This year I took vacation the week before and after Christmas. Time off was welcomed after putting so many rushed hours in on our last rag, (editors, take note: meet your deadlines and have happy art directors!) I dreamed about the things that I could do and the time I would have to think, create and breathe outside air. I made a list in my journal, hopeful I could accomplish each item, giving no thought to any practicalities.
I knew there were non-negotiables: Christmas shopping, my wife's birthday, and taking the kids tubing (did you know tubes on snow can go over 40 mph?) But some other things like shooting photos of my town's grand old Victorians blanketed in Christmas lights and snow, I wasn't sure I would get to—but I surprised myself.
It was hard to cut the umbilical after pushing hard to meet my deadline, and I actually snuck in some half days on to jump on next month's issue (had to drop my son off close to my office for his new job, so I could just pop in) and yes, I actually accomplished not checking my email for a few days from home...okay, two days!
Although I was used to hours in front of the computer, I tried not to spend my time there. But, I found that I missed the fellowship of the blog and I have looked forward to this post. I pray all those in my small blog community had a Christmas full of wonder. I am thankful for you and the gift of oneness you have been to me, for the encouragement, and for the inspiration of your stories. I think Kirsten echoes my heart on the matter when she said, "We all have stories. And I think we all want our stories to be validated somehow; we want to share them, we want them not to be forgotten. We use them to connect with one another in this virtual blogging space."
So I sit here, on a cloudy day with my list tucked away for now. The snow is falling and I contemplate the mystery of Immanuel, God with us. I also think of the new year and what it may hold.
Under our tree, we have a nativity that was given to us as a gift some years ago. The nativity seems so serene, but even this miraculous arrival had many tough days prior to it. Mary, a pregnant teen, unmarried, giving birth in a stable—perfection born in imperfection. She was a willing vessel to the Lord. When the angel told her that the savior would be created inside of her she responds in with some questions she would like answered, specifically on how a virgin could accomplish such a task, but also in faith: "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."
She was willing for perfection to be born in imperfection.
In the first chapter of Luke, Zehariah prophecies before Jesus is born, "Morning light is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."
May we each allow His light truly break upon us—perfection born in imperfection—this year of 2008, making the shadows of death, despair, depression flee far from us, and may this light guide us, no matter what our circumstances, to the path of peace—His peace.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
