Christmas

Hello All!! I thought I would write about Christmas - both what it is like celebrating in Spain and also what I am thinking about Christmas right now. Christmas was not a really big holiday when we arrived in 1995. They celebrated Three Kings' Day much bigger than Christmas - because that's the day they gave their gifts. Three Kings' Day is the 6th of January. They do it this day because it is supposed to be the day that the 'three kings' made it to the stable. I'll talk more about this later (probably) but I'll leave it for now. They hang lights over the streets - the local governments do. Our first Christmas here in Spain, in Zaragoza, the only Christmas lights we saw hung on a 'home' were the ones in the windows of our friends' apartment who are Americans!! Christmas Eve was the time to spend time with family and eat lots of good food. Seafood is a very typical meal here during these holidays as is turkey. You see lots of seafood in the stores at this time of year - even the Spanish delicacy - baby eels!! The first time I saw them, I thought they were a type of pasta - but was surprised that they were in the seafood section. I realized that they were probably NOT what they appeared to be!! I walked away. :-) We like to keep our particular traditions even thought they might be contrary to or 'out of the box' of what Spaniards think is normal. We put up a fairly 'American' size Christmas tree even thought smaller ones here are the norm. They also don't typically get freshly cut trees. They are much more expensive and don't seem to last through the holidays - especially if the holidays last until the 6th of January!! We Americans like to decorate our homes!! Coordinating dinnerware and table runner, along with centerpieces and garland all over the place is typical. Not so here in Spain. They are typically much more subdued in their Christmas decor. But a MUST in most homes is a 'Belen' which is the Spanish word for Bethlehem. It is their manger scene. They spend BIG bucks on pieces for their own nativity scene. And many times it's not just the stable but the whole village and countryside around Bethlehem. One thing that I learned just this year is that many manger scenes have a piece called 'el cagon' that they hide in the scene somewhere. It can be a shepherd or someone else but they are, excuse me, pooping. Their pants are pulled down and you can see it!! Gross!! I don't get that one!! We don't plan to get one for OUR nativity!! Just about every city or small town has their neighborhood Nativity Scene. They don't have the problem here like they have in the States about removing Christ from Christmas. He has been so effectively removed from their everyday lives that it is irrelevant whether he is in their Christmas. They recognize that Christmas centers around 'Christ'. But here he is a fairy tale - he makes little difference in their day to day lives, so he is therefore not a threat to have him in their Christmas. It is very sad I think I will save my thoughts about Christmas for another post. Blessed Christmas to you all!! Jill

Corrections and Clarifications

I believe I need to clarify a few things that I said in my last post that may (and probably did!!) not have come across in a way I meant for them to. I said "Jesus says that the world will know that we are his disciples because of our love. Not our doctrine. Not our theology. Not our amazing worship services. But our love. How much do we even SEE let alone love those HE brings into our lives. This is the hope - that His love transforms us and, through us, transforms those around us." In these sentences, I can sound like I'm saying 'it doesn't matter what we believe, as long as we love one another'. That is NOT at all what I am saying. I guess it all comes down to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13. Yes, the great 'love chapter of the Bible'. He says in verses 1-3, "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." My summary of what he is saying is that we can be very talented, have many gifts and abilities, know all the 'mysteries' of God and who he is and how he works and we can spend all of our spare time 'serving' those around us who are in need, but if our motivation is not the Love of Christ, then it's all empty and - really - of very minimal value. It's just noise. I may have my doctrine 'perfect' and have all my 'i's' dotted and my 't's' crossed, but if it does not lead me to dramatically love as Christ loved, we are just going through the motions. Our theology and doctrine - what we believe about who God is and what He says, are very important they are what drive our love of those around us - and our love of God. Our love HAS to be an outpouring of what God has done and is doing in our own hearts - transforming them from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. My statement above that I am clarifying comes from my frustration (at myself too) that we in the church today have it all backwards. As soon as someone comes to know Christ as their Savior, we put them in 'ministry'. I believe it is most important that they be established in God's love for them and who he is before we send them out to serve. Not that they CAN'T. But it needs to be the outpouring of Christ in their life moving them rather than 'the church' getting them busy and involved. Jesus spent lots of time with the disciples before he ever sent them out. Paul also spent who knows how much time in the desert after his conversion being taught by God. I believe, whether we realize it or not (and I am just as guilty of this as anyone else) that we can use our theology or our ministry to keep us from really going out and loving the unlovable like Christ calls us to. It's not attractive and it can be 'dangerous' to go out where the really needy people are. We stay in our bubbles that feel safe and don't risk. But I believe Christ calls us to incarnate - make flesh - who he is in our world and He risked it all in order to save. He put himself in physical danger and necessity to reach those he LOVED. I have to ask myself, what is God asking me to risk today?? My physical comfort? My reputation? My money? My family? in order to show His radical and amazing love that seeks those who are the most lost. Anyway, what we believe about God IS very important, but if it is all we do and we don't let him live out through our lives in amazing ways, we DO need to ask ourselves and Him where our relationship with him really is. I'm not saying that we all have to move to India and minister to the Untouchables or move to the inner city and live there among the homeless. But what small risk is God asking us to do today - to show a broken world the love God has towards them. Whose life can we touch with Him today that He can use to heal our world just that little bit. It may be talking to that neighbor you feel uncomfortable around, who lives in a 'questionable' way. Only God can give you the nudge and the insight to SEE those He wants to love through you. God saw beyond the external to see the hearts that are broken and in need of Him. He can do that in your too. And ME too. Thanks again for listening!! Jill

Tears

I woke up this morning and, as usual, I checked my e-mail, etc, to see if there was anyone I needed to get back with. As I scrolled down Facebook, I came across the pictures of many of the children who were killed in Connecticut on Friday. My heart breaks for those involved. The tragedy of losing a loved one is compounded by that loved one being a child and it is multiplied by the horrific way in which these children (and others) were killed. I wept as I looked at those faces whose innocence was slain. One little girl had the name of Olivia, which is my own little girl's name. It cuts me deeply imagining how my life would be had she been killed in such a way - or ANY of my children. I also felt rage. This is a trickier emotion to focus. At whom is my rage directed?? Should it be directed a the young person who did these horrible acts?? I think many times we can make people 2 dimensional. We see people as evil or good. But I wonder why this young man of 20 years would commit such a horrible act. How broken and wounded was he to even think of doing this?? The anger can be focused on the parents of this boy. How could they produce such a monster?? I noticed that there wasn't a mention of the boys' father. The article says he killed his mother and took her guns. It doesn't mention his Dad. What kind of family did he grow up in? Where WAS his father? Where was his community?? His church?? Did he 'fall through the cracks'? I don't think or rage our blame should be pointed at any of these I've mentioned. Yes, we need to look at ourselves and see how many people we may pass by who need a kind word or someone to deeply love them and be involved with them. Many people will shout out about the need for more gun control. They believe that if they take the guns out of the hands, then there will be no more murder. I think those who have guns ought to assess their reasons for having them. We ALL need to understand and assess what drives us in whatever we do. But I don't think that taking guns off the streets will stop things like this. People who want to do these things will find a way to do them, no matter the laws. We see this in other countries who DO have strict gun control laws and they STILL find a way. I believe that the 'blame' is ultimately on the Evil One. Since the garden, he has been the one destroying lives. That is not to say that we are not responsible for our actions. But ultimately, he is the one who is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He deceives us and lies to us. Our society has chosen to believe his lie that he doesn't exist. And so he continues to destroy lives - whether through guns, abuse, harsh words and neglect - to name a few. During this holiday time, many people talk about HOPE. But most of the time, it's a hope that is based on nothing. When my kids were little, we used to watch the movie Beauty and the Beast Christmas. It's an OK story, but what drove me crazy and continues to (and my kids know because I always bring it up!!) is the song 'As long as there's christmas'. It talks about hope, but they don't say what their hope is in!! Whenever there is hope, there is something we are hoping for. There is something in which we put our hope. It's not just a generic 'well, I hope things will get better'. I can assure you, it's not going to. God has told us that things will go from bad to worse. We cannot hope in the inherent goodness of people, because we are NOT. We are broken. We are abused and we abuse. We are neglected and we neglect. We are controlled and we control. Our only hope is in Christ. That is the whole reason for this season. And it's not the hope that the Jews had at the time that Christ was born - that they would be saved from the oppression of the earthly government they were living under. They lived under someone much worse than either of the candidates this year. Their hope was that the Messiah would come and set up his earthly kingdom and they, as a kingdom, would - excuse me - 'kick butt'. But God's plan went so much further beyond anything they 'hoped' for. When Jesus was here, he read from the passage in Isaiah 61:1. It says "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners" This is what he came to do - but not just the earthly prisoners or poor or blind. He is talking about the spiritually blind, broken, bound. It is a freedom that doesn't just begin in the 'sweet by and by' but it is something He desire to do beginning this moment. My heart breaks for this young man who was a prisoner of who knows what. He was blind to God and who God has called him to be. Most of all, he was in bondage to the lie that he was not worth anything and he knew nothing of the love of God which passes all understand. You may wonder how I can say this since I don't know him. But I think that anyone who does such a thing as he has done MUST believe this lie. I was just trying to think of a line from a book that was coming to my mind. I just remembered it. Many of you may be offended that I have read this book but there are some very good truths that can be found. At the very end of the last book of Harry Potter, Harry is talking to Dumbledore, who was the headmaster at their school. Dumbledore tells him "Do not pity the dead, Harry, pity the living. Above all, pity those who live without love. By returning you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed and fewer families are torn apart." He is referring to the damage done by living in a world that is broken and without love. Jesus says that the world will know that we are his disciples because of our love. Not our doctrine. Not our theology. Not our amazing worship services. But our love. How much do we even SEE let alone love those HE brings into our lives. This is the hope - that His love transforms us and, through us, transforms those around us. How might this tragedy of Connecticut been prevented had someone SEEN this young man and loved him with the transforming love of Christ. It is a wake up call to all of us. To truly SEE.

Update

Hello All, Well, I haven't written much since my 'sermon' about my kids. I hope you all were gracious to me in your thoughts!! :-) Not much exciting has happened here - but a lot of the routine so I'll fill you in. I DID pass my driver's test the day before Thanksgiving!! I am still waiting to receive the actual provisional license - mine will take longer than the usual because I am trying to NOT get a learner license - which means I would need to drive around for a year with a big 'L' in the back window of my car AND pay higher insurance. No thank you. So they have to look at my paperwork and I have to prove by said paperwork that I am not a learner!! So I am still waiting. I have been trying to figure out where I want to go the first time I can drive!! I have thought about Ikea or the mall but I'll probably just settle for going to the grocery store by myself!! :-) We had Thanksgiving here - I cooked most of the stuff - which is fine with me cuz I like how I make all the stuff. So do my kids. :-) There are certain foods at the holidays that my kids tell me 'DON'T let anyone else make'!! Which makes me feel good. :-) Olivia spend Thanksgiving on campus but then went to another MK's home in Indiana. Then headed back to Trinity to catch up on some homework! Troyer went to a friend's house for the weekend who lives in the Chicago area. Apparently their plans are to spend at least a few days in Ohio with my family over Christmas. We put up the tree yesterday - put the lights on but no ornaments yet. Will probably do that tonight. We have to rearrange the living room to put the tree in and then we have to figure out what to take out and where to put it~! We will be going to Zaragoza this weekend. It is a long holiday weekend - no school on Thursday OR Friday so Jonathan is going with some friends (and a parent) for a few days' hike on the Camino de Santiago. For those of you who don't know what that is, here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James They will be hiking and staying at hostels. It will be cold and maybe snowing or raining. They will be in the mountains. David will be staying with some friends in a town close by here - since he isn't really close friends with anyone anymore in Zaragoza and it makes for a looooong, booooorrrrrriiiiiinnnnnngggggg weekend hanging out with Mom and Dad and all the people they are visiting with. In some ways, I feel like I am abandoning him for the weekend but I know he'll have a much more enjoyable weekend doing what he's going to be doing than with us. We don't have many other plans for the holidays. We usually try to have people over who don't have family nearby. So I'll be checking with the teachers, etc, here to see if there is anyone who is not leaving who would like to spend Christmas with us. Our teammate, Katie, is going to the States for Christmas. She spent Christmas with us last year with her friend Colleen. That was a fun time!! I need to figure out a gift to get for Troyer and then mail them ASAP so they get to Ohio in time. Olivia already told us what she would like but Troyer just keeps telling me '$5000' or 'a car'. All of which are not options. :-) Sooo, I do have deeper things running thru my mind these days but I still have lots of sorting to do. But then again, I don't think THAT will ever end. I guess it's not SUPPOSED to, is it??!! I hope to write more soon - hopefully with the notice that I am tootling around Spain in the driver's seat!! Hugs from here!! Jill