Keep learning! Take the second lesson in our advent series: Emmanuel, God with us.

“For unto us a child is born …and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  (Isaiah 9:6 & 7)

As I re-juggled my “to do” list of Christmas preparations my thoughts bounced around the changes that have come and how Christmas will be somewhat different this year.  Changes…good changes, challenging changes, hard changes…the interesting mosaic of life. It’s different for all of us, yet we all share in that changing landscape of life. Sometimes finding joy in the changes is easy…sometimes very challenging.

As I pondered the changes in my life, and in our world, I thought about Christmas and the birth of Baby Jesus.  Sometimes that manger scene seems so irrelevant and so far removed from day to day life. Yet an old verse in the Bible brought freshness to my soul this week as I pondered how the Baby Jesus impacts my life today.  It truly gives new cause for joy. Listen…

“For unto us a child is born …and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  (Isaiah 9:6 & 7)

Any need you have in life and in the changing landscape of your mosaic can be answered by this Jesus.  If you need wisdom or strength He will be your Counselor; if you need a mountain moved, He is your Mighty God. If you need comfort, forgiveness and gentle healing, He is your everlasting Father; and if your heart is anxious and troubled He will be Peace to you.  Jesus….our rock and our hope! Jesus … our cause for joy!

Let your heart pause with thankfulness as you prepare for Christmas.  Look at the manger scene with the fresh wonder of all He is to you. Let joy seep into the changes of your life.  No need, no change that you face will not be encompassed by all He is so much more than just a baby! Invite Him into your changes! Let joy fill your soul.

Prayer & reflection

Heavenly Father,
Fill my heart with the fresh wonder of what that first Christmas means for me… today.  Thank you that today or in the future, any need I have can be encompassed by You, Jesus. Let joy flood into my soul as I lean on You to be my Wonderful Counselor, my Mighty God, my Everlasting Father and my Prince of Peace!  Help me to look with expectation to what You will do in my life… and fill me with Your joy!
In Jesus name I pray, Amen

Question: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace – which of the names of God do you most relate to today? Which one do you need more of in your life?

It was May, and we moved into the townhouse that was to be ours for the next two years. The sun was greeting us movers with warm light and smiles, and the day was worthy to be written in the halls of history.

Flash forward to the following September. Summer had drawn to a close, but we had all anticapted the upcoming school year with, well, anticipation. To me, however, something was missing in our new house. Something didn’t feel right to me, as almost if the house was speaking to me, telling me that I needed to fulfill a quest of epic proportions.

I knew the piece that was missing — a macaroni curtain. “Of course,” thought I, “what student house isn’t complete with a staple of student ingenuity and creativity dividing the empty doorway between our front hall and living room.” And so at that, I began building.

I should have known from the beginning how the curtain was not meant to be. I purchased macaroni, and three colors of food coloring; blue, red and yellow… our school colors. Our curtain would be both useful, and instill school pride on the residents and quests of our house. But the dying process did not go smoothly, as the blue dye turned the macaroni into a deep forest green, the yellow dye didn’t take, and the red stain turned my hands red for a week. For that week with my hands in my pockets, I had no idea the problem that lie ahead.

I spent a countless amount of hours sitting on the floor of the kitchen, carefully placing single piece after single piece of dyed macaroni on each individual string, and I remember how I measured the width and height of the door, and determined what the exact length of macaroni curtain I required.

Once I completed the stringing, I figured I could duct tape the string above the door. This did not work, as the string would slowly slip out from the tape, and would fall to the floor in a pile. Eventually the curtain was finally mounted after using half a roll of duct tape and a handful of woodscrews.

For the first two days, that curtain was bliss. I revelled in the dull tinkling noise that the macaroni made, and the cool smooth surface of the curtain as it softly brushed against my hands and face.

But after that the curtain began to slowly shatter. Slowly, little bits and pieces of red and green and yellow macaroni appeared on the floor, dry broken pieces that felt like glass on our tender feet. And as macroni fell from the harsh collision with each other, the curtain turned more and more into a curtain of string than of macaroni. But I still loved it — I had put too much work into it to take it down.

One evening I returned from class, and it was gone! All that was left were a few screws in the wall above the doorway, and a few splinters of macaroni on the carpet. I was heartbroken, and felt betrayed by the anonymous housemate who in spiteful, hateful vengance tore down my beloved curtain. I believe I shed only one single, salty tear for that curtain.

I reflect now, and figure it was all for the best. I built a lousy curtain, and perhaps next time I will save myself all the pain and torment, and all the investment of blood, sweat, tears and love into building a macaroni curtain. Perhaps I’ll just buy one instead, for the the financial cost is far less than the emotional cost, for the treasured item of a macaroni curtain.

Kids’ Deep Thoughts
From an actual newspaper contest where entrants ages 4 to 15 were asked to imitate “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.”

I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I don’t have any clean laundry because, come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life?
–Age 15

Give me the strength to change the things I can, the grace to accept the things I cannot, and a great big bag of money.
–Age 13

It sure would be nice if we got a day off for the president’s birthday, like they do for the queen. Of course, then we would have a lot of people voting for a candidate born on July 3 or December 26, just for the long weekends.
–Age 8

Democracy is a beautiful thing, except for that part about letting just any old yokel vote.
–Age 10

Home is where the house is.
–Age 6

For centuries, people thought the moon was made of green cheese. Then the astronauts found that the moon is really a big hard rock. That’s what happens to cheese when you leave it out.
–Age 6

When I go to heaven, I want to see my grandpa again. But he better have lost the nose hair and the old-man smell.
–Age 5

I once heard the voice of God. It said “Vrrrrmmmmm.” Unless it was just a lawn mower.
–Age 11

As you make your way through this hectic world of ours, set aside a few minutes each day. At the end of the year, you’ll have a couple of days saved up.
–Age 7

Often, when I am reading a good book, I stop and thank my teacher. That is, I used to, until she got an unlisted number.
–Age 15

It would be terrible if the Red Cross Bloodmobile got into an accident. No, wait. That would be good because if anyone needed it, the blood would be right there.
–Age 5

Think of the biggest number you can. Now add five. Then, imagine if you had that many Twinkies. Wow, that’s five more than the biggest number you could come up with!
–Age 6

The only stupid question is the one that is never asked, except maybe “Don’t you think it is about time you audited my return?” or “Isn’t it morally wrong to give me a warning when, in fact, I was speeding?”
–Age 15

If we could just get everyone to close his or her eyes and visualize world peace for an hour, imagine how serene and quiet it would be until the looting started.
–Age 15

Idiot #1

I am a medical student currently doing a rotation in toxicology
at the poison control center. Today, this woman called in very upset because she caught her little daughter eating ants.

I quickly reassured her that the ants are not harmful and there
would be no need to bring her daughter into the hospital. She calmed down, and at the end of the conversation happened to mention that she gave her daughter some ant poison to eat in order to kill the ants.

I told her that she better bring her daughter into the Emergency room right away.

Idiot #2

Seems that a year ago, some Boeing employees on the airfield
decided to steal a life raft from one of the 747s. They were successful in getting it out of the plane and home. When they took it for a float on the river, they were surprised by a Coast Guard helicopter coming towards them. It turned out that the chopper was homing in on the emergency locator that is activated when the raft is inflated. They are no longer employed at Boeing.

Idiot #3

A true story out of San Francisco: A man, wanting to rob a
downtown Bank of America, walked into the branch and wrote “this iz a stikkup. Put all your muny in this bag.” While standing in line, waiting to give his note to the teller, he began to worry that someone had seen him write the note and might call the police before he reached the teller
window. So he left the Bank of America and crossed the street to Wells Fargo. After waiting a few minutes in line, he handed his note to the Wells Fargo teller.

She read it and, surmising from his spelling errors that he
wasn’t the brightest light in the harbor, told him that she could not accept his stickup note because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip and that he would either have to fill out a Wells Fargo deposit slip or go back to Bank of America. Looking somewhat defeated, the man said “OK” and left. He was arrested few minutes later, as he was waiting in line back at Bank of America.

Idiot #4

A motorist was unknowingly caught in an automated speed trap that measured his speed using radar and photographed his car. He later received in the mail a ticket for $40 and a photo of his car. Instead of payment, he sent the police department a photograph of $40. Several days later, he received a letter from the police that contained another picture of handcuffs.

Idiot #5

A guy walked into a little corner store with a shotgun and
demanded all the cash from the cash drawer. After the cashier put the cash in a bag, the robber saw a bottle of scotch that he wanted behind the counter on the shelf. He told the cashier to put it in the bag as well, but he refused and said, “I don’t believe you are over 21.” The robber said he was, but the clerk still refused to give it to him because he didn’t believe him.

At this point the robber took his driver’s license out of his wallet and gave it to the clerk. The clerk looked it over, and agreed that the man was in fact over 21 and he put the scotch in the bag. The robber then ran from the store with his loot. The cashier promptly called the police and gave the name and address of the robber that he got off the license. They arrested the robber two hours later.

Idiot #6

A pair of Michigan robbers entered a record shop nervously
waving revolvers. The first one shouted, “Nobody move!” When his partner moved, the startled first bandit shot him.

Idiot #7

Arkansas: Seems this guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He
decided that he’d just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window.

The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. Seems the liquor store window was made of Plexi-Glass. The whole event was caught on videotape.