With Christmas behind us life becomes a big let down for many… more like a huge drop-off. The thought of going back to normal discourages many people as Christmas trees are set by the curb, outside lights turned off, and decorations put away.

So we ask ourselves, now what?

It’s like going from the divine (the spiritual hilltop of His birth) to the mundane (our daily grind). How can we make a successful transition?

If you’re like me, you wish you could live from one spiritual, emotional, psychological hilltop to another while skipping the valleys in between. But that’s unrealistic living.

All you can do is pace yourself!

Take the Christmas story, for example. It was full of supernatural events  as God, the Father, protected His Boy. But once Mary and Joseph settled down in Nazareth many years passed with seemingly nothing going on.

Joseph set up his carpentry shop and Jesus grew up and learned the trade. Nothing spectacular. No angels. No revealing dreams. No songs of praise to God. Just daily 9 to 5 living.

There’s a reason the Bible is silent about most of Jesus’ childhood and young adulthood. Life just took its course.

When Christopher Columbus went out to explore in 1492 many of his journal entries simply read, “Today, we sailed on.” The Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria were no cruiseliners filled with fun events. For them it was just another day at sea of cleaning the deck, adjusting the sails, dealing with sickness, managing relationships, and doing nothing other than moving in the same direction.

Now, if you’re one of those folk that see themselves as a hamster on a wheel you’re going to have issues. You’ve got to learn to look beyond! Check out this great advice from the apostle Paul,

And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up. Galatians 6:9 (TLB)

As I write this I have my phone sideways on my desk showing a live feed of an eagle sitting on 2 eggs that are supposed to be ready to hatch. Thousands of others are watching as well. The fascinating thing is that nothing’s happening (other than my phone battery is draining BIG TIME). That eagle’s been sitting there for days. But one of these days those chicks are going to be born and the long days of sitting on that nest will have been worth it for that eagle (if eagles think that way).

Whether you’re at home or office reading this, remember that everyday you do your best, even if it seems routine, gets you closer to the realization of your goals and dreams.

Even when there’s no visible progress, stay on task!

Steady perseverance is not wasted time but the path to ultimate blessing!

The apostle compared it all to reaping a great harvest. Harvest time still requires work but it’s fun time and the benefits often far exceed the expectation.

I remember an orange tree we used to have in our backyard. It produced the most amazing sweet flavor I’ve ever tasted in an orange. As harvest time drew near the branches would be full of little buds. Those buds would heighten our anticipation of harvest. Then the oranges would finally ripen and we would have the joy of pulling one off, pealing, and eating.

Spiritually speaking God always outdoes Himself when rewarding His own. Even if spiritual buds of blessing are not yet visible to you don’t lose heart. There’s a harvest coming your way.

Christmas may be over for now but trust me, it will be here again before you know it. In the meantime, roll up your sleeves and get to it.

There’s much to be done and the prize to be had is worth your every ounce of effort.

What’s your thought? Please leave me a response.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… but not in Florida if your picture perfect Christmas involves cold temperatures and snow. But snow may not be your thing (it isn’t mind for sure). Maybe gifts and trees are.

Department stores were looking a lot like Christmas way before Thanksgiving (kind of depressing). Thanksgiving used to mark the coming of Santa Clause but nowadays profit is the name of the game. And prices can be so jacked up for items that shopping for gifts can become a downer rather than an absolute joy.

Lot’s of people will just use credit but, if I may steal a quote from the robot of an old televisions show called Lost In Space, “Danger, Danger.” Buying on credit is good if you can pay the card off right away otherwise you will feel the bite in the you know where come next month when the bills hit your mailbox.

But maybe you’re good at buying and giving and staying on budget. Maybe Christmas to you looks like baking lots of goodies.

We just baked this Monkey bread recently (above pic). Monkey bread is no monkey business! The house smelled the way I hope heaven smells one day and the melted butter with cinnamon sugar was worth licking off my fingers.  Tonight, I hope, my wife is going to be baking some amazing white Christmas cookies. Those, like most others, will definitely put a hurting on my waistline.

For some people Christmas is about making their house look like a giant neon sign outside or about parties and fun times indoors. Below, check out the ugly sweater one of my daughters made for a recent office party,

No doubt that however Christmas looks like to you is the way Christmas will be. And all the above stuff I mentioned is fun (except the one about credit card bills coming in January). But a couple of scenes play out in my mind that paint a little bit of a different portrait of Christmas.

Probably the most memorized verse in all the Bible is this,

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NIV)

So God gave His Son to us even when we didn’t yet know Him! (Please read that again and let it sink deep into your brain) God’s love is really amazing!

On Thanksgiving Day, we were stopped at a red light in Orlando, Florida, on our way to a family gathering. There was no one else around other than   some guy holding up a sign on the corner. My darling quickly looked in her purse, pulled out some cash, and I called the man over. He was so elated by our gift. And with a smile that seemed to go from ear to ear he said, “Thank you, you just don’t know how you much this means to me.”

Christmas looks like giving to those who can’t pay you back.

Christmas also looks like a celebration of life…eternal life!

I think the apostle John was telling us that missing hell and making heaven one day is cause for joy. So, from God’s people gathering for worship to a small group (or family) at a house bowing to thank the Lord for His goodness, is what Christmas looks like.

Yes, by all means, let’s deck out the place with lights, and put up and decorate a Fraser Fir (or a plastic fake one), and bake a storm of goodness, and buy gifts, and get silly, but by all means, let’s go out of our way to show love towards others and let’s worship the King this Christmas!

So Christmas is here!

It seems like just a few days ago we were getting ready for the ho-ho-ho of 2015. Man, time flies! Soon these Holidays will be in the past as well.

So it’s time to buckle up, buy up, put up (lights and decorations), and fire up (in order to make that heavenly combination of graham crackers, roasted marshmallows that are burnt on the outside but gooey in the middle, and a piece of chocolate that turns to mush with the heated white goo).

I thought of some ways of purposely making this an enjoyable and fun time of the year. We’ve got to intentional otherwise we may become miserable, especially if people (including some family member), crowds, slow moving lines, and high prices get on your nerves and drive you insane.

Please don’t think I’m a Grinch. My wife and I go to the mall on Black Friday just to be among the crowd. But, truth be told, many get stressed out and shopping folks become mean as snakes while the store music plays Andy William’s, “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year.”

To stay sane during this time of the year we’ve got to keep ever present in our minds that Christmas is not as much about candy canes, jingle bells, and the big guy in the red suit as it is about Jesus Christ coming into our world.

It was Love that prompted Him to make the trasition from living in heaven arrayed in all Glory to being born in a lowly stable.

The angel called it,

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).” Matthew 1:23 NIV)

God came to be with us… wow… what a thought!

Remembering and embracing or forgetting and ignoring the real meaning of Christmas will either make or break it for each of us this year.

I know it’s clicheish (forgive me) but worth saying, Jesus is the reason for the season. Keep that in mind at all times.

But why? Because keeping Jesus in the forefront of our thought processes can definitely translate into having self-control when we need it most.

The following scene may play out before you a few times in the next few days.

You’re on a tight schedule so your run out to get something at the store. You’ve been circling the parking lot and you see a young lady with bags coming out of the store. So you follow her at the top speed of 1 mile per hour. When she gets to her car you put your blinker on and smile because you beat everyone else to that spot.

Now you patiently wait for that fellow shopper to transfer the packages unto her car, back up, and drive off.

Then, you see some driver coming your way in the opposite direction and you think, “My blinker’s on buddy” and, “if he takes my spot I’m parking crossways behind him so he can’t get out until I’m done shopping.” (am I the only one with evil thoughts like that?)

Anyway, you wait, and you wait, and you wait for the lady to back up. The people behind you are getting impatient but you don’t care. Then you realize the person in your to-be parking space is sitting in her car checking her phone, maybe updating her Facebook status. And you’re about to lose it.

To add insult to injury the one behind you swerves around you and lands a parking space closer to the front that just become available because some nice person just got in and drove off.

Don’t let insensitive people ruin it for you when you’re in shopping mode. Self control! And remember, Christmas only happens once a year.

I’ll continue part 2 of this blog in a few days. Has what I described happened to you? Please leave me a comment.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the season.