Friday, December 22, 2006

CHRISTMAS FEAST

I was invited to a Christmas Feast that was such a great way to spend an evening. There were 12 of us, and the entire evening was devoted to feasting in celebration and remembrance of Christmas. We had a delicious 5 course meal, we rotated seats in between every course so that we could all talk to everyone else, we sang Christmas hymns, read Christmas scripture, prayed together, and drank good wine. It was a grand time to devote to remembering Emmanuel. We so often don't take 6 hours of an evening to do something like this, but it is so important to devote time to seeking the Lord together.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

LIVING IN COMMUNITY

Let me tell you about my Bible study today. We have 11 women, and 10 kids under 4. We are single and married, kids and no kids, different ages and races. Its a nice mix. And we all do the best we can just loving the kids while studying God's Word. It can get pretty over-stimulating really. They wander in and out, have dirty diapers, cry for food, bang toys. But they are around the Word of God and they are seeing their mothers and those who have covenanted to help them grow in the Lord, seek Him as well as they can together. And someone constantly is helping someone else's child. We all jump in and we all are helping raise all of these children. Its a sweet picture of the Body of Christ and its a stark contrast to a story I was told the other day. My Christian friend went to visit her non-Christian neighbor who had just returned home from having surgery, and my friend asked her neighbor if she could bring her a meal the next day. The neighbor took great offense at this because she said that she is not an invalid and doesn't want to be treated as one. We Americans are so individualistic and we miss out on great blessings of being and working and living together that way. Let's consider how we may continually spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together.