A Different Kind of Gift Card
[singlepic id=57 w=320 h=240 float=right]My friends over at Living Water International have taken the Gift Card idea to a whole new level in order to help us transform obligatory gift giving into something…well…Holy, Righteous, and Redemptive.
If you are struggling to figure out what to get Dad or Mom or the Boss or co-worker might I encourage you to buy them a gift card from Living Water that will then allow them to choose a clean water project to help fund. It’s a gift that has the ability to communicate a message, create awareness, and give a community clean water all in one.
You might even look forward to transforming more of your tough buying decisions in the future.
Skipping Christmas – will bring a smile to your Tuesday
[singlepic id=56 w=320 h=240 float=left]You have heard the saying, “The book is better than the movie.” I can definitely say that about Skipping Christmas, by John Grisham. The movie was Christmas with the Kranks. Not your typical Grisham novel, but a great look into the American Christmas and one family’s struggle to make sense of it all in the midst of an empty nest.
I highly recommend it to combat being tempted to become Scroogish.
Dust – both dirty and delightful
There is much of my life that has disappeared over the years. One moment it was there and then the next it just crumbled into a pile of dust. Some of it I destroyed intentionally, some unintentionally, and some just happened without any effort or neglect on my part.
Living in a sin infected world, and being myself infected with this disease of rebellion, dust piles lie all around us and in and around the lives of everyone we meet. 2010 leaves numerous piles in my life. I have a choice to either be overwhelmed at the mess or live in anticipation of what the Beauty Maker might make to rise up out of it. While I am tempted to live in despair I strive to live in wonder as I wait to see the Potter add water to my dust and begin to mold and make something new. This is what Advent is all about.
In the most dirty and desperate of environments, the Stable, the most splendid and pure living being, Jesus, arrived. And the lives of the despised and dejected have never been the same. I will miss those people, especially Mom and Grandpa, and ideas and things that used to be, but today I look forward to something beautiful becoming of their departure, because in Jesus I can.
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