Christmas--A Season of Contrasts

Darkness and Light...Despair and Hope...War and Peace...These are the contrasts of the Christmas season that I've been reflecting on. I don't have lots of nice, traditional Christmasy looking pictures to post. Why, I'm not even setting up a tree this year, since we won't be home to enjoy it. But, this year we are trying to focus more on the real meaning of the season. We are SO thankful to God that He came into our messy world and our messy lives to save us! That was the message by Pastor Mitri Raheb who came to Redeemer Lutheran Church last night to speak about the hope that his people are trying to pass on to the people of Palestine through the Bright Stars of Bethlehem program. He is the pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. Jay had the privilege of sharing his gift of singing for the program. We heard about the town of Bethlehem where Jesus was born and what it's like today. I had NO idea that it is so similar to the days when Jesus was born. At that time Bethlehem was under Roman occupation. Today they are under Israeli occupation, surrounded by a wall with a huge checkpoint. Every five years of Pastor Mitri's life, he has experienced war. When he was a small boy his mother took him inside the Church of the Nativity to seek refuge. Reminds you of the verse in the bible where it talks about Rachel weeping for her children. Did you know that 1/3 of Palestinians worship Jesus as their Lord? In one of the wars that occurred in 2002, Pastor Mitri's home and church buildings were taken over by the Israeli army. He said that five years of work were destroyed in just 11 hours. But, he is trying to pass hope on to his children and grandchildren. They are rebuilding lives by reaching out in their community and starting schools for children. The focus in their college is to teach young people to use their gifts in the arts to be instruments of peace.

We are thankful to God for allowing Penny to also use her artistic gifts through the homeschool enrichment group. She is participating in their musical, which they are practicing now. They aren't performing until April. So, by the time they do perform it should be a grand production. On Friday she spent all morning learning a dance and came home tired! But, I was proud of her at how well she was learning her part. And she dressed up in a cute dress that her relatives in Sweden gave her.

Jay had a second seasonal concert at his school this past week that was another smashing success. It was a rather stressful day, as there were a couple of glitches that popped up. But, in the end everything came together smoothly and there was an even bigger turnout than the first concert as I think word got around that the new music teacher has been gleaning the kids for great things. It was so fun to see the proud parents immediately pulling out their cameras, phones, etc. to take shots of their kids the minute they entered the gym. Yes, we believe that God has called us into this "messy" little obscure school in Denver to bring the joy of music into these children's lives. Here's a picture of the roses that Jay was blessed with by a child at the end of the concert.

Another blessing of going up to Fort Collins, yesterday, besides visiting our brothers and sisters at Redeemer Lutheran Church, was also visiting with our brothers and sisters of Fort Collins Japanese Bible Fellowship. We all gathered together again at, of all places, a Mexican restaurant. It was great fun to fellowship again with these dear people.

And after we came outside, we discovered a big weather change, with the wind howling and the temperature dropping. We even got a little snow in Denver, we noticed after we got home at nearly midnight. After such a long and busy day, we came home late and tired. Our stomachs were all hurting a bit, perhaps from the Mexican food. But, my heart felt very encouraged to know that yes, God came into our world, with all of it's imperfections. Jesus was born right into the midst of such a world. And He continues to come into our imperfect world and our lives, as He is reborn in hearts through faith in Him.