Christmas in South Carolina, Take 1

We've been here in South Carolina since Thursday evening having a great time with the Kennedy family! Carroll and her family showed up on Friday, and Chuck's brother Teddy came Friday night. We celebrated Christmas Saturday evening so Teddy could head back to Atlanta tonight, and the rest of us take off Wednesday afternoon. More photos will be coming (especially after our Tuesday mystery adventure day that we're taking the 3 kids on!) but here are a few from the beginning of our time here. Happy Christmas week everyone!

Chuck and Diana decorating the Christmas tree Friday nightHelen and Diana playingHelen and I in front of our newly decorated Christmas tree.

Jon found a friendPlaying Dominoes--Diana had just finished a sour blue sucker thing that she picked out on her trip to Wal Mart with Uncle Chuck and Aunt Sarah. Looks like she enjoyed it!On Saturday we took the kids on a walk to the church playground to get some fresh air and exercise. It was a great outing and gave us time to chat more with Rodd and Carroll on the walk as well!Uncle Chuck and Jon patiently waiting for Christmas dinner to be served Saturday night.We opened Christmas gifts Saturday night--Chuck and I gave the kids a Calvin and Hobbes book to share (which I loved at their age!), a shirt for each of them, and then are taking them out on Tuesday for their annual mystery day adventure. Sorry, can't tell you the plans on here, it's a secret! Pictures will come later this week....Wrapping paper fight!We wanted to celebrate both Ed and Audrey's birthdays while home (one is in Nov. and one is in January) so we got them to go to church a little early and then several of us decorated the dining room in Citadel blue and white really quickly so when they got home we threw them a surprise lunch party, complete with ice cream cake and a trivia game Chuck and Carroll created.The annual family photo session. The Neely clanCarroll and I ended up dressing alike without doing any planning! We were joking that this must be our sign we're sisters :)Diana, my little Christmas Elf and IThe family photoRodd and his beautiful daughters!

Sleep?? We don't need no stinkin sleep!

Ahh, the annual lock in...I always used to say I didn't want to do youth ministry because I didn't want to chaperon the lock ins. Well, I am doing youth ministry now, and yes, the occasional lock in comes with the territory. And I will say that it really was pretty fun :) Especially until about 4:30 in the morning--I had plenty of caffeine and energy to go until then. I'll admit I kind of hit my wall after that, and was ready to go home, but we survived :) We had about 24 high school students at the church from 8 PM until 8 AM Friday night/Saturday morning for a night of games, junk food, sodas, and silliness. Enjoy the photos!

We started the night at 8 with pizza, dancing, and hanging out. George, Chuck and Spencer are ready!Kaitlyn and IAmber introduces George to a stuffed otterDance party!Melissa, Jeff and Beau help check kids in--the leaders look ready, bring on the craziness!Kelli and Amber in the sound booth playing DJMusical ChairsIt came down to Spencer and Kaitlyn...Kaitlyn won!James & Chuck in the pass the life saver on the tooth pick relayBrother and sister--Matt and Kaitlyn figuring out how to pass the life saverCaroline, Kailyn and IOur next activity was to break into two teams and without using words do an interpretive dance to tell an assigned story. Our team was given "Alice in Wonderland meets Cinderella going to the ball." Alice is hiding from the Evil Queen of Hearts here.The evil stepsisters tearing Cinderella's dress while Alex (the prince's horse) looks on.Alice is about to meet the Mad HatterOur judgesThe other team was to dance the story of heros and villians at a ball.Our team won :)
A manly game of pool. Other games of the night included capture the flag using the whole church building, a "find the leader" game, sardines using the whole church in the dark and "psychiatrist."Spencer and Chuck playing fooseballA push up competition
Create the best 3 person statueSaturday morning, waiting for parents to arrive. The "after" pictures (most people stayed up all night)George and AustinTaylor and Caroline waiting to be picked up

cozy sabbath

I still have quite a bit to do before we leave in a week and a 1/2 for vacation--end of the quarter stuff to wrap up from the classes I worked with this fall, Christmas gifts to finish up, and other random projects. One of my professors (the one I was able to preach for this morning) asked me to edit his dissertation on creative preaching before he turns it in this Friday. It's going to be quite the project, which I'm sure will occupy me all day tomorrow! My hubby was gone all afternoon today, and it was chilly and cloudy outside, so this is what my afternoon looked like inside! Christmas carols playing on the computer, hot chocolate, homemade snickerdoodle cookies, candles, and yes, a 220 page homiletics dissertation...

I didn't decorate for Christmas this year, in years past I've brought out nativities, which I love, but this year, with so little space in our apartment and since we won't be here past the 17th of December, I decided not to pull everything out of our storage unit. Megan and I joked that Mom would decorate enough for the both of us anyways :) I did decorate our coffee table, that's it. The table runner was a wedding gift from my Aunt Beth, and it hadn't been packed away in Christmas boxes so it was easily accessible. I made the Advent wreath and set out my two favorite Christmas books--The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey and The Polar Express. Happy 2nd week of Advent everyone, may you be finding quiet moments to reflect on our coming King in this next week.

A Journey with Mary

Some of you asked to see my manuscript for my Mary sermon this weekend, and I don't usually do this, but I thought I'd put this one up here on the blog. I wanted to do a first person narrative, which means that from the first to the last sentence I am speaking as Mary. This style of preaching is really fun for me, I love it--it's definitely tough but I love getting to let the characters tell their own stories. I still do a ton of research, nothing I say here is really a theological stretch for Mary to have said, which is important. Some of you may have never read a sermon like this, so hopefully you'll have fun exploring the character a bit with me! My purpose with this sermon is to remind us that Mary was human. Yes, she was obedient and faithful, but I think that sometimes we exalt her so much we forget she was a 14 year old girl, a Jewish teenager living in poverty whose entire life was drastically changed in an instant. She would have wrestled, asked questions, and probably been pretty afraid at times as she thought through whether or not Joseph would still marry her, how her life would change etc. So Mary, in this sermon, is really human, and I think that's a faithful interpretation of her story. Enjoy, and may God continue to bless you this Advent season!

Have you ever had something happen in your life that, when you think about it logically, seems downright impossible? Oh you know it really happened, you didn’t make it up, because that event, that moment was so significant that it changed you somehow. But, when you try and explain what happened to someone else, well you sound a little crazy when the words are said aloud. Has something like that ever happened to you? Or how about this—have you ever been asked to do something that you feel incredibly unqualified for? Have you been given a task, or a calling if you will, to participate in something or play a role in something that seems way beyond the scope of what you think you’re able to accomplish? I think that happens a lot; especially to those of us who believe in God. What do you say when this happens to you? Do you jump at the chance to do what sounds crazy and impossible to you? Do you half-heartedly agree because you know that arguing with God doesn’t usually get one anywhere? Or do you beg God to send someone else in your place, to give the job to someone who might be more qualified or have more ability to do what He is asking you to do?

I guess I am getting a little ahead of myself here. I really should introduce myself. My name is Mary, I am from that tiny village in the land of Galilee called Nazareth. It’s not much of a town, and it’s not looked upon with much favor, in fact a running joke in the country is “can anything good come from Nazareth?” But, to me, it’s home. I’m heading there now, along this road. I was visiting relatives of mine in the hill country of Judea, and was there for the last three months, but now it’s time for me to return home to Nazareth. You might think I’m awfully young, just a young teenager, but where I’m from, that makes me old enough to get married, to settle down and begin my own family, which I am about to do. I’m engaged to a man from our town, his name is Joseph, and he is a good man, even if we don’t know one another that well yet. He comes from a good family, and he has found favor with my mother and father.

The reason I was asking you all those questions—about what you say when God asks you to do something that feels very overwhelming to you—is because, well, this happened to me recently. About four months ago in fact.

I have always loved God. I am a Jewish girl, who was raised to know and obey the scriptures. I’ve loved growing up, hearing my father tell the stories of Noah, Jonah, Daniel, Moses, and of course, Abraham, with whom God made a covenant that would be for all of the Jewish people. He promised Abraham that He would be our God and we would be God’s people, and from our people would come a Messiah. And oh how we have waited and longed for our Messiah to come. We live so oppressed by other nations. Right now the Romans are in power, and we have so little say in how we live our lives. We long for our Messiah to come and rescue us from their hands. We have waited, and prayed, and watched for our Messiah.

But the thing is, we were waiting for a military leader! A messiah to come into town triumphant, to liberate us from the oppressive Roman rulers. And, well, apparently that isn’t going to be the way our Messiah is to arrive. He’s arriving…I just can’t get over this part…he’s coming…as a baby. An infant. And, he’s coming, through ME. This is that crazy, overwhelming, exciting, life-changing moment I was talking about earlier. This is not at all what we expected. Certainly not what I expected! Why in the world would God choose me?? I am so poor; our family has next to nothing. I am so young, and while I love my family, we’re nothing special. The angel who came to give me the news said I had found favor with God, I suppose that’s why I was chosen for this task, this task that sometimes seems so incredible and other days so daunting. I am to bring the son of the Most High into this world! And I am to raise him!

It’s been about four months since that day that time stood still, and my life was changed forever. That day the angel appeared to me and terrified me at first. I still have to pinch myself to make sure I am not, or was not, dreaming when all this happened. And just in the last week or so there’s been another sign that this is real, that I did not hallucinate or imagine this, that this is really happening. A sign I can’t ignore. There is, without a doubt, something, or should I say someone growing inside of me. I’m starting to feel the kicks, little squirms as he wiggles around in there. And I know I have never been with any man, the only way this is possible is if what the angel said was true—the Holy Spirit came upon me and now I carry within me the Son of God. This is what I meant earlier when I said that sometimes things happen that, when said aloud to another person, sound insane! I realize I must sound crazy to you! This doesn’t make sense!

For one brief moment, I thought about what would happen if I said no to God. If I begged him to find someone else, another woman, maybe someone older, someone wiser or from a more wealthy family. God’s son deserves to come into a family that isn’t living in poverty. I had all kinds of reasons that popped in my head as to why choosing me for this task was a bad idea. But then, something stopped me. All those stories from the Hebrew Scriptures my father used to tell us came flooding back to me. I remembered an awful lot of God’s people trying to convince him they weren’t the right ones for the tasks God needed carried out. Moses, the one who would lead our people out of slavery begged God to send someone else. Jeremiah, one of our great prophets, tried convincing God he was too young to do what God asked. It seemed to me that people who tried telling God to find someone else still ended up doing as he asked. So I did what felt right to me. I said to the angel something I believe with all my heart, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.” I am the Lord’ servant. Isn’t that what we are? We are servants of our Most High God, here on earth to love him, and to do as he asks of us. How could I refuse him? He has been so faithful to His people for so many years. He has promised us a Messiah and even if this isn’t at all how we imaged our Messiah coming to us, who are we to say no to Him? Even if what he’s asking of me feels so out of the ordinary, so strange, and so wonderful—how could I do anything else but say “I’m here Lord, as your servant”?

The angel also told me something else, something I wanted to believe so badly but sounded so absurd to me. My relative, Elizabeth, who was barren and entering her older years was six months pregnant! How could this be?! The angel must have seen a look of incredulous disbelief on my face for he said to me, “Nothing is impossible with God.” I had to see my dear Elizabeth, so almost immediately I got ready and hurried out to the hill country where she lives with her husband Zechariah, one of the priests. As I made the journey to her home I pondered all that had happened. I was willing, I was open to doing what God asked of me. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t still afraid, and a little hesitant as I thought about the future and what all this might mean for my life. Would Joseph still wish to take me as his wife? In our culture, an unmarried pregnant woman is an immense scandal, and according to our law, he ought to break our engagement. It would be assumed that I was defiled, and no longer eligible for marriage. As I approached their home she came to greet me and as soon as I saw her I knew at once the angel was right. The beautiful round swell of her body showed beneath her garments. And she glowed. How she radiated joy the second she laid eyes upon me. There we were, two of the most unlikely pregnant women this world has probably ever seen! We were so overcome with joy, with the beautiful absurdity of it all that we began laughing as we embraced. We knew there was no earthly way either of us could be expecting a child. But there we were, feeling our sons leap in our wombs as we greeted one another. What other response is there in a moment like this but to throw our hands to the air and praise God with reckless abandon! That’s what we did.

I joyfully proclaimed to my dear Elizabeth words that were bubbling up inside of me, so much so that I couldn’t have stopped myself from shouting them aloud for anything!

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty one has done great things for me—holy is His name! His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and to his descendants forever even as he promised to our fathers.

Where did those words come from, you may ask? I don’t really know, they were just there, within me. Some of them are words that my ancestor Hannah spoke, when she who was older and barren was finally granted a son, Samuel. Her words are recorded in our Hebrew Scriptures and because my father told them to me so often her prayer of praise is always right there, on my heart. Hannah understood something I think I am only beginning to understand--when God comes to his people, things often get turned upside down! The humblest of the humble are somehow lifted up and exalted in a way we could never lift ourselves up. I mean here am I, a young, very poor, unwed teenage girl and it is I that God has chosen to carry out this task. That seems so backwards, and like it is such upside down logic to me! Those who are hungry and have nothing leave from God’s presence filled, and those who show up who are rich and full leave feeling empty. I don’t know how that is humanly possible, but this is how God works. He turns things that we think make sense on their heads. I realize that sounds illogical, but the more I think about what God has chosen to do through me, and the way that He has decided to bring about his Messiah, the more I realize that the ways God works aren’t usually things that seem logical to us at first glance.

Finally! God is bringing about his Messiah! This is real! This is so much bigger than just me, and my life being changed by this baby! This is what we have all been waiting for. We will be liberated from the oppression we have suffered. Rulers are brought down, the humble are lifted up. The hungry are filled. The rich are empty. God is merciful! Oh I know these things haven’t happened yet, but they will. God has made his promise, throughout all of the Hebrew scriptures, and now! He is bringing about the fulfillment of that promise, just like he said he would. He has remembered his promise to be merciful to us, to rescue us, to come as our faithful deliverer, our redeemer. And through me he has chosen to make this promise a reality. But this promise isn’t just for us, for the Jewish people. Our scriptures tell us that God’s mercy is for all who fear him, from generation to generation. This mercy extends to all people who are God-fearers.

This baby is the start of something new. Something huge. And while I have had four months to get used to this idea, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still a little nervous and fearful of what might await me. I’m on my way back home, after a delightful three months with dear Elizabeth. I’ve had time to adjust to this news the angel brought me. I’ve grown to deeply love the baby inside of me, as deeply and fiercely as any mother could possibly love her child. But there are still a lot of unknowns for me. Will Joseph still take me as his wife when I return and he sees I am very obviously with child? Has God been working on his heart as well? How will my village react when they see me? Can they possibly believe my story, or is it too preposterous for them to accept? Yes, I am a mix of feelings right now, as I walk this road back to Nazareth. I am afraid. I am unsure. I am joyful. I feel unqualified and unprepared for this task. Yet I am open. I trust in our God. I am willing. And now, I wait. I wait for the advent, the coming of this baby with all this jumbled mix of feelings and emotions, which I think is okay. The Messiah is coming! One ought to feel a strange mix of emotions when one thinks about that, should we? We’ve been waiting for hundreds of years, I can sit with these feelings and trust God and wait a little while longer.

a ho ho ho and an elf too!

Last Sunday evening Jenn hosted her 3rd annual "Elf Party" where friends gather to kick off the Christmas season by watching a very funny Christmas movie, Elf, with Will Ferrell. It's become a great holiday tradition that I always look forward to. Last year and this year a "surprise" guest showed up at the end of the movie to pose for pictures with us which is always entertaining! So here we are, our first 'couple' picture with Santa. Awww :) Happy Holidays!

Jenn and Josh, our co-hosts for the evening

Melissa and I, we volunteer with the youth together at churchSurprise! Who is this guy??!

Tera is going to become Mrs. Clause in about 2 months!Hey wait! Dave has glasses like that...

7 Quick Takes Friday

It's December!! And you know what that means???

**1**
It's time for ADVENT! (Bet you thought I was going to say Christmas didn't you?) I love sacred seasons throughout the church year. I was one of those nerdy kids who got super excited when I had memorized all the seasons in a church year and the corresponding colors that went with them. Advent began last Sunday, and in addition to celebrating at church each week, Charles and I are attempting to create a sacred space in our day to be still and acknowledge that for Christians, Christmas is a season of waiting and preparing, not just a day of chaos and excitement. We have an advent wreath that my friend Jenn and I made last weekend (it's not the best, but it'll work for this year!) and we ordered a book of Advent readings that we're trying to do each evening as we light a candle. This may or may not be a tradition that continues for us, we're just playing with how to create some sacred traditions within our family and this is the first one we're attempting.

**2**
Can I admit one of my pet peeves of the holiday season? I really hope this doesn't offend anyone, but I've been really thinking about this all week. I love when churches decorate sanctuaries for a holiday season, it's fun, festive, bright, and colorful. None of which are bad things. But I have to be honest, I walked into church last week and thought for a moment that Christmas had exploded. It was beautiful, but there was so much red, green, and white twinkle lights that I didn't know where to look first. This in and of itself is not what I have an issue with. My problem is that it doesn't look like advent. Apparently we skipped advent and it's Christmas day already. There's no purple or blue (the colors of Advent, red and green have nothing to do with the Christmas season in the liturgical calendar, they are the colors of Pentecost and the "Ordinary time" which are in May/June) or solemnity at all, nothing about it makes me want to prepare, wait, repent, or watch for Jesus. It makes me want to go Christmas shopping and put my own red velvet bows on packages. I glanced over to the side where our communion table always sits during worship and the big open bible and communion elements were gone. In their place was a gigantic pyramid of poinsettias atop the communion table. The elements that point us to Jesus were almost hidden behind a pillar way off to the side, out of the way of the Christmas decorations. I realize the decorating committee was just told to go for it, but Chuck and I were talking on the way home, what would it look like as a pastor, to actually give guidance to those faithful volunteers who want to help decorate and talk to them for a few minutes about the things we communicate theologically by how we structure and adorn our worship space? Just something I've been thinking about this week--yes we had an advent wreath, which is great, but honestly, I could be okay with waiting a few more weeks for the giant red velvet bows to adorn the altar.

**3**
Speaking of Advent...I was given the opportunity to guest preach at the church of my preaching professor this Sunday. He is their regular preacher, but is out of town, so he asked if I would fill the pulpit. I said yes, he said pick whatever I wanted to preach on, and I said "okay, I'll do Mary's Magnificat, that's a good advent text!" What was I thinking?? It's Friday and I have NO idea what I'm going to do with this text for this Sunday! I've got some interesting research, but gosh this is a tough text to preach! So that's what I'm doing all day today...wish me luck!

**4**
Today is a very special birthday! Bethie is 3! My good friend Jean called me in the middle of the night 3 years ago to wake me up and tell me she had a little girl! I can't believe how fast she is growing up and what a precious little girl she is! Happy Birthday beautiful girl! I hope you know how many people love you!!
**5**
My honey has one more week of school before he will get a much needed break! He's down to having one sermon left to preach (which he has written, he just needs to practice) and two papers. I'm very excited he will get to go camping/surfing for a night next weekend with the boys to celebrate being done, he deserves it! And I will get to use that night to watch a ridiculous number of movies while finishing Christmas gifts :) He's worked so hard this quarter and has learned so much that is transforming him into the amazing man of God he is becoming more and more each day. I am really proud of him! And another congratulatory shout out to another special man in my life! My dad's down to his last test for this quarter and then he gets to be on Christmas break too! I have no idea how he's taken a full load and worked full time, but he's on his way to being a great Nurse Practitioner. Congrats Dad! Can't wait to see you! (And his reward is getting to hold his granddaughter for three full weeks--at least until Auntie Sarah gets there and gives him some competition for her!)

**6**
I am still loving my monthly menu plan. It has been SO easy to do meals this month. The ingredients are already in my cupboards, it's all planned out so I have no need to worry about what I can make with what I have in the fridge--it's been great! I'd highly recommend it if anyone finds meal times stressful in your homes!

**7**
My quarter of working with two preaching groups is over. I've loved getting the chance to listen to 4 sermons a week, offer feedback, guide discussion about the sermons, and see people grow. It's been a great job, and perhaps there will be a chance to do the same thing next quarter, but if not, it was truly an honor to get to experience the word of God delivered in many ways.