One Of the Best Gifts

The older I get, the harder it is to remember all of the Christmases I've celebrated. It is even harder to remember many of the gifts I have received. This year, I have had a hard time coming up with a list for Kathy. She is the conduit to our families for ideas. I guess I'm more focused on celebrating the season and enjoying our family here at home, as well as our son's, their wives and children, when they get here later in December. I'm also looking forward to sitting by our tree, reading and enjoying the atmosphere of this wonderful season.

I've been working down in our basement for the past few days. We're painting, cleaning and scrubbing tile floors, installing new lights and generally getting ready for the holidays. As I was thinking about this blog yesterday, I noticed one of the best gifts I have ever received. The interesting thing about this gift is that it wasn't given to me at Christmas, it came to me when we moved from Manteca, California to Denver, Colorado. I worked at First Assembly in Manteca for 7 years, once in the 70s and the second time in the 80s. The second time we were there, I directed the choir every Sunday standing on a small step, in order for the last row of the choir to be able to see me. I have had to use a step in a couple of churches for this same reason. In fact, when we left First Assembly in Albany, Oregon, the choir all signed the step I used and they gave it to me as a parting gift. Apparently they didn't think that their next minister of music would be vertically challenged and would need the "box." The gift I received in Manteca was similar, but it was a small step stool built by the husband and father of two of my choir members. Here is a picture of my stool that was built by Don Graves.

I have used this stool for virtually every home project I have ever worked on. This week, in my basement, I have used it over and over again. By the way, Don's daughter Regina is one of the finest sopranos I have ever had in one of my choirs. She is a wonderful soloist. Her mom, Wanda, was very good as well. At a farewell reception, the Graves family presented this stool to me. Little did they know that 20 years later I would consider it one of the best gifts I have ever received. As you can see, it's a little beat up, painted on and a little rickety. But I suspect I'll use it until it completely falls apart.
 
This Christmas season I want to share, via this blog, some of the wonderful stories I have collected over the years. I will also share some of the remarkable gifts I have received. Regardless, I am so thankful for the wonderful gift of life that Christ gave us in His coming to earth to live, die and be resurrected to reconcile us to the Father. There is no better gift. This season is our chance to tell a desperate world about His coming, and His gift to us.

Time to put my stool away, I'm finished with it for this project. I'll keep it close by...

Ray Charles and Christmas Angel

The day after Thanksgiving is always a potpourri of activities for us. This year we shopped for some new lighting in our basement, I went to pick up a part for Nicole's car from the Toyota dealership, only to find out it was the wrong one, and Kathy and I spent time cleaning out our storage area in the basement and I installed our new lighting. We took some time to watch a Christmas movie titled Christmas Angel. It was the story of a wealthy philanthropist who found out late in life that it is better to give than receive. A multi-millionaire businessman who lost his wife and family because of his obsession with making money. In the end, he gave it all away to needy people. A little predictable, but a fun way to start the season.

The other thing I did has become a personal tradition. I watched, (I'm not sure how many times this is, but it is a lot), Ray Charles Celebrate A Gospel Christmas. In what may have been his last video taped concert, (Christmas 2003, Ray Charles died in June of 2004), Ray Charles sang Christmas songs, gospel songs and his famous arrangement of America, the Beautiful. In this concert he is joined by the 120 Voices of Jubilation from Newark, New Jersey. The wild thing about this concert is that it was performed in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It is obvious from the first song that the audience is incredibly responsive to Ray Charles and all the music. They clap as each song starts, they clap in the middle and they go wild at the end. The interesting thing is that when the cameras pan the audience, there is not a single black person in the audience, and almost everyone on the stage is black. What a wonderful inter-cultural experience for all those folks. One of the memorable performances on this video is the Voices of Jubilation's rendition of Total Praise. The director is wonderful to watch. His animation makes the song come alive. The entire concert is a lot of fun and a great way to start the Christmas season. Ray Charles and the choir singing Oh, Happy Day is great.

Now, on the the big stuff. Unwinding the outdoor lights and making sure they all work...

Thanksgiving Day 2010

This morning I was up early to help register runners and walkers for the 20th Gobble Wobble 5K at our church. Every year this race is a benefit for Teen Challenge, a faith based drug rehab program that we support. Several hundred runners braved very cold and drizzly conditions to participate. I thank God for everyone who participated and gave unselfishly on this day to help others.

Now I'm home, I helped Kathy get the turkey stuffed and into the oven and now we have a few minutes to relax. While I try and be grateful all year long for God's blessings to us, this day really helps me reflect on the things that I am so thankful for. As I drove home from the church this morning, and called Kathy to let her know I was on my way, I was weepy as I thought about how much I love her and am thankful to God for her. This hasn't been the greatest year of our lives, but the love that we share and the support we give each other has helped make it a year that we can truly say "God has been faithful." I am thankful for all our children, our married children and grandchildren who are in Springfield, Missouri, Medford, Oregon and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I am thankful for our three teenagers still at home. Even with the challenges that parenting has produced this year, our lives our enriched by our teenagers. I thank God for my parents, sisters and brother and their families, and Kathy's parents and siblings. I am thankful that our home is warm, there is food in the pantry, our bills are paid and we have a little money in the bank.

I am thankful that as I sat and read God's Word this morning, His promises are true and apply to me, because He loves me and has a relationship with me, by His choosing. I am thankful for friends who love us, and care about us, a church family that we can share our talent and ability with, and our country that has provided the freedom that we enjoy today to worship God like we choose. I am thankful for a day of rest, and the opportunity to reflect on the reasons for the peace and contentment that I feel. Have a blessed day as you thank God for His goodness to you.

My Utmost For His Highest

Oswald Chambers was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1874, the son of a Baptist minister. As a teenager, after hearing Charles Spurgeon preach, young Oswald surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. Chambers studied for the ministry and was the first principal of the Bible Training College at Clapham Common, London. World War I exploded on Europe and the college was closed in 1915.

Chambers joined the staff of the YMCA and with his wife, Biddy, was sent to Europe to minister to the English and Australian troops stationed in Zeitoun and Ismailia. The YMCA constructed 72 by 40 foot reed huts for the soldiers to come and relax in. Within a week, Oswald Chambers had four hundred soldiers packed in each night to hear him teach the Bible. Hundreds came to Christ. He wrote in his diary, "There are so many 'saved' souls waiting instruction, and they take it with zest. There is no difficulty at all in getting men to 'decide' for Christ, they do it readily." Sadly, on November 17, 1917, Chambers died of complications from an appendix operation.

Chambers had written just one book before he died, Baffled to Fight Better, but he had kept a journal. Biddy (his wife) was a trained court stenographer and had taken down word for word many of his hundreds of messages delivered at colleges and military camps. She began editing his material into 365 daily readings and named it My Utmost for His Highest. She completed it in 1927, ten years after Oswald's death. Today the book remains among the top ten Christian titles sold annually.

What will be our legacy, yours and mine? God cannot only use our lives for His glory while we are alive and working for Him, but long after we are gone. O God, help us to keep our focus on You and what You have asked us to do. We'll leave the results to You, for Your glory.

Christmas Reading

Every year, for many years now, Kathy and I have purchased one or two Christmas books a year. Some have been collections of short stories, others are Christmas novels and some have been table top books. One of our favorite authors is Richard Paul Evans. His book, Christmas Box, is a classic. We also enjoyed The Christmas List, The Gift and others by him. This year Evans has a new book titled Promise Me. Kathy found it at Sam's Club the other day and brought it home with some other Christmas shopping. I decided to start reading it on Sunday evening and I finished it last night. Normally, I would wait until closer to Christmas, but since I am a minister of music, I have been selecting, rehearsing and planning for Christmas since July, so reading a Christmas book now fits right into where I am.

For me, part of the enjoyment of Christmas is to immerse myself in the lives of other people and their Christmas celebrations. Many of the stories I have read have been true life stories, others are fictional. All of them help me focus on the wonder of the coming of the Savior and His tremendous gift to me. Another thing I have discovered over the years is that Christmas can "blow right past" you if you let it. The busyness of the season can almost make Christmas one of the those things that you can't wait to come and go so that your schedule can slow down. I have found that if I have a Christmas book to read, even if all I have is a few minutes, those minutes can be so meaningful. Right after Thanksgiving we'll bring up a lot of our Christmas story collections books and put them on our living room coffee table. A cup of tea, a fire in the fireplace and a couple of Christmas stories helps melt away the busyness of the day. This year, in addition to all your Black Friday shopping, stop in a bookstore and look for their Christmas books display. It will be there, and there will be a lot of wonderful books there. Pick up a book of short stories, buy yourself some Constant Comment tea and that evening, read a couple of stories. It will do your soul good...

A Very Nice Visit With My Parents

Last December, my parents moved to the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. My sister relocated for a great job in the hotel industry and my parents moved with she and my brother-in-law. They live in the small town of Youngsville in a wonderful rural setting. When I was there earlier this week, all the leaves on the hardwood trees were turning yellow and red and it was beautiful. Two weeks ago my parents celebrated birthdays, 82 and 91. It was fun to be there so close to their birthdays. This was my first visit to their new home.

My dad has a lot trouble hearing, so our conversations were very short, but I was able to spend a lot of time with my mom, catching up on their move, all of our relatives that we do not see very often and catching her up on my family and all the things we are up to. The interesting thing was all the "spin off" conversations that a memory or an event took us on. I had several questions about the Spanish speaking church that I grew up in and that conversation brought back some neat memories. She reminded me of getting pulled over by a motorcycle policeman right in front of the the church because I pulled out in front of him without signaling or checking to see if anyone was coming. As I recall, I didn't get a ticket because I didn't have a license yet, just my permit. Another memory that I remember was a treat that happened every once in a while when we came home from our evening church service. It was usually fairly late and everyone was hungry. We stopped at a hamburger place where you could get a "bag of burgers for a buck" and a "bag of fries for a buck". For two dollars, we had a feast when we got home from church.

We reminisced about people that we had known and lost contact with, and people that have come back into our lives, largely with digital technology like Facebook. My memory of many of these folks was like I knew them many years ago. I was jarred back to reality more than once when I asked how old someone was now and my mom would say "I think they are in their eighties, or late seventies". Yikes, I remember them in their 20s and 30s. I suppose that some day in the next decade or two, I'll sit with my children and we'll do the same kind of reminiscing. I'll shock them with how old the people are that they remember, and we'll share great memories from every generation. One day, probably sooner than later, I won't be able to do this anymore with my parents. So I am very grateful for another opportunity to do that this week. We made plans to bring Kathy and our kids at home next summer to see them. I hope we can all do the same kind of reminiscing. I think it is really good for us to remember where we came from. It helps clarify where were are going.

This Was Quite An Election

I was up yesterday shortly after 4 AM to get ready to go to the election precinct where I have worked for the past several elections. We opened at 6 AM with many people in line and, except for a short lunch break, I did not sit down until our polls closed at 7 PM. I work at Gambrill Gardens, a retirement living center in West St. Louis County. A lot of our voters are elderly residents of the center. So, in addition to my normal job of helping people cast their ballots on the electronic and paper machines, many of the elderly voters need to have the ballot read to them, or they need special help with the touch screens. When I got home, I was exhausted, however, I really enjoyed the day.

In addition to the large turnout, we had close to 60%, I noticed a real determination on many people's part to "make a difference". In one form or another, many people said something like, "I want my vote to count" or "I want to help make a difference". On our ballot we had quite a few judge confirmations. It surprised me, with many of the elderly voters I assisted, how many of them voted NO on judge confirmations, almost as if there was a determination to sweep every area of government clean and start again.

I think the past 18 months have reignited a grass roots feeling in this country that the individual can make a difference. It has confirmed the idea that the will of the people cannot be ignored, and that if it is, the people will make changes. Now, Christians, it time to pray for new leaders, new direction and people in leadership who will be open to the wisdom and guidance of God. This was quite an election cycle, now let's do something with it.