Friday Thoughts

It's Friday, December 20th, 5 days to go until Christmas...and there are a thousand thoughts whipping through my head.  This truly is one of the busiest times of the year...

The first thought is work.  Finishing up everything I have to do today so that I can rush home and do a thousand things at home.

The second thought is Christmas shopping.  Sadly, I haven't started.  I really tried to be better this year.  I REALLY tried.  But it's tough to find the time!  This is part of the thousand things mentioned above.  The saving grace is that I know what a few of my gifts will be, it's just a matter of going out and actually getting them.

The third thought running through my head is scheduling out the next week and a half.  My family wants me to drive down and visit them this weekend...but I'm not sure if I'll have time to do that with everything else still on my plate.  I work for a couple of days next week, then head straight out of town to see family for 4 days...then come back and head straight out of town again to visit the other side of the family for 4 days...and then it's straight back to work.  Meanwhile, where's the time to go Christmas shopping, and the time to relax a bit on my own and with my wife and son at home?

The fourth thing - vacation!  But this is not a relaxing thought...at least not yet.  When I think about going on vacation for a week starting on Christmas day, the thought right now is about everything that has to be done before I go.  And then it comes back to the scheduling mentioned above.

And the fifth thing on my mind is trying to slow down and not let Christmas rush me by.  I've been trying to do this all along, but it hasn't really happened.  I really do want to take time over the next few days to reflect on this season, and make sure I know what we're celebrating.

Fifth should be first, I know.  Maybe that's my problem.  Maybe that's why I feel like I'm so rushed, because my priorities are all out of whack.  And so maybe the order of my priorities changes today.

Communion

I really wasn't going to blog about Israel (again) this week, but something happened on Sunday that has left me with no choice because it's all I've been thinking about since.

So what happened on Sunday?  Nothing major - we took communion.  That actually IS major when you really think about it, but most of us have just gotten used to it, myself included.  I've taken it a thousand times before...but I've never taken it like I took it this past week.  As we took the bread, all I could think about was my time in the Garden of Gethsemane almost exactly one month ago.  Being in the garden I thought of Jesus kneeling where I was standing, crying out to Father God in anguish and yet submitting to His will.  I pictured him standing in the garden and looking at the temple just up the hill, his heart breaking for the people who did not understand his message.  And in the garden, I had one of the deepest understandings of the love of Christ that I've ever had.  I pictured him walking past the trees with a heartbroken smile saying , "I remember creating you."  And as he looked at the temple, He must have thought about the people..."I just love you so much, I just want you to see the truth, I just want the best for you...and you don't see it..."

All these thoughts came flooding back this past Sunday during communion, and God reminded me how much He loves ME too...that I'm included in all that.  That understanding of God's love is one of the things I will cherish most from my trip to Israel...just pure love, no strings attached.  He just loves us.  I literally can't express it.  I'm humbled, and thankful, that He's given me what is probably just an inkling of understanding...which is enough in itself to floor me.

And with Christmas around the corner, it's even more poignant.  The phrase born to die has really taken on new meaning this with this communion.  Christ was born with one purpose - to suffer and die so that we could be saved.  Yes, He rose, but not after some serious anguish and pain.  All for us.

Did you catch that last part?

All for us.  That's you.  And me.