the most wonderful time...

...of the year, but does seem to be the busiest, doesn't it! Between teaching, preparing our Christmas newsletters, preparing for the Seminary Christmas party, the mission Christmas party, the women's Christmas party, creating "Thank You" DVD's for Seminary donors, and participating in daily ministry such as mentoring and relationship building, MAN, things are fast-paced. However, a cup of tea, an evergreen candle, and Josh Groban's Christmas CD is all it takes to give us a peaceful, Christmas-y evening of studying the Bible for classes tomorrow and being together.

My class (Stacey) is going through the Christmas story this week, and today as I read them a kid's book about Christmas, I was overwhelmed (probably for the first time in years) with the magnitude of Christ coming into the world, simply to "take away people's badness" as the book explained. Looking at the pictures of the book, littered with dozens of hairy shepherds and then hundreds of singing angels overhead just gave me goose-bumps, thinking about all of the miracles scattered throughout the story of His coming. The book continually emphasized the "good news", first to Mary that she would have a baby, and that was good news. Then to the shepherds, that they could see THE KING, and that was "good news", but then the book ended with the BEST news...that He came for US, for ME, to take away all of my badness, and to give me a transformed life.

Reading this to my students and recounting it to Matt later, we are just reminded all over again that He came into the world for these hundreds of thousands of people on this island that have NO CLUE of His love, His coming, His death, His resurrection, His grace...WOW, what a challenge!

May we be busy with THIS: telling the World the GOOD NEWS of GREAT JOY which is for ALL PEOPLE!