Christmas, Edition 2014

So we can all just move on and ignore the un-finished Give Thanks challenge, right? Life gets busy and the thankfulness didn't stop...it just didn't managed to get documented here. ;)

Okay. With that out of the way...

Merry Christmas =)

Our Christmas season has stayed blessedly busy with a variety of activities....

::buckeye rolling

::tree picking

Molly & Mom, the tree selection team 

Dad, who kindly held multiple trees while we made our selection

::a trip to Ohio for Melissa and I to see the gang that I worked with on the CPE3 project

the group having an impromptu meeting

::the annual town parade with Molly's jump rope team

dressed & ready to jump

::surprise creations (no pictures of the works-in-progress...they were surprises after all!)

::seasonal gatherings with our church family

Family Photo before the Christmas Eve Service
Photo Credit: Dad/Kipp

...and we are topping off the season with a beautiful day at home =)

an impromptu "couple" picture

capturing the "sister selfie"

Molly's gift of "sister" notebooks with personalized lists of what she's learned from Melissa and I

Presents were opened this morning and now various family members are relaxing in their own unique ways -- Molly practicing some Hobbit songs courtesy of Melissa who gave her the Hobbit piano music book and Melissa is spending time with a new book. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad have ventured outside for a walk before eating more food ;)

There were beautiful gifts, but my favorite theme this year was watching Dad open multiple gifts and seeing the picture come together more and more clearly:

First, the golf club appeared...

Then the very nice and fancy bag with a built-in stand...

The matching jacket was the next addition...

...and the sunglasses completed the outfit :)

God's been teaching me a lot lately...unrolling the picture of sending Jesus Christ to earth as a baby for the salvation of the world. In many ways, the deeper understanding I have come to this year is much like the revelation of Dad's golfing outfit in the pictures above...

...clear, but incomplete.
...wonderful, but only on a surface level.

As more and more is unveiled, the picture is made whole and ever so much more amazing than it was just to start.

God's been teaching me more aspects about himself and giving me situations where I am forced to seek out the Biblical response. This search, albeit painful, has showed me what it means to forgive and just how deep the pain and how great the gift of forgiveness is.

It seems like more of an Easter lesson, doesn't it? After all, when it comes to the story of the life of Jesus Christ, we think of his miraculous birth at Christmas and save the forgiveness, salvation, and reconciliation stories for Easter.

But what is Easter without Christmas? If there was no baby, then there would be no forgiveness...no heavenly example...no hope.

The lesson that I've learned this Christmas is just how powerful and just how pricey my salvation was. God's taken me beyond the cute nativity sets...and awwing over the youngest baby playing Jesus in a live nativity. He's shown me the price that Christ paid by coming down into my dirty world to offer us hope. He didn't have to do it. He wanted to do it.

That is the miracle of Christmas.

"Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Fragile finger sent to heal us

Tender brow prepared for them
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God"

~Excerpt of lyrics, Welcome to our World (Michael W. Smith)