Christmas thoughts...

I've been reading the book of Galatians this month and last night I read again what God has designed for us to be....filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The bad news is that this doesn't describe me and I know that I am incapable of being all this. I may be able to fool you if you don't look too close. But I can't fool myself and I certainly can't fool God.

The good news is that someone did exemplify all of that in his life. And it isn't Mohammed. It wasn't Joseph Smith. There is only one person who ever lived a perfect life and his name is Jesus. Many think that Jesus was a good man but in the same category as all religious 'prophets' and 'gurus'. But if we strip him of perfection and sinlessness, we strip mankind of hope.

You see we are all flawed and no amount of education will change that. I can aspire to be all that Galatians describes and read the list as many times as I like but I just can't be all of that all of the time. I can have the very best of intentions and be sincere about it but I will still fail.

But God knew that and He was willing to do something about it. And that's what Christmas is all about. He knew that only He could provide the way for us to be made right. The miracle of Christmas is that God became one of us. And the world didn't know what to make of Him. It still doesn't. We hated His perfection. We were uncomfortable being shown up for what we really are. We resented Him. And so we killed Him. We tried to get rid of Him once and for all. We're still trying to get rid of Him. But still the offer is open.

God offers us an amazing gift beyond any other Christmas gift we could ever receive. He offers us a life marked by the characteristics in Galatians - we just have to accept it and yield our lives to Him so He can fix the things that are broken in our lives. And if we do, the most amazing thing of all is that He then considers us His children and we become heirs! Now that's an inheritance worth getting excited about! May your Christmas holidays be filled with love, joy and peace and more importantly may you have a relationship with the only One who can fill our lives with every good thing.

A visit with Santa Clause...

Blessings!

Sunday night was our Christmas music postcard to the community. I was involved in a piano, violin and keyboard (trombone) trio medley of Handel's For Unto Us A Child Is Given and Joy to the World. That was an exciting challenge that went well. But the highlight was when one of my students introduced me as his accompanist, voice teacher and friend. There was a collective 'awwww' from the audience and truly I was touched - pretty special coming from a teenager guy. A few weeks ago he auditioned to sing for Kinsmen's Telemiracle which is a pretty big deal in Saskatchewan.....and made it! It's my privilege to be part of it by playing piano for him.

And there was one other performance in which I had a hard time keeping quiet in my seat. I've been working with one girl since last year and when we started she had trouble keeping her pitch. She got a solo part in the Christmas play and we worked at it for a few weeks in our lessons. She hit every note perfectly and it was beautiful. My heart sings when I think of it.

There are others I could speak of who are excelling, each in their own unique way. And every accomplishment brings me incredible joy. Can a person be more blessed than that?

A Christmas Quiz

I've been tagged by Carol!

1. Hot Chocolate or apple cider? At the moment, apple cider.

2. Turkey or Ham? I just finished making a ham but I gotta have turkey for Christmas

3. Do you get a fake or real-you-cut-it-yourself Christmas tree? Our tree is fake but gorgeous.

4. Decorations on the outside of your house? One tree outside with blue and golden lights. Icicle lights along the roofline. A plastic lit-up Santa Clause and candles in the windows.

5. Snowball fights or sleddin'? Neither unless the weather (and the snow) gets a LOT nicer!!

7. Do you enjoy going downtown shopping? I do when the boys are with Grandma.

8. Favorite Christmas song? The First Noel (Can I just name one?)

10. How do you feel about Christmas movies? I don't watch too many of them.

11. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music? Anytime before November

12. Stockings before or after presents? We don't do stockings.

13. Carolers, do you or do you not watch and listen to them? We seldom get carolers - we love it when they do come.

14. Go to someone else's house or they come to you? We don't do a lot of visiting either way but we spend most of Christmas day at my inlaws.

15. Do you read the Christmas Story? If so when? Christmas morning.

16. What do you do after presents and dinner? We'll often play a game and then enjoy a faspa - a light lunch before we head home for the evening.

17. What is your favorite holiday smell? Candles (I usually don't burn them)

18. Ice skating or walking around the mall? I'd have to vote for skating as usually I really dislike walking around the mall.

19. Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas day? We always wait until Christmas morning. Maybe we'll rethink that if we decide to go the Sunday morning service.

20. Favorite Christmas memory? Caroling at homes up the Sou'west. The noise and exuberance of the five of us getting into our stockings at the same time.

21. Favorite Part about winter? Hoarfrost - beautiful!

22. Ever been kissed under mistletoe? No, I'd better go get some - I need some kisses *grin*

23. Tag. I'd like to tag Geannie, LJ, Sparrow, Kim and Saija. Bloglines is down so I'll link these names later.

Christophobia?

In this country, a lot is made of the fact that Steven Harper would like to see a free vote on the redefinition of marriage that was shoved through our parliament (with the liberal government leading the charge). The vote was not free at that time and there are so many in our country that did not support that change. And immediately there is an outcry that morally conservative folks are homophobic, outdated in their thinking and not willing to protect the rights and freedoms of all people in this country. Hogwash!! Folks that base their morals on Christian values are not willing to abide any unfair treatment of any group of people but...that is not the issue is it? This isn't about mistreatment or abuse. Equal rights and freedoms can be assured without changing the definition of marriage. And I've probably said it before but I'll say it again - it's ridiculous to call someone homophobic because of their christian based ethic and morality. Since when does disagreement equal fear?

But in this country I think it may be more accurate to say that there is a serious case of 'christophobia'. People are offended by Christianity (which has fueled the move to remove Christ out of Christmas) and want Christian values removed from politics, education and society in general. There is a line in the sand and it is clear that many would vote for anyone but a Conservative. The proven injustice, gross mismanagement and untrustworthiness of our Liberal party is still preferable to many people in this country. But we must not kid ourselves. The framework of our society and politics is based on Christian values - not Islamic values, not Hinduism, not other codes of ethics. But as soon as we take God out of the picture, our society will have to collapse eventually (history attests to this). With no standard of ethics and morality, we will have no choice but to embrace amorality with all its potential for all kinds of injustice and oppression. We are on a dangerous path in Canada - a very slippery slope. You may not agree with Christians (and neither do you have to) but aren't honesty and integrity still worth something?

Note: I first heard the term "Christophobia" from our pastor and I thought it was a very apt description.

Well I've been a busy little creature lately. I can't wait for Christmas so I can slow down a little. I now have music students every day of the week except Sunday. It really isn't that much more time but it's amazing how busy that little bit on otherwise 'free' days can make one feel. But I'm not complaining - I really work with a fantastic group of young people. And I never have to worry about the common homeschooling myth of socialization.

But the countdown is on and this is the last week of lessons. And then I'll have a whole three weeks before lessons start up again. Right now I'm busy getting caught up with my bookeeping because that's the last thing I want to have on my plate for the holidays.

And....I can't wait to get caught up here. It seems like a long time since I've been able to check my favorite blogs every day.

We're in the season of toilet training at our house. I had to laugh when Paxton picked up these books when he went to the potty... a little light reading. (Introduction to philosophy)

Speaking of reading... I was planning to take a book fast - no books but the Bible for a few weeks. I modified that to no other books before I've spent time reading the Bible each day. And it's been good as I've been enjoying the Bible much more consistently.

Today we get to try some homemade deer and pork sausage for dinner. A piano student's mom brought it today after spending hours butchering in the last weeks. What a treat that is!!! And I got to return the favor in a small way by recording three songs for their school's Christmas program for the kids to sing to. It reminds me of the old barter and trade way of doing things.

A day off...

I decided last night I'd better take a day off. I've been running around and not getting the chance to get over a nasty cold that has me feeling plugged up, in a fog, bleary eyed and grouchy. So today I declared a day off.

Crowded malls. Snow. Christmas concerts. Cold weather. Beautiful lights. Egg nog. Apple Cider. Shopping. Music practices. Christmas tree. A new Angel for the top. Little fingers can't stop touching. Candles. Presents. Excited eyes. Grandma's birthday cake.

These fill my heart and my days as Christmas gets closer.