watching everyone else "go 'round?" Or maybe you're too busy to notice anyone at all. That's what life feels like to me sometimes.

I promised myself (and others!) that I would organize my life in such a way that I could actually breathe in the world around me. I have missed so many aromas of life that I'm afraid my sense of smell might fade away. Have you thought about how life would be if you woke up one morning only to find that they were putting you in the ground? Sure they had a lot of nice things to say, but ultimately there wasn't a whole lot that you could remember about what they were saying because you were too busy to have a relationship with others. Does life feel like that for you sometimes?

I have always had a problem looking for the next accomplishment, the next conquest. I actually thought life was supposed to be "conquered" not lived. What kind of mentality is that? One of my mentors has a great saying..."success comes in 'cans', failures come in 'cant's'." That's a great philosophy to live by. But what if you can't find your can?

So to close this post today, I am seriously taking a look at where I've been, but most importantly I need to look at where I am going, and even further yet...who's going with me. One of my favorite authors, Erwin McManus, talks about how rhinos can't see but a few feet in front of them. And a group of rhinos is appropriately named a "crash." It's great to attack life like a rhino - always forging the way for the next adventure. But I think I've been living life as a rhino for too long - I haven't been able to see five feet in front of me, and like the rhino, I may be ready to "crash" at any moment.

I hope that more posts are to come, and possibly more frequently than every month!! Until the next adventure!!