AND now it is Christmas!
As 2009 draws to a close and Christmas Day is only one sleep away please accept my sincere thoughts for you and your family this Christmas.
It is possible that Christmas Eve will be busy as last minute shopping is done – last chores around the house perhaps or as in my case clearing my desk at work to ensure all is up to date before I go away on leave!
Tonight, attending church – wrapping of presents – watching ‘Carols’ on TV – last minute preparations for the ‘big day’ – all these things make Christmas special.
Enjoy Christmas – it is special!
Take time to reflect on the people that you love – tell them how much you love and appreciate them – spend time with them – spoil them and let yourself be spoilt.
AND take the time to think and reflect on the ‘reason for the season’ – it is not just a holiday it is a time to thank God for His mercy and grace. The gift of his child to us – for us – with us!
As we eat plenty remember those have little or nothing
As we sing remember those who have no voice to raise against their circumstances
As we enjoy peaceful surroundings remember those who know not peace
As we enjoy family remember those who have no one
As we unwrap gifts remember the disadvantaged
Enjoy Christmas!
So have a wonderful Christmas – thank you for reading my musings throughout this year – more in 2010 but in the meantime I will take a break over January – then refreshed and rested there will be more insights thoughts and writings for this blog next year.
Thank you for your love, encouragement, support and blessings this year.
Guest Blogger – Romey Ritter (The Dilemma of a New Year’s Resolution)
Romey Ritter is a great friend of mine who lives with her husband Clayton and three children in Virginia Beach USA. She attends Wave Church under the leadership of my good friend Steve Kelly and has a passionate interest in living a healthy lifestyle. Romey will be a regular contributor to my blog. Watch out for her posts on healthy living and some other subjects close to her heart!
December is a great month of family and friends, endless parties and get-together’s and an endless supply of food. It’s the Christmas Holidays and there is a ‘don’t go there’ zone when it comes to eating healthy. People accept and even expect that there will be an overabundance of feel good, calorie laden, bad for you food.
It feels good because it conjures so many great memories from our childhood and our memories are powerfully associated with the desire for certain foods and familiar smells. Memories that we should have, and we all need, but they lead us to readily accept that we will be eating a lot of unhealthy food, filling our bellies till we are sickly full.
Then as January 1st rolls around we feel the need to make big life changing resolutions. We are not alone; tens of millions of people around the world do the same thing. More often at the top of the resolution list is health. Eat better, start to exercise, lose weight, join a gym, join Weight Watchers, do something about the noticeably growing girth. But in February we find that most of our good intentions fall by the way side. Why? It’s our bad habits.
We live much of our life through habitual routine as if on autopilot. It is our habits that get us through the day. Habits are just something we started doing on a regular basis and never stopped. We no longer give much thought to them; we just go on living our life doing them. We acquired some deliberately, some by accident, others we inherited from our families, being raised with a certain culture, a certain way of doing things, a certain way of thinking, even a certain way of eating at holiday time.
A bad habit is hard to break. New Year’s resolutions usually involve breaking long standing bad habits. That is why last year’s resolution that failed, ends up on this year’s list…and quite possibly next year’s as well.
However there is good news. A new habit is easy to form, so long as you pay close attention to it. Thankfully, it is much easier than trying to break an old one.
Whatever you pay close attention to you can achieve or change. A bad habit can be broken when replaced by a good habit when you are paying close attention. Just don’t revert back to the old routine. Keep your brain focused on the new habit for at least ten days.
This New Year, why don’t you try one new habit? Drink more water. It sounds so simple yet there are enormous health benefits to be had. Many of us are dehydrated, without ever knowing it. When thirsty we reach for overly sugared and highly caffeinated beverages that further dehydrate us.
A good rule of thumb is to drink one litre of water for every 25 kilograms of body weight. For example a person weighing 75 kilograms should drink 3 litres of water, everyday. It seems like a lot, but your body will thank you for it.
Add this new habit in January, and you will quickly be looking for another new habit to start in February, as one good new habit will quickly lead to many more.
Have a great 2010…..and pay close attention!
Romey
Guest Blogger – Nick Edwards (Stories of Humanity)
Why is it that the burdens and stories of humanity always seem to move the very heart of man?
At the moment on our local radio network they are conducting the annual B105 Christmas Appeal. This appeal is targeted towards raising much needed money for the Royal Children’s Hospital and has been running for many years now.
One thing that really gets me every time (especially as its backed by the Coldplay song ‘Fix You’) is when they tell the stories of young children and families whose lives have been devastatingly affected by some illness or injury that has caused them to need the help of the doctors, nurses and teams of specialists at the hospital. Some have never left since being born, others spend more time there than anywhere else … to them this place is their home.
This morning as I was driving into work I listened once again to the story of a young boy whose life has been affected by illness and the amazing work that the hospital is doing, I found myself sitting silently intently listening to his story and being completely moved by the struggle that he faces. I found myself at a place where I wanted to do all in my powers to help, to find away to make it better for this young child. Why is this? I have never met him, I have never been part of this life or even experienced the struggles that he faces. Yet, his story made me stop and think.
So back to my original question, from disaster victims across the world, to the homeless that make their home on our streets, to a young life here faced with a life-threatening illness in Brisbane, why is it that we can be so moved by the stories of humanity and struggles of those we have never met? Maybe it’s because God is moved by the very same stories of humanity. Right throughout the bible we hear of how Jesus was moved with compassion and then acted upon that compassion and did something about it – he healed the sick, fed the hungry, and gave comfort to those who were hurting. I think this is the picture that God wants us to take note of – the ability to see beyond our own circumstances and then choose an act of compassion.
As we head into this weekend and our annual Tri Nations Appeal, will you be moved with compassion by the projects that we are partnering with inChina and Lesotho? Will you be willing to act on that compassion and join together to do something to change the lives of those you have not met yet each individual with their own unique story?
Conversations
It is amazing some of the childhood memories that you recall – often in strange places and at surprising times.
My daughter Hannah and I were eating at a busy café recently for lunch – packed out with people from all walks of life. Tables close together and not a spare table in sight really! As we sat and started to eat a wave of conversations and scenes hit me.
Beside us were two ladies – friends – lunching together and one was going through the pain of a separation and divorce, her voice and her emotions getting louder and louder but she didn’t seem to mind who heard what she was saying about her husband of 15 years and the father of her 4 children. A group of four businessmen – plotting a business deal for a meeting after lunch. Two young people in love – holding hands and exchanging whispers to each other not caring who saw their affections. A mother and daughter talking about ‘the kids’. Two tourists pouring over a map excitedly talking about the next ‘thing’ they wanted to see after lunch. A couple of girlfriends laughing together and saying they must catch up more often. A family with kids – then the mandatory spilt drink – how I remember those days – I laughed at the number of drinks spilt by the Edwards children over the years.
I loved the scene before me – watching and listening to all these sights. Then I remembered – where did this memory come from – I don’t think I have ever thought about this ever before.
At my home where I lived as a child – 1 Kallara Avenue – a stone throw from the hospital where my Dad worked in those days – just above the kitchen table was a picture of sorts. It read ‘Christ is the unseen listener at all our conversations’. My Mum would have placed it there perhaps as a reminder about the tone of our mealtime conversations. That was in an era where meals were eaten around a table not a TV.
At that moment in that café I became the silent listener to many conversations and I realized that God does hear the conversations we have – the conversations about our pain, the business deals, the whispers of love and affection, the kid stories, the adventures of our days and everything else we speak about. The good things, the things we shouldn’t say about others, the bad things and indeed the downright ugly things.
In that moment I gained a glimpse into the caring compassionate heart of God, who cares and loves me enough to listen. Yes listen and suddenly in that café I thought – I’m glad He listens! Perhaps that’s what why my Mum put the picture there – it reminded her that of that very thought – God does listen!
The Chapel
Tears flowed down my cheeks – I attempted to hide them but as I looked around I saw others were crying too. Not a word was being spoken – it was quiet but I had learnt something that I didn’t understand before, but I do now.
I was in St Paul’s Church Manhattan New York – directly across the road from the World Trade Centre twin towers that were destroyed on September 11, 2001. The church itself was not damaged in any way but the was littered with debris from the terrorist attack. Yet it became a haven of hope for 12 months after the attacks.
What did I learn that day as I stood in the church? My friend Bishop Michael Putney told me a couple of years ago that there were special places that felt very spiritual – almost as if God favoured them. Now I couldn’t understand that – are not all places special to God? Surely God has no favourite places? Michael explained it this way – there are places where millions of people over the ages have gathered to pray. When you go there you will know. Before you, countless people over the ages have prayed at that very spot. You just sense God’s presence in a very special way. Well – that’s what he said.
St Paul’s opened in 1766 and has been in continuous use ever since. I saw the very bench where George Washington the first President of the USA prayed after his Inauguration and many times after that – after 9/11 tens of thousands people – rescue workers, family members of victims and volunteers came and sought solace there. Over 14000 volunteers in 12 hour shifts provided care and comfort for the 2000 workers who went to Ground Zero each and every day. Can you imagine the prayers that were prayed by people waiting for news of family and relatives who were missing after 9/11? For over 300 years people have prayed there and believe me when you walked into that church you knew that God was there.
I know this messes up my theology – I am not terribly worried by that to be honest. I just know that the moment I entered that church I wept. My tears were real and my emotions flowed freely. Others around felt the same. God’s presence to me was so real.
I could have stayed all day – David wrote a psalm and said, ‘I love your sanctuary, Lord, the place where your glorious presence dwells.’ (Psalm 26:8 NLT). Perhaps I had a glimpse of what both David and my friend Michael Putney understood and I have yet to learn? That day I added my prayers to those countless people who have prayed there!
