Thoughts from the weekend

Thoughts from the weekend:

I was very grateful and pleased at the response of our youth leaders yesterday, as we met and dialogued about next year.

Each one is "stepping up" to the plate to help us out.

Making sure that ministry continues to our youth group is a top priority of mine - I am in continual prayer for their spiritual, emotional and relational well-being.

I am also pleased to announce that Mike and Christine Trevino will be our "fill in" youth pastors until God leads us to another one.

Mike and Christine come to us with rich background of ministry experience, having served the last few years as the head of "Youth Alive" for the district.

They are just a great couple, full of love for God and for people. They have one son, Elijah, who is almost a year old.

I thought it was interesting the way that the Lord moved at the end of the second service yesterday.

We were worshipping God - and all of a sudden I felt led to lead us in a moment of quietness before God. God gave us a word - "Everything is going to be okay."

It was a "Be still and know that I am God" type moment.

In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus decides to visit the home of a woman named Martha. When he arrives, he finds Martha distracted by all the tasks that come with being the host.

Despite her harried efforts, it is the posture of her sister, Mary, that Jesus praises. With little concern for a successful social event, Mary chooses to sit at the feet of Jesus as he teaches those who have gathered for the meal.

As the story comes to a close, Jesus says it is Mary who "has chosen what is better."

Though at first glance this doesn't appear to be a story we should look at during the Advent and Christmas seasons, but writer Mayo Mathers thinks otherwise.

In an article for Kyria.com, an on-line resource for Christian women, she confesses that hosting parties, cooking up delicious buffets, and shopping for gifts brings out the "Martha" in her.

She had never given this much thought until she attended her church's annual Christmas pageant.

She writes of her breakthrough moment:

As I sat in the candlelit sanctuary absentmindedly listening to the peaceful strains of "Silent Night," I wrestled mentally with a list of things to be done. When the congregation stood to sing carols, my lips moved unconsciously to the words while my brain mulled over various menus for our annual Christmas Eve buffet.

As in every Christmas pageant, the usual parade of bathrobe-draped children marched down the center aisle. A pseudo-weary Mary and Joseph shook their heads in dismay as the innkeeper turned them away. Having watched so many similar renditions of the Christmas story, it had become commonplace to me.

Realizing this, I felt a stab of guilt and bowed my head. Father, I prayed, let me see the story through your eyes tonight.

The young girl portraying Mary began to sing a lullaby to the child in her arms. Her voice was so pure, so full of love and awe, that I stared at her, transfixed, my distracted musings forgotten.

Suddenly, it was as if the congregation had disappeared as if I had been transported back in time to the actual stable in Bethlehem.

As I listened to her song, wonder and immense gratitude settled upon me. Into my heart God whispered, If ever there was a time to worship me, it's now! This season is about me only, but each year you crowd me out with the inconsequential!

Mathers closes her article with these words: "Beautiful, delicious dinners are nice. 'Just right' gifts are delightful. But I'm learning that only one thing really matters: while I tend to be more like Martha, at Christmas, 'tis the season to be 'Mary!'"

What a great Word in the midst of all of the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season.

I love our church. I love the people in our church. And...I am thankful for the way that god is beginning to move in our services.

Debbie did a great job last night in putting up our Christmas decorations in our house. They look magnificent. George comes home tomorrow evening, Becky on Christmas Eve. Andrew, Christie and Georgia are spending Christmas this year with Andrew's parents.

The Dallas Cowboys..what can I say. They lost again in December. I am beginning to believe that they can't win when "crunch time" comes.

I think that teams take on the personality of their coach, and it is showing as there seems to be a lack of a will to win when the game is "on the line."

And now, the New Orleans Saints are next. They are undefeated, and Dallas will be playing them in New Orleans.

Not good.