I was praying about Christmas a few weeks ago. From the news around the world to some news in my own family, I was starting to feel that this would not be a joy-filled Christmas but rather one filled with doubt, fear, and loss. But I LOVE Christmas! There is no other time of year I like better. I love the decorations, the spirit, and most of all, I love the focus on the Christ that my family has always brought to the season. So I was feeling like all the unhappy news was coming at such a bad time. Not that there would be a good time for it, but coming at Christmas just made it worse. (more…)

Hey, what are you doing this Christmas?  I know, you’re pretty busy, but I’m wondering if you’d like to go see a light display with me.  Did you get the invitation? You might be saying, wait a minute, who?  Me?  What invitation?  Where’s the display?  We all have an ongoing invitation to see God’s light and goodness, everywhere.  This invitation to “behold” or see God’s light is sent out from the very beginning of the Bible, and continues in the story of Jesus’ birth and life.  So many people respond.  People are visited by angels, they’re led to see the infant Jesus in the manger, and more importantly, they recognize and experience the promise of his life: they see the light of the Christ. (more…)

Years ago my husband left me at the beginning of November. Being left was sad enough, but when I realized I was going to have to go through all the holidays by myself, it felt like it was too much to bear. I called a friend of mine who is a Christian Science practitioner in tears. She surprised me by saying, “Oh Christmas, it’s either too happy or too sad.” I got the sad part, but too happy? Could Christmas—or anything—be too happy???  But as she went on, I got her point. You can get so caught up in all the preparations—the gift buying and wrapping, the decorating, the cooking, and on and on, that you completely miss what Christmas is really all about. I didn’t think so at first, but that’s worse than missing a husband! (more…)

The clock struck 12:00. Merry Christmas, I whispered to myself, feeling the warmth of the first teardrop trickling down my cheek. As I lay awake staring at the ceiling, the room’s darkness mirrored, even magnified, how I was feeling inside. This would be my first Christmas away from home, and it was as if the holiday spirit had been knocked right out of me.

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My family usually does fun, corny Christmas cards in which all of the (now grown-up) kids are in costume and smiling under a slew of puns about the holidays and the New Year. This year’s card, while still fun and corny, has got a different feel to it. I can’t say too much – or it’ll ruin the surprise for everybody – but the tone is a little more sincere. (more…)

Remember that book by Shel Silverstein? It’s a story about a boy and the tree that provides him with everything he needs—shade, branches to play on, and food to eat. It’s such a great metaphor for how God works in our life as our constant Giver. Well, ‘tis the season…! (more…)

by Inge Schmidt

A few days before Halloween, a friend and I were shopping for pumpkins to carve. But all we could find were candy canes and Santa figurines. A few weeks later, I was out shopping and the store had Christmas carols playing over the loud speaker. From the looks of it, Christmas was all around me. But it didn’t feel like Christmas to me.

For a split second, I debated running into the store, picking up some lights, an ornament or two, and a small house plant (let’s face it, Christmas trees are expensive!), and calling it Christmas in my apartment. But I realized that I was craving something deeper than the material artifacts of Christmas-I was longing for a higher sense of Christmas. So for the next several days, I embarked on a spiritual search for Christmas.

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Even though Christmas has already passed, imagine you opened your last gift today and you got 3 Months handed to you on a big silver plate, filled with whatever you want. That’s where I am right now. So far on my plate is a big slab of Spain with a mound of new friends to one side, a city at my disposal on the other, and all of it sprinkled with a heavy coating of Spanish speaking. Now I’m in a new country with a ‘different, not weird’ culture, as Quique our director likes to put it. (more…)