Sometimes I hate being called a ‘Christian’ because that word means so many different things to so many different people. I found this article by Matt Chandler at the Resurgence Blog, and it’s wholly wonderful. Let’s just say that not all ‘Christians’ are Ned Flanders.
Ned Flanders and Me
I got the Christmas things out again this year. I haven’t yet done the outside lights, but they’ll go up soon enough. My boys are 4 and 3, and I think putting up the tree is the highlight of their year.
This morning, my wife had to stay home from church with the kids, (due to coughing and fevers spreading throughout our house), so I’m guessing that while I was gone they talked about what would happen when Daddy got home from church. So am I greeted with hugs and kisses, and greetings of love? NO! I’m greeted with the squeals of toddlers and preschoolers who desperately want to put up a lighted tree in the living room. I guess Daddy is the only one with strong enough muscles to move the pre-lit fabricated tree out of storage?
I stumble out to get the tree box, and bring in the Rubbermaid containers filled with the Christmas things. We very quickly connect the tree together, and I plug it in. I think my 3 year old might have wet himself with excitement, at this lighted tree. He literally started clapping and jumping up and down. Which made me wonder, when did we get old enough to stop doing this?
This should be the last year that we have to keep a kid out of the tree for the next month; my daughter is 1, and thinks all the ornaments are just a game for her to pick out and chew on. One thing that we definitely need this year is a countdown calendar, to help ease the burden of the greatest question asked around a house of children this time of year. I first heard this question Thanksgiving night when I put my boys to bed. Can you guess it?
“Daddy, how long til Christmas?”
Stumbled across an interesting article today. It’s a great Thanksgiving read…
Wal-Mart announced this week they will return the word “Christmas” to their seasonal greetings. Good move, especially given their faithful hick-hop constituency. No more generic salutations that so many of us carped about last year, when many merchants dropped Christ from his own holy day so as not to offend non-believers.
We still have a way to go. The nearby nursery is advertising “Holiday Trees” and the local school is staging a “Winter Pageant” with small children singing, “We wish you a Merry Sparkle Season!” But before we restart the campaign to reChristianize Christmas, would someone please save Thanksgiving?
We all have those moments that forever alter our existence. For some it’s the time they discovered that mixing hot water with cold water creates warm water, while for others it might be that winning lottery ticket. I have a moment that would change EVERYTHING about my life from that moment forward.
On November 20, 1993 I was a 17-year old Senior in high school, and I had a very important date with an interesting 15-year old Sophomore girl I had met weeks earlier. This date was like many dates kids have in high school; it consisted of a terrible movie, a lame dinner, and holding hands in the mall. But unlike most other high school dates, I still wake up next to my date these 13 years later. I know, I know, many of my readers cringe at the thought of being married to a girl you dated in High School, but I can guarantee you that this high school girl was very different.
To summarize my first date in as few words as possible let me throw out some facts from this date:
Let’s just state the obvious. My first date with the future Mrs. LittlePastor was a colossal failure. However, I learned something very valuable about this girl when I returned to school the next day. She hadn’t told anyone about all the dumb things I did. This is priceless! I actually met a girl that didn’t get kicks out of making me look stupid. I could do this perfectly on my own, with no assistance necessary.
So on the 13th year anniversary of that terrible, yet most wonderful of dates I say to my wife of 8 years. I love you Starr. Thanks for the second date, and the third, and the fourth, and the……
Will it blend? That is the question…
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