The aftermath of Christmas

Well, Christmas has once again come and gone.

We held 11 Christmas Eve services at RiverTree which nearly 5,500 people attended. We collected a special gift offering for the Christian Children's Home of Ohio. More than $100,000 was given!!! That will enable the Children's Home to open a new cottage to care for children who are even at greater risk. Yeah God!

If you missed the Christmas Eve teaching or would like to watch it one more time . . . here's a video link: www.vimeo.com/8443521.

Since Christmas, the stomach flu has ravaged our household. It began with me in the wee hours of Monday morning, moved to Elijah a few hours later and then Tabitha on Tuesday. Run, Julie, run!

Two of my favorite Christmas gifts? A family in church found a "Grateful Dead" Christmas bulb for me. I love it! Because I am dead and Christ now lives in me. My friend Tom gave our son Elijah an amazing gift. Tom climbed mount Kilimanjaro with me. When we came down off the mountain our guides gave Tom a traditional Masai blanket wrap that an honored elder would wear. It would only be given to "Babu"--the honored one. Tom graciously gave his wrap to Elijah after he had it embroidered: "To Elijah, love Babu."

I pray you will have a very blessed close to 2009 and that you will walk with God into 2010.

Christmas Eve

Well, we kicked off the rush of Christmas Eve services last night. We'll be doing 11 this year at our three campuses. I'll be teaching live at 7 of them. Julie is singing at the Portage Campus as well. It's good to have one under our belt.

I feel really good about the service--faithful to God.

In the midst of it all . . . check out this quote by Augustine. He's referencing the fact that "there was no room in the inn for Jesus."

“The house of my soul is too narrow for Thee to come in; let it be enlarged by Thee. It is in ruins. Do Thou restore it.”

God, may You find room in my heart throughout this Christmas season. May You find a welcome and warm place to dwell. Amen.

The Art Of Woo

My friend, Mike Foster, recommended this book. The Art Of Woo is subtitled, using strategic persuasion to sell your ideas.

Fascinating read.

For me, the biggest take away was to be aware of the needs of others as I convey mission and vision (the needs that I am advocating).

A couple of meaningful thoughts:

"Acquire the ability to get outside of your own frame of reference and see situations from other people's standpoints."

"Try to feel what others feel and see what others see."

"Credibility comes down to audience perceptions of three key things: competence, expertise, and trustworthiness."

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing."

If you are involved in any way in moving ideas forward, then this is a very important read.

Three answer

1. My biggest joy of the past year: Baptizing my daughter, Tabitha!

2. My biggest challenge of the past year: We drove to Hilton Head for our summer break. Received a call that my mother-in-law had a major heart problem. We turned around three hours later and drove home. The next few weeks were really tough. (Mom Rex is doing great now!)

3. What I'm most looking forward to in 2010: Teaching through the book of Matthew in our weekend services.

How about you?

Elders' gathering

Last night we had our Elders and spouses to our house for our annual Christmas gathering. 22 people for dinner!

It was an amazing evening. Each year as we gather we review the highlights of where we've watched God working throughout the past year. We talk about where we anticipate God leading us in the coming year. And, we each respond to three questions:

1. What was your deepest experience of joy this past year?

2. What was your biggest challenge this past year?

3. What are you most looking forward to in the coming year?

It always amazes me at the authentic depth to which people are willing to respond to these three simple questions. As we close out this year I'll use this formula in several gatherings. If you're having a Christmas party or simply on your own, I would encourage you to take time to reflect with others about your responses.

Christmas cookies

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my family baking Christmas cookies. Included the in-laws, Grandma and a few cousins. Doesn't sound like the most exciting way to spend a day, but . . . it was good . . . really good.

For the past five years we've been setting aside an afternoon for what has become our Christmas cookie baking tradition. Lots of banter, coffee and actual conversation (found out my 89 year old grandmother wants to get a facelift!).

48 dozen cookies later we called it a day.

So here's one of my favorite recipes:

Sour Cream Cookies

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream

*Cream the above together.

3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

*Add to the mixture and bake on greased cookie sheet 8-10 minutes.

Ice.

Have a favorite recipe?

The Blind Side--the movie

Go see this one!

I was pleasantly surprised to see how accurately the movie portrayed the book--a rare thing these days. Sandra Bullock carries the show.

I was wrecked by the end of it. Not because it doesn't have a wondrous ending but because of the incredible need for care in our culture.