Happy Saturday! Here are a couple of pretty cool videos. The first is an amazing look at toy design from the inventor of Furbee. It’s a little slow at the beginning, but the end is worth the wait. Since so much of Christmas is about kids and toys, I thought it was pretty cool to […]
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What If Christmas Isn’t Merry?
What pops into your mind when you think of Christmas? Colored lights, tinsel, festive decorations? Familiar music, parties, family gatherings? Joy, the promise of a Savior, God with us? How about death, loss, and grief? That’s probably not what you expected. Christmas is a time for glad tidings of great joy, but we also must […]
Continue readingMore TagDo You Belong In Bethlehem?
What would Jesus think if I showed up in Bethlehem? I’ve been trying to spend some time each day during this Christmas season at the nativity scene, wondering about the thoughts, emotions, and experiences of each character. And I found myself wondering how Jesus would respond to the presence of a disabled person in that […]
Continue readingMore TagSemi-Regular Newsletter 12.8.10
Here’s a link to the Christmas edition of Rich’s Semi-Regular Newsletter. Wishing you an early Merry Christmas!
Continue readingMore TagDo We Really Need The Baby?
Do you ever get the feeling that our version of Christmas is more about the wrapping than the gift? Jon Swanson wrote a wonderful article about Christmas programs. He’s right—we often get so concerned with the presentation that we forget the meaning behind it. Christmas isn’t about a perfect performance. Jon’s article stimulated my warped […]
Continue readingMore TagAnticipation
Happy Monday! Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent, which inspires this week’s word-of-the-week … Anticipation This is a season of anticipation, but I’ve noticed a change as I gain experience (a polite way of saying I’m getting older). As a kid, it was a kind of “can’t wait” anticipation. Gifts and surprises—waiting for the […]
Continue readingMore TagMusical Shopping Surprise–Redux
Happy Saturday! These folks received a wonderful unexpected Christmas surprise. I wish I’d been there. Sorry if you received the earlier version of this post with the inactive link. This one works–I promise. And if you havent seen it, it’s worth the trouble. (Thanks to Claudette for sharing this.) Have a great weekend!
Continue readingMore TagRulers And Rebels
Just tell me the rules! Have you ever reached that point? You can’t see a way forward or you’re not sure which way to turn and you just want a step-by-step guide? The Internet thrives on this human desire for an instruction manual. You can get rich without labor, lose weight without sweat, and find […]
Continue readingMore TagGames, Rules, And Life
What’s the right thing to do? I suspect we’ve all asked ourselves that question—many times. Life has a way of dropping non-black-and-white problems in my lap, and for some reason I seem to have misplaced the directions. Last week I talked a little about using games as a metaphor for life (Right Or Not Right?). […]
Continue readingMore TagUnexpected Grace
Are you willing to surprise someone with unexpected grace? Our pastor asked that question yesterday. I hate it when a speaker tosses out a nugget like that—I don’t think I heard much of the rest of his message. Surprised by unexpected grace. That’s precisely what God did for me. I truly believed I’d wasted the […]
Continue readingMore TagTen Keys For Holiday Traditions
Happy Monday. I hope you enjoyed your weekend and survived the inevitable avalanche of advertising. Shopping and holiday traditions got me thinking about my word-of-the-week… TRADITION This is a season of traditions. Organizations, communities, families—all sorts of groups create traditional responses to the holiday. Traditions serve varied purposes. They invoke warm (and sometimes painful) memories, […]
Continue readingMore TagHow Will We Leave Our Mark?
Happy Saturday! Have you ever wondered whether Jesus has a sense of humor? I’m pretty sure He does—a bunch of close friends who traveled together for three years must have shared some laughs. Humor is a great way to make an important point. With that in mind, this poem is a marvelous parody of the famous […]
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