Just Wondering

Christmas musings...

Thinking on my own children being born, where was Joseph during the birth?

When the Baby was born, did everything in the stable stop or did the animals carry on with business as usual?

How can the creator of the universe step into His own creation and only a handful of people notice?

Was anyone else staying in the stable because there was no room in the inn?

When did the star appear?

How much more grateful will I be when I, one day, can fully grasp the implications of what Emmanuel ("God with us") really means?

Peace.

Angels

We (Rachel and I) had a conversation the other day about the angels that announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"
LUKE 2:9-14

So, we were talking about how the multitude of angels made their appearance. If you see this scene in a movie, the angels are usually lined up like a choir according to height and whether they sing bass or tenor. It is a nice little arrangement of heavenly hosts.

What if it wasn't so neatly packaged? What if the sky lit up around the shepherds like they were in a planetarium? Did the angels really come out in formation or did they appear all over the sky like so many stars?

These questions are not really all that important compared to the message that they were delivering, but I do wonder if their appearance was much bigger than we typically imagine. Kind of how we think about God.

Just something to think about.

Peace.

Home for the Holidays

We made it.

18.5 hours.
7 states.
1100 miles.
20 Chicken McNuggets.
9 movies.
1 bajillion radio stations scanned. (I have trouble settling.)
10 separate naps. (None of them mine.)
2 accidents passed.
3 excited kids.
4 Bionicle Happy Meal toys. 2 Little Ponies.
10,00 variations of the question "Are we there yet?".
2 sets of concerned grandparents.
27 degrees when we arrived
1 tired dad.

Peace.

Well Diggers

Just checked weather.com for the temp in Columbia, Missouri, where we are headed for Christmas. I was just curious. I shouldn't have looked.

The temperature right now in Wilmington, NC (where I am) is 60 degrees. If you factor in the wind chill, it feels like 60 degrees when you step outside. (Did I mention it is 10 PM?) In Columbia, the temp right now is 13. It feels like 1. Those are not good numbers when it comes to comfort levels. I can't wait to see family and friends there, but I am not looking forward to the cold. Looks like I will only be warm when I am in a scalding hot shower this holiday season. Ho, ho, ho.

Peace.

The Weekend That Was

What did you do with your weekend? I know that it is now Tuesday but it has taken this long to sit down and write a little bit.

I'll start with Friday. Declan carried on the streak of Lademann children going under general anaesthetic for some kind of medical procedure. He had surgery on his, um..., "man parts". One of his boys had gone out for a bit and had not come home, so to speak. The doctor went in and brought the rogue back and tied him down. Jett now has what has been referred to as a "bobber" dangling from his under carriage until Friday. He is doing well now and we are struggling to keep him from being his regular active self while he continues to recover.

On Saturday, Brady and I traveled to Mt. Olive, North Carolina so he could play in an indoor soccer tournament. The Port City Storm Black team went 3-0 in group play and earned a spot in the U10 Championship game. It was a tough game against a good Real Raleigh team but Port City prevailed 2-1 in the end. The unique first place prize, because we were just a few miles from the Mt. Olive Pickle factory, was a jar of Mt. Olive Pickle Spears and a Mt. Olive College Soccer t-shirt. We had a great time and it was nice to spend a day with my oldest son.

Saturday also had Rachel doing her first official Gracie Girls Boutique home party. She and her business partner packed up their bows, bags and accessories for little girls and headed out to make a little money. They sold quite a bit of their inventory and left their customers very happy.

Sunday really was a day of needed rest and recovery for all of us. Church was good and it was nice to just chill for a minute. I love our life but down time occasionally is a good thing.

Peace.

What did she know?

Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Did you know
That your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know
That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little boy
Youve kissed the face of god.

--Mark Lowry

Peace.

Random

A few thoughts with no connection at all.

--Thanksgiving weekend was very good. Lots of family time and lots of friends around as well. Got the Christmas tree up and the holiday music blaring. My favorite time of year.

--Brady has a soccer tourney next weekend in Mt. Olive, NC, the home of Mt. Olive Pickles. Looking forward to it.

--Rachel has a Gracie Girls Boutique party on Saturday. She is liking having a little business and we are both ready for a few extra dollars around the house. Check out http://www.graciegirlsboutique.com

--Finishing up reading Eugene Peterson's book "Subversive Spirituality". A nice collection of essays and articles on the subtle nature of following Jesus.

--Hoping for a Mizzou victory on Saturday against the Sooners. Not real confident but I have to hope.

--Excited about going home (Missouri) for Christmas. I'd like to have a little snow there if someone could work that out for me. Thanks.

Peace.