Jack and I both thought Penn State would make a better game of it than all that...

Trusty and her boy the day after Christmas...

Anna, Norah and Josiah at Christmas breakfast!


That’s It!

So, Christmas is over once again. You don’t hear as much Elvis or Bing Crosby as you did last week, and no one seems to be wearing crazy felt hats out in broad daylight anymore. The bows have been unbowed, the packages have been unpacked and the stockings have been unstocked. It’s now time for returns, exchanges and after-Christmas sales. If you’re like me, you’re drowning in what seems to be an endless ocean of delicious and chocolaty temptations and you’re on the verge of overdose. After so much anticipation and excitement, Christmas came and once the dust settled through a cloud of wrapping paper scraps and double A batteries, I realized something: No one needs to remind me to remember the real reason for Christmas.

Every year after Thanksgiving church marquees, Christian bookstores and individuals with tons of little silver fishies on their cars work hard to campaign for the true meaning of Christmas. Folks put little red and green signs in their yards that say, “Jesus: The Reason for the Season.” They print this on t-shirts and bumper stickers and even knit it into Christmas sweaters so that everyone will remember (as the Grinch learned) that maybe “Christmas perhaps means a little bit more” than gifts, trees and legends of flying reindeer. And look, its not that I have a problem with this campaign… it’s fine. I think it’s great that they are spreading the word about what we ought to be celebrating; it’s just that I’ve realized it might not be so necessary to be telling everyone all the time what to focus on. See, I think the whole commercial Christmas thing does the job just fine… I mean, haven’t you ever been sitting there at the end of the all the presents thinking, “Is that it? Is that what all the preparation and decoration was about? Is this all there is to it?”

I bet most people walk away from expensive and fancy Christmases feeling as though they are missing something; feeling unsatisfied, like they are thirsting for more. I bet Christmas itself can do a fine job of leading people to desire Christ, simply because Christmas on its own is not very fulfilling. I was reading this week about how a trip to a well made a woman realize how thirsty she was… She went to the well to draw water in the middle of the day so no one would be there. She was hiding. Jesus was there though. He started to talk to her about water and would up talking about life… her life and what it takes to have satisfying, full and eternal life. He offered her water that takes away your thirst forever and ever and she wanted it. She mentioned the Messiah and then He told her He was the Messiah. Then an interesting thing happened… John says, “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town…”

She came to the well because she was thirsty and everyday she had to come back for more water. On this day she met Jesus and after meeting Him, she left her water jar sitting at the well. She didn’t need it anymore because she wasn’t thirsty anymore. When Jesus’ disciples tried to get Him some food, He said He didn’t need food because He was filled with something different. So was this woman. Every day she walked to the well for water, drank it and wondered, “Is this it?” Until one day she met the One who gives living water and said, “That’s it!” So, if you find yourself surrounded by new toys and treats but still feel empty and thirsty, it’s because Christmas itself is telling you something… you’re thirsty for a reason. You’re looking for the water that won’t run out, and the One who gave it at a well so many years ago still gives it now to those who thirst.



P.S. today is Norah's birthday!!! She's 3, and she's awesome!