This is the day...

Two weeks from today is Christmas. How do you feel about that?
The past few days a number of people have asked me, “How can I pray for you?”

My answer has been fairly consistent, “Pray that I will enjoy this season.” If you are like me you really enjoy the season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day – so why is it so hard to have a truly joy filled Advent and Christmas?

Well, let’s see:
· Insurance registration deadline of December 15th
· Busyness of life in the Church
· Eating too much
· “No time” for exercise
· Shopping [I really do very little but I still hate it]

As I reflect on that little list; I need to tell myself, “Buck up and be thankful!” Wow, am I blessed. I am a child of God, I have a family at home and at Oak Hill, I have been given so much and I have an opportunity to give to others.

I have always struggled a bit, maybe more than a bit, with living fully in the moment. My mind races on all kinds of things and there is always a temptation to go over my message in my mind one more time. It is because of this tendency to only living partially in the immediate moment that I have my greatest regrets.

I can remember Jack and Solveig running around the house in New York asking me to time them. Off they would race and I would review my outline when they were out of view. When they came around the corner into my view again I would look up and see their beaming faces - but in reality I only saw them partially because my mind was elsewhere.

I confess this to you as an encouragement to live in “the today” and in the season. This is the day the Lord has made and we are called to actually live it for all it is worth. Now, that is not meant to be a statement that makes us feel bad. It is meant to be a statement of invitation to live a life of meaning and of joy without regrets.

So here we are… it is the wonderful and activity filled time of the year that propels us towards Christmas and 2015. What is our God calling us to be and to do? What is He inviting us to see and enjoy? What are the burdens and difficulties that we are in need of placing in His capable hands? It is Advent – your Loving Savior Jesus has come and your Conquering King Jesus is coming again.

Merry Christmas!
Pastor Nick