In the morning we enjoyed some really fun family time with Nerf guns and a baby stroller as the big hits for the morning. ?We continue to make good use out of the second-hand china cabinet we bought from a family friend. ?While the bottom half is still home to all of our craft supplies, the top half has now been converted into a target board! ?There are Nerf darts all over the cabinet and my house! ? As we love to do on Christmas, Andy and I got up early and enjoyed some quiet with the Lord before the day got rolling. ?That's definitely my favorite part of the day. ?In the afternoon and evening, we spent time with some friends from church as well as some Chinese friends. ?Waffles, Wassail, and Wii. ?(which was hard for our Chinese friends to pronounce!) ?It was really good to be with people we love here.
This was maybe my favorite Christmas ever. ?Not so much because of the day itself, though it was fun. ? ?But mainly because this season gives me reason to really reflect on ?the Christmas story. ?And my heart needs to be reminded of the reason I can celebrate. ?With each passing year, the meaning of Christmas becomes clearer and richer and deeper to me. ?This week, I've been thinking about the phrase in 2 Corinthians, that says, "sorrowful yet always rejoicing." ?I think it best describes how Christians in the world are supposed to live. ?It's a description of our pilgrimage on this earth that touches both the pain of living in a fallen world and the HOPE we have in Christ.
Sorrowful-I do not need to look farther than my own heart to see the damage my sin causes. ?And if I look a little father outside myself, to those around me, I see the pain and bitterness of living in a fallen world, where friends ?and family are grieving losses this year, ?unspeakable pain of losing children, battling things like spina bifida, being unemployed, losing beloved pets, pain from broken relationships. ? The world I live in is broken. ?I've been thinking a lot about the passage that says, the WHOLE CREATION is groaning, eagerly awaiting it's redemption. . ?We too await our adoption as sons and the redemption of our bodies. ?It's so true that every aspect of creation is subject to death, until something undoes that...
The reason we can and SHOULD celebrate on this day is because Jesus came into the fallen, broken, sinful world to change everything. ?He has undone what our sin has done. ?"The weary world rejoices!" ?We are weary from the affects of sin but he has come to save us! ?We can rejoice!!! ? ?I have real hope and joy in this world, not because I pretend the pain isn't there but by looking it square in the face and seeing the Savior who has overcome all of it. ?This is why we rejoice!!! ? ?And Christ is with me, each day, speaking his love to me, guiding me, reminding me of the forgiveness I have in him and the welcome I have with the Father because of him!
So for now, I live as one sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. ?And on Christmas we can take time to really celebrate for we have a great hope-Christ with us today, and the promise of the day when every knee will bow to him and when he will wipe away every tear from our eyes!
MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS INDEED!
Source: http://huffmansinasia.blogspot.com/2012/12/merry-christmas-indeed.html
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Source: http://dkfughiu.posterous.com/huffmania-merry-christmas-indeed
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