Monday, December 20, 2010

He Changes Everything

How can it be that a baby born in a stable in Bethlehem so many years ago can change everything so radically & completely?

Who would have imagined that God's son would be born from a lineage that included a prostitute and an adulterer?

How amazing is it that our King leads by serving?

How fantastic is it that Christ can radically rewire our selfish hearts and minds and help us love one another sacrificially?

And how perfect is it that it's all about what Christ has done (and not about our actions)?

These are reasons to celebrate. He is where my heart and mind needs to dwell instead of the endless to-do lists, holiday scheduling and gift buying, and trying to figure out how the holidays can feel more relaxed and not so rushed/over-planned.

p.s. I'm thankful for my friend Beth and the calling she and her husband are pursuing. It's cool to watch people so clearly live out the Lord's plan for their lives.

Monday, December 06, 2010

Party Attire

In the past two weeks, I've been invited to two events with attire suggestions that strike me as funny. The first one was "business casual or cocktail," which feels like a really wide option range. I'm borrowing a friend's long sleeve black wrap dress, which seems like a nice compromise (and helps me avoid buying a winter dress that I'd probably never wear b/c I'm always so cold plus the mall in Chattanooga falls somewhere between frustrating and hopeless). The other invite calls for "dinner party casual." That seems like an unhelpful attire suggestion, but I'm thinking dark jeans and a nice shirt will work.

My neighbor said she once got an invitation that called for "hill country elegant," which sort of sounds like an oxymoron to me. Another friend received an invitation with the suggested attire of "Charleston casual." Whatever happened to the four simple categories of casual, business casual, cocktail, or black tie?

In other news, we're closing on a house next month! The house is in a fantastic location (maybe a mile from where we live now) with a nice size, relatively flat lot (hard to find in this party of town). We'll share our back fence with some of our closest friends, and several people from our church live live within a few blocks. The house needs a LOT of work, but fortunately it was priced accordingly. In fact, the house was never even listed, so we avoided the realtor fees. It's one of those situations where everything just fell into place within a week. We're excited.

Hope you guys are enjoying the Christmas season and not overly busy. I'm doing my best to slow down and enjoy.

p.s. I'm thankful that our Christmas tree is up! I love, love, love sitting in the dark living room with just the tree lights.