The Holiday Season

I love celebrating Jesus' birth, but hate how the whole season turns into a mad dash.

I love meditating on Jesus, and reading prophesies and Scriptural accounts of His birth, but detest how I get so swept up in the season as our culture defines it that I hardly make time to open my Bible, let alone meditating on anything.

I love shopping for gifts for people, but hate standing in mile-long lines, often with other worn-out and grumpy shoppers.

I love a season that promotes peace and love, but hate how the very business of the season gives me a headache and turns me into a grump.

I love sending Christmas cards and letters to keep in touch with family and friends, but find searching for addresses annoying.

I love Christmas music, even some of the secular stuff, but find by the end of the season I'm not sad to see it go (especially since some radio starts playing it after Halloween!).

I love decorating for Christmas, but hate that I'm so disorganized and can't find my stuff.

I love receiving Christmas cards and letters. I can't find anything I dislike about that.

I like receiving gifts, but hate hate hate how the celebration of Jesus' birth turns into this materialistic greedy and selfish acquisition of worthless stuff.

I like getting together with family and friends, but hate how I can't stop eating at the get-togethers. :)

I appreciate how every year I seem to get through the season with fond memories and happy pictures and good times, but get disgusted with myself when I vow that the next year will be more organized, more peaceful, and better, and I never follow through.

I don't mind Santa, but detest a culture that chooses Santa over Jesus, and kicks Jesus out of His own birthday party any way they can, and increasingly every single year.

I love Christmas, religiously and culturally, and I always hate to see the season end.

But, right now, I'm loving boring January :)

Merry Christmas!

My family, friends and I had a wonderful and blessed Christmas - I hope the same is true for you and yours.

Christmas Eve Narasimha and I celebrated at home with gifts and special time together. Our exciting joint gift this year was an espresso machine. I'm finding out that making espresso drinks is more of an art than I remembered from my days as a barista in the coffee shop of my dorm freshman year of college. We'll have to see how this goes...

Christmas Eve we drove to Dad and Mom's so we could wake up there after sleeping in a bit longer than if we came in the morning. We opened gifts as a family, and then off to the neighbors (no blood relation, but still family) for Christmas dinner - an annual tradition. Then the Christmas Day nap, and back over to the neighbors for leftovers and more time with family and friends.

I am also fortunate enough to get together with both Mom and Dad's sides for weekends around Christmas time - one down, one to go later into the New Year.

The bummer of the day: Narasimha had a slip on our digital camera and we lost all of our pics. Actually, I haven't transferred pictures to our computer from the camera since right after our marathon in October, so we lost several hundred pictures of some special times, including all of today's. I'm pretty bummed, and Narasimha is really kicking himself. So, I'd post a few pics of us and my family, but I can't... He has been frantically searching the internet since his flub a bit ago, and there is a chance we can hire someone to "retrieve" them. The free software he found on the internet isn't working... We'll have to see when everything opens back up early next week. I guess technology works best when it's on your side... :(

Snow

I wanted to give a review of this album on my blog - I think this is possibly my favorite Christmas CD. One I can listen to over and over and over again. I recommend it - it's lots of fun. And, technically, Go Fish is a kids' group. However, their slogan is something to the effect of "Music that kids love that won't drive their parents bonkers." And I agree - I don't even have kids and I listen to it voluntarily :) I have also put the lyrics of two of the songs on the blog just a bit ago - the words to these songs (Go Fish originals, I believe) are powerful and important. Hope you enjoy my "review." :) **Note: I am no music expert. That will likely be obvious to those of you who may be. These are just my thoughts with a little music terminology that I hope I used correctly... If you're an expert, read on at your own risk ;)

1. Joy To The World - This Christmas classic is tweaked Go Fish style. It's great to sing along with - upbeat and fun, and as far as I can tell the voices are accompanied by drums only, and only a little. 3 of the 4 verses are recorded, along with a small interlude of Go Fish original material. The unison voices in this piece I think show the musicianship of the group.

2. We Three Kings - A little slower than the first, and a few more percussion instruments than drums for accompaniment. Still lots of fun. Another small Go Fish interlude. Lots of emphasis on Jesus being Christmas' "star." 2 of 5 verses, but the first verse is sung twice (before and after second verse).

3. Away In A Manger/Beautiful Savior - A capella. Beautiful. Slow and "quiet." The group's bass singer is great I think - and the whole song has real depth. 2 verses of Away In A Manger, though the second verse has slightly different words than I'm used to. Transition into Beautiful Savior, which I think is a great combo focusing on who the Baby in the manger was. 1 verse of Beautiful Savior.

4. Christmas Time - Fun with a good beat. A Go Fish original, I think. Drum accompaniment. A jab at Santa that I can appreciate ;) Focus on cultural Christmas "atmosphere" with very clear and well-done Jesus focus in the middle. For some reason I feel like it's a mix (or somewhat of a remix) of one or a few popular secular Christmas songs, but I can't place which ones for sure. I don't know...

5. Christmas With A Capital "C" - Lyrics below. A Go Fish original, and I believe it's the name of their Christmas tour. An important song for Christians in an increasingly secular world who'd like to take Jesus right out of Christmas. Fun and funny with a message. Speaking parts by comedian Brad Stine who does a good job. Encouragement for us as Christians to stand up for ourselves against Santa and a culture who embraces him (only). I don't know that I go along with all the points made - however, I appreciate the stand being made. And, overall, their point is appropriate and well-said. And, since the target audience is children, I think the message does a good job of helping to give (our) kids the courage and attitude to stand up for Jesus. These songs are the things that stick with kids as they grow and face life.

6. White Christmas - A sort-of barber shop sound, voices and light drums, complete with snapping of fingers. The bass sings the melody on this one, and he's great. Fun and easy-going. The only song on the CD that never mentions Jesus, which is fine with me due to the heavy focus on the whole rest of the CD. A well-done Christmas classic.

7. Christmas And You - Somewhat of a "love song." Go Fish original. Voices and drums. Focus on celebrating Jesus with a person (or people) who are special to you. Great focus on Jesus and the point of His life. Some cultural (even "secular") Christmas references, well-done and appropriate I think. Fun and slower.

8. It's About The Cross - Great song. Medium speed. Lyrics below. Go fish original. Powerful way to bridge Christmas and its importance to Easter. Draws focus from "details" of the holiday to the "big picture." I truly can't pick a favorite between this and number 5. I feel like every line in the whole song is worthy of meditating on. Great song of worship and focus on our wonderful and sacrificial Father and Son. The line that I highlighted in the post below brings tears to my eyes every time I listen to it ("Every drop of blood...").

9. The Little Drummer Boy - You've heard it. They do it well. Starts slow and picks up a bit - great to sing along with (they all are). A great drum "line" - what would you expect? The voice/special/drum effects are very well done and a lot of fun to listen to. A good focus in the middle and at the end of giving what we can, no matter how small (details the "drumming" as service and praise), to our Savior. 3 verses. A lot of activity.

10. My Jesus I Love Thee - Not generally a Christmas song I don't think, but a great focus on praise to our Savior to round out the album. Piano, special effects and drums (I don't remember anything but percussion on any other song). This song, especially the way they do it, brings tears to my eyes. A true pledge of allegiance and love to our Savior Jesus, the Christ of Christmas. 3 verses. Medium speed, and in my opinion, wonderful musicianship and harmony line. I love it.

As you can probably tell, I love this album. I have listened to it a million times in the last month, and am sad to have to put it away for 11 months in a few days. There are a few small things I don't love about it (one that comes to mind is a few references to "kissing" and "mistletoe"). However, all things considered, I will likely be "jamming" to this album every Christmas for a long time.

Christmas With A Capital "C"

From Go Fish's Album Snow, with comedian Brad Stine (speaking parts - in italics).

Speaking:
I remember when people used to say things like "Merry Christmas" to each other.
Everybody said "Merry Christmas."
"Hey, Merry Christmas to you Mr. Lowenstein."
You know why? Cuz it wasn't about a religion.
It was something as a culture we thought was so valuable
that'd we'd all do it together even if I disagreed with the religion behind it because it was good for all of us instead of just me.
But what do people say now? "Happy holidays."
See I just say "Happy holidays" cuz I don't want to say Christmas cuz
you don't believe in Christmas and I don't want to offend you...

It's called Christmas

Well I went to the coffee shop to get myself a mocha
The lady at the counter said "Happy Holidays"
I said "Thanks lady, I am pretty happy
But there's only one holiday that makes me feel that way and..."

[Chorus]
It's called Christmas
What more can I say
It's about the birth of Christ
And you can't take that away
You can call it something else
But that's not what it'll be
It's called Christmas with a capital C

God's got a law and we've pretty much destroyed it
We're gonna get judged, there's no way to avoid it
But Jesus came down to take the punishment for me
He did it for you too, so now maybe you can see why

[Chorus]

It's called Christmas

Oh yes, we want to say "Happy holidays" because we don't want to leave anybody out. Really, how come there's a ton of holidays in February, and nobody ever says "Happy holidays" in February do they? They say what it is: "Happy Valentine's D..." Ooh, do you believe in love?

It's called Christmas

But nobody wants to say "Christmas" anymore more. Why? I know why - you do too. It's because it's got "Christ" in it, and after 2000 years, He's still intimidatin' people. You see, when a religious Person says "I am the Way" people don't want to hear it. They don't!

It's called Christmas

I say you've got to say "Merry Christmas" cuz it is. You don't believe in it? Fine. But I have a flash for you. Christianity happens to be the religious heritage of my country, whether you like it or not.

It's called Christmas

So if you're not a Christian, or you don't like it, and you don't want Christmas celebrated, God bless ya. But let me tell ya somethin', if you think you're gonna stop me from saying it because it offends you, hey I've got a flash for ya: Put a helmet on! It's my country too!

[Chorus x2]

It's About The Cross

From Go Fish's Album Snow.

It's not just about the manger where the Baby laid
It's not all about the angels who sang for Him that day
It's not just about the shepherds or the bright and shining star
Oh, it's not all about the wisemen who traveled from afar

[Chorus]
It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again
It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
It's about the cross

It's not just about the presents underneath the tree
It's not all about the feeling that this season brings to me
It's not just about coming home to be with those you love
Oh, it's not all about the beauty and the snow I'm dreaming of

[Chorus]

The beginning of the story is wonderful and great
But it's the ending that can save you and that's why we celebrate

It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again
It's about God's love nailed to a tree
It's about every drop of blood that flowed from Him
When it should've been me
It's about the stone that was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
It's about the cross

**Bolded emphasis mine.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Narasimha and I had a very busy last week or so - here is some of what we did for Christmas.

Weekend of December 21-23: Christmas with my Mom's side of the family. This was at my Mom and Dad's house in central Iowa. In attendance were my Grandpa and Grandma, my 10 aunts and uncles, 16 cousins, and my Dad, Mom, and my three siblings. I was very thankful because that was the weekend Narasimha got home from Canada, so he got to join us. I was also varying degrees of miserable for most of the weekend with a sinus infection that I still actually have after a whole week on antibiotics - yuck!

Christmas Eve: Narasimha had to work in the morning, so when he got home in the afternoon we relaxed for a while, and then I made chili for dinner. We ate dinner, and then drove around M-town for over an hour and looked at Christmas lights. We found some pretty good displays. We got home and opened our gifts for each other, and then watched part of a movie to wind down.

Christmas Day: We got up early and headed to Dad and Mom's house for Christmas there with my immediate family. In the morning we opened gifts as a family, and for lunch went to our neighbor's house for our traditional Christmas dinner. When we got done eating, we napped most of the afternoon on the floor of my childhood bedroom (we slept on the floor so the dogs could sleep with us). Then, back to the neighbor's house for dinner and annual neighborhood party, followed by a little ice skating on the lake my parents live on. We returned to our house by that night, because Narasimha had to work on Wednesday.

We were supposed to have a Christmas for my Dad's side of the family this weekend, but my grandma wasn't feeling well, so my parents went to Wisconsin to visit her and my aunt and uncle and family, while Narasimha and I stuck around and tried to finish some projects at home.

I very much enjoyed everything we did, and everyone we got to see, during the last week or so. I received nice and thoughtful gifts, and I think my shopping and was mostly successful this year. I also enjoyed, as always, the time spent thinking about Jesus and all Christmas means for the promises I have from God.

We hope you had a great time with family and friends during this holiday season, and hope you had a chance to reflect on "The Reason for the season" in some way as you celebrated this year.

Home for Christmas!

People started calling the Embassy yesterday morning, but we decided mid-morning to lay off, since the Embassy doesn't have to do what anyone says, and might get passive-aggressive if people bug them too much. So we had to wait until 3pm (Ottawa time). Narasimha bought new shoes and went to stand in line a whole hour early, so he could be the first one there at 3. His plane was supposed to leave at 4, and the airport was about 15-20 mins away, the traffic was terrible, and the city was covered in several inches of snow. Before he stood in line, we already knew his flight was delayed like 30 mins, and he had checked in online before then. So N. called me from the airport - he had gotten there fine, in plenty of time, and actually somehow was able to go through immigration there. There was a problem with his ECFMG thing (mentioned in a previous post) but the nice immigration lady believed Narasimha and actually fixed it and said he shouldn't have that problem again (if that was really that easy, I'm SHOCKED!). So Narasimha made his flight to Detroit, but it was delayed before he was on it, and again for after an hour once everyone boarded, so he missed his flight from Detroit to Minneapolis. He was in Detroit, and he actually saw our good friends from his residency at the airport - kinda random - they now live in Ohio, and they were going to Alabama for Christmas. So Narasimha was given a confirmation number for a later flight to Minneapolis, but was then told the flight was full and he would have to wait. Somehow he got on, and landed in Minneapolis after 10 pm. He got his rental, and drove home. It was super foggy, so he got home right at 3:30 am. It is so good to have him back - we'll call this our "Christmas Miracle."

Christmas Meme

I was tagged in a blog from a friend and fellow blogger to answer the questions on the Christmas Meme. I normally get a few of these each year in my email (and have this year too), and always intend to fill them out, but put it off long enough and then never end up doing it. They're fun, so I'll post mine here too :)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Mostly red and silver wrapping paper (all the same, changed yearly) which matches our tree decor - although I do use bags for grab-bag gifts or irregularly shaped things sometimes.
2. Real tree or artificial? Fake for sure. I love the smell of real ones, but I can get that in a candle, and then I don't have to deal with dead needles, bugs/mice (potentially), the tree holder leaking, getting rid of the tree at the end, etc.
3. When do you put up your tree? Since we do fake trees, anytime AFTER Thanksgiving - even the next day would be ok with me. But this year we've been slow, so maybe tonight.
4. When do you take the tree down? Um, any time after Christmas is fine - although hopefully by New Year.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yeah, although not as much as Narasimha does. I won't buy it for him until after Thanksgiving though. I also like to use it as coffee creamer, or sometimes I put it in French toast mix instead of milk.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? One that sticks out is my microscope set that I got in like 5th grade - I was a science dork.
7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes - and that is one "Christmas" decoration that I have considered leaving out all year around, although I would move it to a more central location in December.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Definitely my dad, although the older my little brother gets, the harder I am finding it is to buy for him too.
9. Easiest person to buy for? Narasimha - he likes everything!
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? The ones I probably hated receiving the most, not that they were necessarily bad, were clothes as a kid - never seems like very much fun (some kids probably like it - I was a tomboy).
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Snail mail, although if my list keeps getting longer and the price of stamps keeps going up, I might reconsider (though I don't think I'd ever change my practice).
12. Favorite Christmas movie? There are a few cute ones, but I don't know that I have a favorite. Narasimha and I started a tradition of getting a new Christmas movie each year to watch on Christmas Eve after we get done with everything else.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In a perfect world, I would be done, or at least know what I'm getting everyone, by Thanksgiving. I don't like to put that off, because I do not like shopping with an agenda. This year, I am still far from finished.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so.
15. Favorite things to eat at Christmas? Anything with salt (not much of a sweet-tooth).
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear on the fancy one, colored on the fun one. Right now we only have a fancy one, but someday we'll have both.
17. Favorite Christmas song? I like almost all Christmas music - except some of the secular music, or nice Christ-centered songs redone "trash-ily" by secular artists. I am also not a big fan of taking something very traditional and really changing the melody. But back to the question - I really really love "O Holy Night" ever since I started really listening to Christmas music, and in the last few years I like "O Come Emmanuel" a lot too.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? The last few years we have done our Christmas on Christmas Eve at home, Christmas day with my family at their house, and then my grandparents' on separate weekends sometime around Christmas. This schedule working on any given year in the future will be contingent upon N's call schedule.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes, but only if I sing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in my head.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? For each other - Christmas Eve. With my family - Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The secular-ization - taking "Christ" out of "CHRIST-mas." Also, the strong focus on gift buying and how material we as a society make the celebration of Jesus' birth.
23. What is the "corniest" family tradition you do, or miss doing? I can't really think of anything "corny" - my dad is always a goof when we're opening presents - does that count?
24. Ugliest Christmas Decoration ever invented? Anything over-done. Actually, the thing I hate the most is those huge bubble things people put in their yards, with the lights and fake blowing snow and stuff - I think those are really tacky.
25. Which looks the best, theme trees or homey trees? There's a time and place for both, although my definition of "theme" would be any certain color-combo.
26. What does Christmas mean to you? Jesus willingly coming here - we are celebrating our God in the flesh. Without His coming, we wouldn't be able to celebrate Easter, or go be with Him in heaven when our time here is done. What a special and amazing thing - if I sit and think about Jesus here, walking on our earth, and everything that means, and all the prophecy fulfilled, it's almost more than I can wrap my head around.