Is it a New Year already?

Tonight is the night! The night we celebrate all that was and welcome in the promise of tomorrow. The funny thing about it is that I think few of us really reflect on what this year has been to us and doubt few are really thinking of the hopes that come with a new year. I enjoy watching the way people celebrate on New Year's Eve . . .what can I say I am people watcher. So many take tonight to mean that it their last chance to live out loud and a little crazy before the things apparently start anew tomorrow on January 1. Cause tomorrow brings an idea that we all can be something new and different with changing of the year. A clean slate of sorts. I suppose something magical happens between midnight and the next time the sun rises on 2010 that allows us to let go of the year and the past despite nothing really changing.

Many of us have a New Year's resolution that we swear by and promise to make a change: Lose those extra pounds, get those little projects done around the house, stop smoking, etc. Everyone has something different and start the year with good intentions. But as my good friend Jon points out in his blog, these commitment only are temporary most times.

Still there are so many times that we make these commitments, these promises to ourselves without having a clue why we are making them. And by this time next year comes around we will be making a similiar promise to ourselves. Why do we do this vicious circle: Hope, frustration, denial, giving up, and then moving on and ignoring that we ever made a commitment. Year after year.

Deep inside our head and heart is this ingrained hope that we can be something better than we are. That we can be the best version of ourselves if we only tried. Without a doubt I think that hope is very true and very much a part of who we are intented to be. We are meant to continue to grow and reinvent who we are as we get older. Who says we have to be same person tomorrow that we were today.

But change doesn't happen until the moment that you can look back and know yourself for who you once were. Is it possible we skip the most important thing of all in these resolutions. What does it matter to lose 10 pounds if your marriage is failing? Why give up soda and ignore the fact that you hate your parents? Does it really change your world to remodel the living room when you still haven't dealt with the pain of lossing a loved one?

Why are we making changes on the surface and not where it matters? Let's be honest for a second. The older we get the more that looking back, on the year that was, can get harder. There are more failures, more losses, more regrets, and more times we wished we could have done it differently. It doesn't mean that there are less good moments just more life to make mistakes in. The question is are we committing to change the things that matter.

Jesus never ask anyone to lose weight, never suggested drinking less Mt. Dew, and He never asked a man to replace the bathroom tile to make it a little more modern. This man always asked for things to change in the heart and souls of men. Jesus knew that reinventing ones self is not a matter of appearance but of a wholistic person. And most times it involved people looking back at their pain, mistakes, and recent past to know that is the type of change they really needed in their soul.

So my prayer for the last day of 2009 is that in the year of 2010 that you all are resolved and blessed by God to change deeply and intimately with Him and yourself.

As for me I am not ready to make a resolution. The new year doesn't start for me until pitchers and catcher report to spring training. ;)

Be Blessed

Where's the Magic has Gone.

Waking up never seems easy except for those few exceptional days in our year. And December 25th use to be one of those days. Yet as I wiped away the sleep from my eyes and took in the first deep breath of Christmas day it felt somewhat ordinary and familiar. And in that early morning, groggy state of being, I looked out the window to see what most people in the midwest hope for on this day. . . newly falling snow. It is that little piece of atmosphere that makes the day set apart from so many others and brings a bit of joyful nostalgia to our hearts. Still what should be . . isn't. The snow seems almost gray and it brings a sense of cold, not the warmth that it should. It is just winter. Is this what it means to grow up; is this the way it is suppose to be? Where has the magic, awe, and wonder gone?

Many of you are probably thinking that is just me being a hum bug but I don't think that is true. I had a goal of writing the 25 days of Christmas but I couldn't do it because some how I missed it. The hope was to reveal the anticipation or unfamiliar reverence of a day that seems lost but I MISSED IT. Something has changed deep in the soul of this day . . . something has changed.

In the last few days I have been a part of several conversation that entail the weather and how it is effecting many Christmas celebrations. Surprisingly there has been a common theme of being unsatisfied. Many feel stuck with their family and are just hoping to get through the day without being annoyed. As I sit here images are flying through my mind of new hopes for this Christmas and the next ones. And they involve my family and I am far from annoyed. I look forward the next Christmas that has a blizzard, to be honest. It will hopefully be a day that I will be awaken by the smell of pine in the air and a soft voice of my future wife saying "Merry Christmas". Perhaps trying to steal a moment together snuggling in our warm bed before the scurry of little feet come running down the hall. Then the sounds of giggles and excitement and little voices pleading to open presents and clammering about the snow falling outside. Then turning the heat up a little in the house and making my wife some coffee for us to sip on as we take in the festivities in the living room. But what I really am excited for is the dream of playing games together, cooking together, and then sit around the table to read the story of our Savior's birth. Taking turns to read the Bible and not being in a hurry. This is what I am now anticipating for my future. And I am sure it seems like a tangent.

All that was just written about is relevant to what I am thinking though. Something has changed in the fundamental way we look at Christmas. My dream seems like a return to olden days and not the conventional. It is not the going from one location to the next, it is not the pleasing everyone until exhaustion, and it is not rushing from moment to moment but rather not rushing a moment. It all seems simple enough but there is still more to it that is lost in translation of this holiday season.

Observation is more compelling that ideas and I have come to a few stunning observations during Advent.

The dollar bill is the new symbol of Christmas in America. People are going out at 12am the day after thanksgiving to purchase things we can't afford, don't need, and most times are not even sure that we want, let alone need. Often times the people that are being shopped for at those early morning sales are ourselves but vailed under the loose notion that is for a spouse or the family. There are a slew of objections to this criticism and I understand that often we upgrade our lives at Christmas time. But what does upgrading have to do with Christmas?

One of my favorite stories during Christmas is the The Gift of the Maji by O. Henry. It about a couple that knows each other so well that they both know what gift would bless each other beyond measure. With that desire to give came a desire to sacrifice. In the end the real gift was the love it took to sacrifice what they treasured most for each other. How does a flat screen have anything to do with that? Expensive has taken over for thoughtful gifts and upgrading has thrown out the blessing of simple pleasures.

Money is ruling a day of remembrance and hope. Network TV not longer show Christmas movies without huge sponsors and Christmas day is normal programming that bring money into each company. When I was a kid all day was Christmas movies. Not to mention the movies that have morals and character are all but gone. I have not scene A Christmas Carol or A Miracle on 34th street at all this year. Money instead of Christmas spirit. . . nice.

Perhaps these thoughts are way in left field. But if you feel that same disappointment with your Christmas then maybe it is time to rethink today. And here are 5 ways to change it.

1. Turn the TV off. Even if your kids just got a PS3, no TV on Christmas. Trust me they can wait.

2. Focus on your own family. For me that includes my parents and brothers since I am single but if I had my own family today would be about us. Say no to the 10 family gatherings in two days. Any time between December 15 - January 1 can be used to gather the extended family. Use Christmas day to be intimate and small and personal.

3. Bring back traditions and/or make some. Christmas is going through the motions for most of use, but traditions force us to slow down, remember, and take stock. You will never regret a tradition because it allows us to engage our family.

4. Limit your spending. This is not financial this is for peace. When you put time into a gift, whether making it or really having purpose to your purchase it changes the idea of gifts and giving. Upgrade your lifestyle after your tax return.

5. Take your time reading through the story of the birth of Christ and let everyone that can take part in the reading. One of my favorite memories of Christmas was when my friends wife was reading from Luke 2 and her love for the scripture cause her to weep in joy, which then made me cry. Fall in love with the Word together.

Be blessed and Merry Christmas

Preparing the way

It seems easy enough, the road to Bethlehem that is. When we think of the Joe and Mary's little journey from Nazareth we often picture the tired father trudging along in front of the expectant mother on the donkey's back. Slowly they venture through the desert sands and sandstorms with some mystical compass that gets them to Oh Little Town of Bethlehem. I have a nagging feeling deep inside myself that there was indeed a road. Not just an obscure road but a well travelled and well marked one at that. There were few real obstacles in the way other than it took time to travel the near 100 miles.

Perhaps we want a romantic idea of the nativity. One with toil and impossible odds that lead to the moment a baby was born in a stable. Yet I doubt there was the giant sand storms or wild animals stocking the two travelers or even Mary fainting several time before arrival. I bet the actual trip was pretty uneventful and like any other long trip.

Yet I bet the real obstacles lingered inside them every step along the road. The thoughts and fear and hopes and dreams that must have been going through their minds. I would bet they were amazing. Not only did they have normal first time parent stuff but they also had those messages from the angels to think about. And how does one figure out if they are good enough to be the parents of God and not only that, how do they rectify their own sin before He comes into the world. The amount of silence and prayer must have been incredible along the road. How much of their sin and baggage did this duo leave behind with every mile they got closer to their divine destiny?

So here we are in Advent, the time to prepare the way. A lot of pastor's use the analogy of traveling the road to Bethlehem. But what if you did actually prepare your heart of the Savior's birth? I am not talking about getting hyped up for the holidays or mass repentance of the world to be amazingly pure for the 25th of December. What if we took the time to be silent, pray, and ponder our divine destiny with Jesus. The real call of Advent is to consider a world before the Messiah was with us and then to be ready for a world that has Him in a real and tangible way. Let's be real folks. Jesus isn't a baby anymore. That is not the point of all this. So today as we prepare the way, let us be like Mary and Joseph and take the time to wonder what it means to have JESUS in this world. How that now that He is here . . . everything. . . everything . . . EVERYTHING has changed. So if you want to believe in this Advent then prepare for everything to change.

Postponed

There has been a storm, lots of shoveling, and I lost the power cordto my computer. All this leads to a postponement of the 25 Days of Christmas blog. I will commence as soon as possible.

Day 6 and 7 - Going Backwards

Sunday Marty, pastor of my new home church, threw out the idea that in order to go forward be first had to go backwards. It is logical to try to gain perspective in order to make conceptual sense of what is before us. In other words, it would make no sense to explain what an oak leaf is when a man has never seen a tree and then telling him to go out into the world and find one.

This was also true for the Jews and Magi. For many years they looked backwards, reading and studying many prophecies and writings that explained what signs to look for that would herald in the Messiah. . . the King of Jews. For the Jews there where hundreds of prophecies of the Messiah. His lineage, his humble birth, . . . . . thousands of angels sing in the sky one night. All signs of the coming Emmanuel. The Magi were not Jews, instead they looked to the skies for the ways stars aligned and the mathematics of the science that would indicate the moments of His coming. Interesting how the sign were of both faith and science.

Looking in the metaphoric rearview mirror to prepare for Christmas has been captivating to be honest. If I felt incline, which I don't at the moment, I could discuss the unbelievable chain of events that occurred in the starry horizons of Earth that lead to the Star of Bethlehem being in the sky. But instead looking backwards got me thinking about what would it look like to think backwards before the days of Jesus' birth.

It is strange thought to be honest. Trying to think through the eyes of hope while looking for the beauty of life without Jesus as a part of the process is staggeringly hard. Jesus colored the world with hope the moment he was born. Yet looking backwards to why He came into our world to make things right. . . what did Jesus look back on . . . . perhaps it was looking back to what God intended to the world to be before there was sin. That Jesus' rearview mirror thought revolved around the Dream of God (the Kingdom of God) as he grew from a baby into the man. For what he learned from was how to go forward and make things right for us again. That perfection could and will come again. So what does that look like.

Perhaps like this.

I promise very few videos for here on out.

Day 5 -Don Miller's Christmas Blog

I read this blog the other day and it is hilarious read and enjoy:

Amazon Doesn’t Sell World Peace, so….

by DON on DECEMBER 2, 2009

Yesterday, Kristi Henson, a marketing executive at Thomas Nelson Publishers asked me to put together my Chrsitmas wishlist. Apparently, Amazon is running a feature in which they’ve asked authors to list some items sold on Amazon we might want for Christmas. I think it’s their take on the “celebrity playlists” you see on Itunes. Anyway, I sat for a while and thought about the spirit of Christmas and offered them a list. As a Christian leader, I took the assignment very seriously. I think it’s a lovely list and I thought I’d share it with you:

1. Some art for the neighborhood.

I live in a quaint neighborhood just south of Portland. It’s a sleepy district known for its antique shops, restaurants and coffee shops. Everybody in my neighborhood walks, because we have two of the cities best parks, several grocery stores and boutique shops that bring pedestrians in from the city and suburbs. And there are untold numbers of sculptures, tastefully displayed around the parks and even in front of some of the retail establishments. I thought perhaps I could contribute to the aesthetic with one of these. I live in a condo so I’d probably have to put it on the roof. But if I anchor it down, I think it would be fine.

2. A little help with the ladies.

Nearly every day Lucy and I walk down to the river. I like to talk to the girls there who also walk their dogs. There’s this one girl, real cute, whose dog pulls her around the park while she rides on a skateboard. Seriously, it’s such a cute thing to see. Anyway, I can’t skate because I have no balance. And even if I showed up on a skateboard she’d be on to me, thinking I was just copying her to strike up conversation. But she’d certainly talk to me if I were walking Lucy wearing a pair of these.

3. Art Projects Lucy and I can do together

My friend and pastor, Rick McKinley was instrumental in starting a program calledAdvent Conspiracy.Essentially a few years ago he stood in front of our church and said we had seriously lost the meaning of Christmas, that the whole thing had become a commercial nightmare. He introduced us, then, to a program he and some other pastors started in which entire churches would agree to not go into debt over Christmas, and instead, take more time and intention in creating gifts for the people they love. The church then printed a catalog of tasteful crafts entire families could make together, and even hosted workshops and classes. We all agreed the money we’d save would provide clean water for people hurting around the world. The program worked, and now hundreds of churches are involved. It’s remarkable. Still, it’s just me and Lucy around here, and I’ve never known what exactly Lucy and I could do together. But now I know. We can make my mom a sweater! Merry Christmas indeed.

• Optional accessory: here.

4. A little more help with the ladies.

If you’re like me, you like to cuddle. But what do you do when you’re cuddling on the couch and the credits on the movie are rolling up the screen and your lady friend is sound asleep under your arm. She half opens her eyes and looks at you with that cute gaze you’re crazy about and says how easy it would be just to stay the night. You think about picking her up, taking her into your room and tucking her in, but you also know that is only going to lead to trouble. You’re just going to crawl in there with her and spoon till the sun comes up, and then the two of you are going to go to hell. But with this lovely invention, all you have to do is explain there’s only room for one. She won’t be able to stay the night, and yet she’ll still think you’re awesome. Problem solved.

5. A cooking appliance for when Grammy visits

If you’re grandmother is anything like mine, she loves eating dinner. And if you’re like me, you like making a little something and bringing it over now and then. But don’t you hate it when she keeps asking what it is, or why you can’t cook like that nice, sexy man from meals on wheels? What can you do to make the meal more memorable? You might try this terrific kitchen appliance.

6. Christmas dinner

Everybody knows what meat to cook for Thanksgiving, and Halloween is obvious too. But what do you smoke for Christmas? Done and done.(Make sure to roll over the other sample images. Your mouth will water!)

7. A new suit for the Christmas Eve service.

If you attend Imago Dei here in Portland, you’re already wondering what to wear for the Christmas Eve service. Like most churches, the pressure is on to look your best. Will you wear socks? Will you shower? I ask myself these questions for weeks before the big night, and the last three years I missed the whole thing for standing in my closet trying on every stitch of clothing I own. Jesus got born without me. But not this year. I’m ready. I promise you Jesus wouldn’t have been born in a barn if Joseph would have been wearing something more respectable. You’re going to like the way you look, I guarantee it.

8. Create memories with your house guests.

If you’re like me, you love playing practical jokes on your house guests. Just last year, Gary Haugen of International Justice Mission and I had a knee-slapping laugh when I short-sheeted the bed in the guest room. And Derek and Sandra Webb giggled like children when they woke up in the middle of the night with me standing next to their bed in only my boxers. Oh the fun we’ve all had around here. But what do you do for that really special guest? How do you create a moment? Well, Mark Driscoll is coming to town next week, and I’m ready. Perfect.

In all seriousness, if you want a really great Christmas, and if you want to actually remember what you gave people and if you want them to remember what they got from you, try doing things differently. Lets not buy crap this year at the last minute. Rick Mckinley, Chris Seay and hundreds of other pastors are leading churches through a better story. Check out Advent Conspiracy.Celebrate the birth of Christ by knitting a sweater for your uncle out of dryer lint. He’ll never forget it. And you’ll save a boat load of cash.

Day 4 - Gift Wrapped Conspiracy

Every parent does the same thing at Christmas, it is the Parental Conspiracy if you ask my humble opinion. I am not sure if there is a global meeting of the parental minds but without question there is definitely a goal by parents to make their children squirm on Christmas morning.

In a child's mind there is more to love about the first day in November other than two months of school are now over. This is day that a kid's mouth can being to say what they have been thinks for weeks. "That is what I want for Christmas." I was also notorious for going through the JC Penney catalog and taking the handy dandy black sharpie and circling every single things I kind of wanted. So that begs the question of how did my parents know what I really wanted if over half the catalog was circle. And this was back in the day when you would roll up the JC Penney catalog and use it as a log on the fire after you were done with it. Well I was clever and oh so sneaky. I would put a star next to items of preference and then carefully black out the price, mainly because it was kind of the expensive gifts too. Now every once in a while would be a gift so special, so breath taking, so awe inspiring that it would receive the coveted ring of stars. I would leave no doubt and the make sure they knew it was for me . . . a little TVN, my intials, would be next to them. If could make neon signs I would, no joke.

This is where the parental conspiracy comes into play. There are different version of this ploy but they are all similar . . . hidden gifts, boxes inside of boxes, one small gift buried under two feet of packing peanuts, and the good gift is always made to be at the end. The parents know it and their kids know it, so parents draw out opening gifts as long as possible. But why do parents think they are so entertaining during this process? And it never unfold like it does with the Ralphie and the Red Rider BB gun in A Christmas Story.

Even my brothers and I where subjected to this ridiculous situation. For three years the same request was made by my brothers and I. The coveted circle of stars went to the Nintendo. . . . not the Super Nintendo, not the Nintendo 64, and definately not the Wii. I am talking 8 bits, a controller with two button, and when the cartridge didn't work you pulled it out and blew into it to make it work . . . yeah that kind of awesomeness.

So my parents had their own conspiracy in play. They had three gifts, one for each of us, and they where all the same size, shape, and wrapped identically. But the three of us were very intelligent for our ages. . . . ok at least I was. I had figured out the gift conspiracy that my parents had devised, at least I convinced myself I had. I believed that my parents had taken the Nintendo out of the box and had put in the three boxes before us in an effort to be their sneaky selves. I was so proud of my conclusion I even told my parents how smart I was.

So the big moment came. My parents told us we had to open all three gifts at the same time so at this moment I was pretty confident I was going to be proven right. The red wrapping paper flew and we tore in the boxes and then we saw them . . . three heavy, gift wrapped bricks. I was floored and devastated but then I started looking for a note or some cash. Nothing. Seriously?

But then my dad walked out of their bed room with a large box and set it down. This time we didn't wait . . . we just ripped off the paper. If I had the picture I would show it to you but I don't. But the good news is I have a video. It is not my brothers and I but it is pretty much exactly how we reacted.

Click here

Day 3 - Worth a Thousand Words

The saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

It is easy to focus on the pretty and joyous ideals that we have built the season on. But as I stated in the beginning that these 25 days would a journey to find a truer meaning of Christmas. As I took in the idea of what Jesus coming to this world of dust really meant, I felt it was important to understand why the Israelites where crying out for a Messiah. The truth of it is their reality was not pretty or filled with lights and gifts and they had not yet been told "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people," by the heavenly hosts. Instead they were occupied by Rome, desperate for deliverance, dying as slaves, and hopeless disarray.

But in 2009 we can not understand this hopelessness and desperation that the child of the most high GOD felt.

Sometime I don't really listen to the words of songs I sing . . . and that was true with one of my favorite christmas carols. O Come, O Come Emmanuel is not a happy and joyful song that is meant to make us feel good. It a song of longing and crying out. And we need to get back to that to understand why we can have joy because Christ. Just like light needs darkness, we must understand the suffering to know the joy. I made this video because it speaks more truth than I can write. Lets the expectation begin.

I had to post it on youtube here

Please take few minute to watch it.

2 Day - The Pageantry

Somewhere in the long history of the church someone decided that an amazing way to experience Christmas was to reenact the Nativity in all it's splendor. Unfortunately no adult in their right mind (other than Jake and Val Keegan) would willingly allow themselves to dress in assorted bath robes, put towels on their heads (only to be held on with a rub band) while reciting awesome cardboard like dialog and sing carols. Yet even worst someone said "Hey it would be so much cuter with kids being in it."

Yeah . . . . Brilliant!!!! You would think that after the very first attempt of the infamous Christmas program people would conclude that maybe not such a great idea. Seriously have these people never read The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever. How would anyone ever want to do another Christmas play again after taking a gander at that book?

But lets be honest, it is pretty adorable to watch a little girl cradling a doll named baby Jesus, it is pretty hilarious to watch three boys trying to sing We Three Kings while their fake beards are falling off or getting into their mouth, and it makes your night to witness Joseph whack one of the shepherds of the field with his staff because the goat herder was a little to flirty with Mary. Apart of me thinks that is really why put children through the experience of the pageant. It's because we know it is going to be train wreck but train wreck that is going to make us smile or laugh.

Someday I will be a parent and force this beautiful adventure upon my children. And I am sure that my son will be the one that either knows none of the word to any of the song but gets hyper excited when he knows the hand actions or the one that sings at the top of his lungs drowning out every other child. Perhaps I will have the daughter that get the roll of the angel Gabriel who will forget her lines when all she has to say is, "D . . Don. . Don't be. . . . Don't be afraaaaaid" Don't worry she got the line after the church lady in the front row whispered it to her. I will be so proud.

I won't lie. I loved being in the Christmas play. . . . I got a huge bag of candy for it.

Anybody have good stories?

Day 1 - Flash 'em if you got 'em

SANTA! OH MY GOD! SANTA'S COMING! I KNOW HIM! I KNOW HIM!

Every year my dad has a grand tradition. He climbs the ladder, gets up on to the roof, huffs and puffs for a little bit (he is a lot out shape), and then yells into the upstairs window, "Travis come give Santa to me." I am not sure if you really understand but this is a big deal. Up to this point in 2009 I am sure that nearly every member in my family, including my 5 year old niece, has been ask at least a dozen times if Santa would make this appearance on the roof for the last time. By this time next year hopefully my parents will be living in their new house in the country (yet, the new house will be located next door to a cemetery. . . uhhh creepy).

For near 15 years my padre and I have secure the fake wooden chimney, that my mother so wonderfully paint to look like bricks, on to the roof. Which in itself is a nice little addition to the house and has brought a lot of amusement when people comment how they forget about the old brick chimney on the house until Santa is up there (not too observant are they). But after that is the moment people have been clammering for. . . . Santa!!! Up on the roof he goes!

Once the cornerstone (Santa) of the VandeNoord Christmas lights extravaganza is up then it is time for the many, many, many strings of white lights everywhere. Yeah that's right . . .we are classy like that. . . . white lights. After the house, the garage, the trees and the garden are outlined in white lights. . . . . .then we move on to the 4 Christmas trees inside. Ok honestly how did my parents never get onto the Christmas tour of homes. . .really? (Ok maybe it was the orange shag carpet they just got rid of this year.) From now until after the New Year car's will slow down on one of the busiest streets in Pella and be mesmerized like little children .

But thats what I love about Christmas lights. When I lived in Des Moines I would get in my car and just drive around for hours and I went to see Jolly Holiday Lights at least 4 times, all because the way I felt when I would look at them. The world fades away and all there is . . . well, is light. It makes me feel warm and alive, captivated like a 5 year old, reminiscent like an old man, hypnotized by something beautiful, touched mystically in my soul, and deeply desiring to connect with someone else in this love for light. In other words. . . a part of me feels God is nearer somewhere in the midst of these trivial lights. And I especially love the nights that is quietly snows and I can walk around town looking at light as the white flakes shower down.

So what about you? Do you love the lights?

Here are few links to some awesome and interesting christmas displays.

BEST CHRISTMAS LIGHT SHOW

Runner-up here

WINNER here