Advent Journey Day 23

Christmas eve is tomorrow.  Wow.  All 4 of the Sunday Advent candles are now lit.  My calendar candle has almost burned to the stem.  I'm listening to Christmas music, enjoying the scent of my cranberry frost candle, and making a list and checking it twice.  Not to see who has been naughty or nice but to make sure I don't forget anything over the next two days!  I'll be wrapping presents, baking cookies, making toffee, finalizing preparations for our Christmas Eve service, and making sure all of the food is in place for the Open House on Wednesday.  It's a beautiful day here, so we'll try to walk Tanner while it is still light outside, which means we need to get a move on since it's already 11.00 a.m. and by 2.50 p.m. today we'll be into the evening!  

Date: 23 Dec 2013 Sunrise: 08:44 Sunset: 14:49 Length of today: 6h 05m 01s

Well, at least today is 12 seconds longer than Saturday was!  Happy to be heading out of the darkness!I think we'll go out for Indian food tonight as we have a nice Groupon and it allows us to not have leftovers to put in our fridge since it is already quite full with party food!  I'm thankful that I only have to make a trip to the corner grocery store and not do any real shopping today.  But enough about me.  What are you going to do today?  
We are lucky.  Tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday are bonafide holidays here in Sweden so many people also took today to scurry around and finish getting ready for tomorrow.  Christmas Eve is THE day that Swedes celebrate Christmas.  Many will start by watching Donald Duck cartoons at 3.00 p.m. and from there eat the traditional Jul Bord with ham, meatballs, several kinds of herring, cheeses, salads, etc. Then Tomte (their version of Santa Claus) comes and they open their gifts that evening.  Some will go to midnight mass at a nearby church.  Christmas day is just for sleeping in and relaxing.  Many will go the movies on Dec. 26.  
Internationals celebrate in so many different ways that we actually have our service at 4.00 p.m. on Christmas Eve.  We will have a nice cookie and coffee and tea fika afterwards and then head on our ways to celebrate in whatever different ways we choose.  
Whatever the next couple of days look like for you and yours, I hope you will pause to give thanks for the bounty you enjoy.  The fact that you can read this blog means you have some form of Internet connection and that in and of itself is a real privilege and gift.  If hardship is part of your journey this year, I pray you will seek peace in the Christ-child and find comfort in the reality that God chose to come near to us and dwell among us so that we might know a Savior who truly understands our every need and emotion.  Don't let these Christmas days blur into busyness.  Savor your traditions.  Love on your family.  Miss those who aren't with you, kiss those who are with you, and celebrate the child, the Christ-Child, who was born in Bethlehem to lead us all home to safety and light.  
I hope and pray that by being on an advent journey you feel better prepared to enjoy the Christ event.  Advent is now over, but in case you need a little reminder of what it has been all about, check out this video.  I love the line, "Advent is the expectant waiting, hopeful anticipation & cheerful preparation of God breaking into our lives."  It ends with "If you are sick of Christmas by December 25, you haven't done Advent correctly!"
And so my dear friends, I hope that all of the preparations that have been occupying your time have readied you to dig in and enjoy the joy that is ours through Christ our Lord. 

Advent Journey Day 20

Today was a busy day filled with the full spectrum of my responsibilities as pastor, pastor's wife, host, and friend!  I spent the morning and early afternoon checking programs for the coming week and writing my sermon for Sunday, the 4th of Advent. My focus is on "The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come" in keeping with our contrast of Dickens and Isaiah.  I've loved it.  It's been incredibly rich on a number of levels.  Once I finally finished a draft and put together my slides for the service, I was ready to do something different. So I called a close friend in the US to see how her Christmas was shaping up.  Then we walked our dog.  After we got home, I decided that I needed to bake more cookies in order to get ready for our Open House on Christmas day.  So I mixed up some dough and made some sugar cookies followed by some more chocolate chip cookies.  Time was racing away so after a nice Skype chat with my dad, I started to make tacos for dinner because we had invited a good friend over for food and a movie.  I must say, I was pleased with the guacamole even though I kind of threw it together!  Finally we sat down and watched the Muppet Christmas Carol, especially fun because our aforementioned preaching a series.  The Muppet take was great way to encounter the story.
As this day is now coming to an end, I'm thinking about how many different hats I wear in my life. I love them all, but sometimes I do wonder what it would be like to just be a pastor and not also a pastor's wife or to just be a wife and not be a pastor as well.  And while at times it would be nice to just have to bake the cookies or write the sermon, instead of doing both, I think at the end of the day, I would miss the other tasks quite a bit.  I'm lucky to have a great partner in Doug who also functions as a pastor's husband and a pastor...sometimes it's complicated but more often than not it's wonderful.  I'm thankful for the complimentary gifts we've been given that allow us to live into these roles in fun, joyful and satisfying ways.
I hope that whatever your vocation or calling is at this present time, you see God's grace laced throughout it and you are able to enjoy the various tasks that are yours in any given day.

Advent Journey Day 10

In the last 24 hours two beloved possessions made of glass have shattered.  The first was last night after my dinner party.  This beautiful water pitcher that we've had since were married fell off the drying rack and broke.  As soon as I set it on the drying rack, I had a hunch that it was going to fall off and I was right.  I was bummed out as I loved that pitcher but it was now in a million tiny pieces so I just had to clean up the mess and accept the loss.  It did remind me of another pitcher I lost years ago, when it fell off a shelf and hit Doug in the head!  It was a gorgeous blue pitcher that a group of women had given me for my 40th birthday.  
Then today, Tanner, in his usual, crazy, excited state, dashed into the living room to greet the guests who are staying with us and in so doing dragged the dining room rug with him, jarring the living room table, causing the gorgeous, tall red glass candlesticks to come crashing down on the table top.  Both candleholders were smashed to smitherins. 

See those lovely, tall red candlesticks?  They won't be gracing our Christmas table this year since they are now in the trash after smashing into a million tiny pieces.  sniff.

 I heard the crash and walked into the dining room with fear and trepidation.  Much to my horror, the candle holders, both of them, were smashed to bits.  These too were a gift with treasured memories attached.  
But I had to accept the loss as simply a loss of stuff.  Pretty stuff that I loved, but stuff none the less.  Definitely replaceable, if not an exact copy, certainly something acceptable.   It's hard to let go of stuff, but accidents happen and stuff breaks.  These are losses that are not life-altering.  But it did get me thinking about brokenness and about how painful it is sometimes.  Losing beloved possessions because of breakage is tough, but brokenness in life is much more painful, as the things that cause brokenness are often not so easily replaced.  And yet there is healing from life's brokenness.  If there wasn't, how could we go on?  I preached on Sunday about letting go of a painful past especially when it is causing a painful future.  I reaffirmed the reality that at Christmas, we are reminded that Christ came into this world with a message of love and redemption.  Embedded in those two things is healing.  Whatever has caused our brokenness in life, Jesus can touch it and bring healing.  The past cannot be undone.  But the ways in which the past affects us can be changed.
I can buy a new pitcher.  I can look for new candlesticks.  I am confident that at some point I will find suitable replacements!  But our lives are not so easily mended.  And yet, knowing that God sent his son into our world as a tiny little baby offers us a world of hope...a world where past hurts can be healed and we can rediscover a future that is not filled with the brokenness of our past.  May this grace be yours today.  

Advent Journey Day 6

Today is the feast of St. Nicholas.  St. Nicholas had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus.  Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. His actual home is on the southern coast of Modern Day Turkey in a town called Myra. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man.  I've been lucky enough to visit there.

Some Christians wonder how to incorporate Santa Claus into their family traditions.  Some perhaps feel uncomfortable perpetuating a myth with their children while others don't want to bring too much of secular society into the celebration.  For myself, I think you can honor the story of the Christ child, while at the same time enjoying the delightful joy that belief in Santa Claus can be for many.  Eventually, we all come to understand the truth about Santa Claus and hopefully as we grow older, also embrace in more profound ways the gift of the Christ-child rather than just the gifts under the tree.  As with most things, balance is good.

I have several Santa Clauses in my home.  Each one has a story behind it.  

These jolly 'ol fellows are all from Sweden.  Many were gifts that I have received through the years and I love to think of the folks who gave them to me.

These guys are from different parts of our world.  The one with skis, on the far left is from Norway.  The small one in the middle is from Russia.  The second smallest one is from Denmark.  I don't remember when we got the big Santa candy bowl, but I have a hunch it's made in China but purchased in Sweden!

But perhaps my most favorite Santa of all is when I get to embody him!  This is a Santa Suit that a dear friend gave to us our second year in Sweden.  It has gotten more enjoyable use than perhaps any other gift!  We love bringing it out for various occasions and I look forward to wearing it Monday night at my annual book club white elephant gift exchange!

Whether we like it or not, Christmas will likely always be a blend of the sacred and the secular.  It's fun to sing about Santa and to enjoy the spirit of joyful giving that he brings.  But it's also appropriate to remember the spirit of St. Nicholas, who was a generous person, cared for children, and looked out for the poor.  Sounds like Jesus to me.  Learn to embrace the true story of St. Nicholas and you'll see how easy it is to fit Santa Claus into your family Christmas traditions. 

Day 4: Broken Bulbs

I love the ljusstakar that adorn most windows throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons here in Stockholm.  They give the short days a real boost of light and energy and the added bonus is how our neighborhood is beautified by the window lights. I love walking around the city, noticing the different styles, marveling at how most people participate in this form of decoration.  We join the throngs as well and have 6 different ljusstakar in our apartment.  They burn 24 hours a day and I love the fact that our house is never pitch dark now.  We are constantly surrounded by the soft glow of our window lights and I love it.
However you would think in a country that awards the Nobel Prize someone could figure out how to design these window lights so that if one bulb goes, the rest do not.  Is this not the age old problem of Christmas lights?  Why must all lights dim if it is only one that has quit?  When I pulled ours out of storage the other day, only one "tree" was functioning.  The rest were dark.  Each of them have 7 bulbs and I had no idea where to start.  So I began removing each bulb, painstakingly testing each one in the "tree" that did work until I finally had 6 functioning ljusstakar glowing in my windows!  It is a frustrating and tedious task, only made worth it by the beautiful outcome.
Funny isn't it, how it only takes one wrong turn in a day, one bad incident, one small bump in the road to de-rail our entire lives.  Advent brings wonder into our lives but also frustration.  Time is short, demand is high.  We want to focus on the things that function well in our lives but then one of the bulbs goes out, we don't even know which one, but suddenly we can feel that all of the light in our lives has diminished.  Sometimes it takes awhile to figure out which bulb has blown.  It can be tedious and frustrating and often we want to say that it is not worth it.  We resign ourselves to simply sit in the dark and look at everyone else's lights.  What a mistake that is!  When you feel a blown bulb in your life, simply (ha ha) slow down.  Take time to test the bulbs.  Find the one that went out and replace it if you can or at least embrace the difficulty and ask for a way to get the other lights going even if that one cannot be replaced just yet.  At least prepare for the full glow of your life to come back on even if it may take awhile.  And remember, the light of Christ is growing brighter each day not fading.  Look to Christ to fill the space where your broken bulb has extinguished all other light.  You'll be amazed by the comfort that Christ's presence, guidance, and assurance will bring, even to your broken state.

Advent Day 3: De-Clutter

I had decided that yesterday would be the day when I would get most of the house decorating done for Christmas.  I have a lot of decorations and it require a bit of effort to bring the numerous boxes up from our basement storage, unpack them, and figure out where I want to put things.  But the very first thing I have to do is take down and put away the stuff that adorns our house for the rest in the year.  In the process of finding places to put things, I found myself beginning to clear out spaces that have needed attention for a long time.  Fortunately for me, Doug was also in the mood to delouse the house so he started in on the extra bedroom, which becomes a dumping ground when we don't have time to deal with stuff in the moment.  We moved from the bedroom, to the closet, to the boxes stored on the floor and and in the closet, to the drawers, etc., etc., etc.  You get the picture.  It was amazing to see what lurked in that bedroom.  Some of the items found were treasures and it was really great to locate some items that we had wondered about.  Other things were just trash and needed to be pitched.  We parted with our video tapes, realizing that we don't even own a VCR anymore and there were only two video tapes worth keeping and trying to convert over to digital.  I saved those.  Some things are worth saving, like your wedding video.  But most of the stuff that took up space in that room, well, did just that, took up space. And while some of it was perfectly decent stuff that we donated to the thrift store, I was astonished at how much was just simply trash.  

A small portion of the stuff we took to the thrift store.

While I have to admit a bit of angst that perhaps we have thrown or given away something that eventually I will want (that which is the great temptation to hold onto clutter, right?), given that I hadn't seen most of what we pitched or gave away for years, I seriously doubt that Tuesday next week I will reach for it.  It made our lives so much easier when we hauled in the Christmas boxes and began to sort through those treasures.
It's often hard to let go of things in our lives, even when all they are doing is taking up valuable space that could be filled with something else or perhaps even left empty in order to allow for something new to come into our lives.  During the Advent season maybe we hope to meet God in some special new way, but I have to ask...have you created some space in your life in order to make room for God to show up in a special manner?  We need to de-clutter our minds and our hearts in order to create some breathing room for ourselves.  What do you need to purge from your live in order to create new space for God to breath something fresh into your heart?  Is it letting go of a past hurt?  Is it simply allowing yourself the chance to sit and breath for a few minutes without thinking about the next 10 things on your list?  Is it saying no to something important and worthwhile so that you can be freed from the frenzy and pace that surround you?  Think of one thing today that you could let go of, be freed of, in order to open up some space in your life for God to fill you with something new.

Day 2: Preparing the House...and the Heart

We host several events in our home throughout the Advent and Christmas season and thus I love to decorate our house at Christmas time.  It is fun to see how people delight in walking into our little winter wonderland here at Tegnérgatan 4.  We have a broad collection of decorations as I have things that date back to my childhood along with a beautiful collection of carolers that we began receiving as gifts when we were married and now of course, assorted Swedish decorations.  I love to fill the house with flowers and candles.   I actually enjoy the process of transforming our home as well.  I carefully take down the decor that graces our house for most of the year and look forward to opening the boxes that sit in our basement storage for 11 of 12 months of the year, releasing their contents into our home.  It's a special time for me when I ready our home for Christmas.  It makes me think about the ways in which I am readying my home to welcome not only assorted friends and church family members into our home, but also and perhaps most importantly, Christ as our honored guest on Christmas day.  The decorations point us to the special season that surrounds us.  But they are just decorations...outward symbols that need to lead us to an inward change as well.  So as I look at my Santas and my Nativity sets, as I tie bows and hang ornaments, as I prepare my house for Christmas, I hope too that I can prepare my heart for Christ.

Advent day 5

We took our first walk through the city tonight to admire the lit streets and buildings. Stockholm is a beautiful place during the Christmas season and I enjoyed seeing the twinkle of white lights on trees, hanging from buildings and in apartment windows. What struck me most about our walk however was how un-crowded the streets were. At 8.00 p.m. one of the main shopping streets in town was practically empty. I did remark to Doug that I saw an ad in a newspaper that made me chuckle the other day...open hours for a particular store had been extended during advent. They were now going to be open from 10.00 a.m.-8.00 p.m. Clearly a slightly different mentality than the frenzy of Black Friday in the U.S.
As we wandered through a relatively quiet city, I began to think about how one finds their quiet center during this over-stimulating season. It is so easy to get caught up in the crush and rush of the season and therefore it does require intention to find the quiet and focus on what is central to this season...an incarnate God who came to the earth to show us the way to peace. Surely there is a way to clear some space in your busy life to sit quietly in front of a lit candle to ponder the light of lights whose very life points our lives towards peace...and perhaps even a little quiet. Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps God might have something significant that He'd like to whisper in your ear? Don't miss what He has in store for you...seek out the peace and the quiet.

Advent day 3

December 1. This is the day that many begin to open "advent calendars". This is a big tradition in Sweden and is done in a variety of ways. Many children will open a window or a pocket and find a toy or some chocolate inside. In this house, we will light our daily advent candle and watch it burn down to day 24 as we await the celebration of the day that Christ was born. Our candle this year is special. My friend Marie gave it to me as she began this tradition when she lived in Copenhagen. Each year she obtains this Royal Copenhagen candle to mark the days of advent. Now I can think of her lighting the same candle when I light mine on a daily basis.
I love rituals like these. I think they are a great way to mark time, to teach tradition, to build excitement and anticipation. I hope that many of you who are practicing this tradition in some form take time to not only enjoy the hidden treasure that you find waiting behind the window, but to also consider one thing that Christ brings to your life on a daily basis. Today I am thankful for the comfort that Christ brings to our lives. Two friends in the past week have lost loved ones under difficult and unexpected circumstances. One a husband of a girlfriend who was mysteriously ill and died during exploratory surgery, the other a brother and uncle of friends we've known for many years here in Sweden. Sadly, he was suffering from many things and ended his own life. These situations remind me that life is fragile and valuable and can change in an instant. I know that Christ's love for us endures all sorts of hardship and while we cannot make sense of these tragedies this side of heaven, we can rest assured that Christ feels our pain and joins us in our grief journey. That truth, that Christ comes and dwells among us, is one of life's greatest comforts. I treasure the comfort of Christ as I consider the pain my friends are enduring as they face their losses.
As you mark the days of December with an advent calendar or through the lighting of a candle, why not also mark the remarkable ways that Christ comes to you on a daily basis?

Advent day 2

Last night we enjoyed an awesome dinner party with 8 special friends gathered around our dining room table. Our good friends, the Grout's who used to live here but now live in France decided that they wanted to come to Sweden to celebrate Marie's 60th birthday. They invited a few people to our home yesterday but they hosted the party! It was a very special treat to be in my own home, but not have to do any hosting! Douglas set a beautiful table, as he so often does, and the meal was delicious. They had brought the wine from France so there was no miss there!
Gathered around the table were 3 Americans (me, Doug and Marie, the guest of honor), 1 woman from Singapore, 2 women from Ghana, 1 man from Zimbabwe, 1 woman from Ukraine, 1 Swede and the darling French man, Marie's husband. I mean, c'mon. This just doesn't happen in a "normal" life! Our lives crossed because of our association with Immanuel International and towards the end of the evening each person told of how their connection to Daniel and Marie was forged. The stories had a common thread. The generous, loving, outgoing spirit of Daniel and Marie drew us all in.
The meal was a feast, but so was the conversation. It served as a wonderful reminder of how hospitality, generosity, and warmth are qualities worth striving for in life. Hospitality, generosity, and warmth: Have you ever considered how the Lord offers us these gifts? Enjoy them this advent and pass them along. The price is right and the return on your investment will be well worth it, I'm sure.

Day 6: Preparing

It's Friday and I have a full week-end ahead so I am up early trying to sort it all out. First, I am preparing the house because we have guests coming to stay with us. Three university students from North Park University, (our alma mater, where we went to seminary and college as well as where I was Campus Pastor for 5 years before we moved to Sweden) who are studying in Sweden this semester are coming to Stockholm. We know their parents because we went to college with them. I remember when I went to college and many of my classmates knew my mom, who also attended the same school. It's a weird and wonderful aspect of attending a small, liberal arts university with strong church ties. So, they are coming and I am looking forward to hearing about their experiences while they've been on this side of the pond. One of the girl's mother is one of my closest friends...in fact, she, along with the woman I went to Rome with are my two closest friends from college and the 3 of us have kept up pretty well. I love to have people into our home because I feel so blessed that we have such a lovely place. The photograph today shows the table in our entry. Hopefully it represents warmth and welcoming. Gud Jul, by the way, means Merry Christmas in Swedish.
The second thing I am preparing for is our Children's Christmas Pageant. We have a rehearsal tomorrow morning with the microphones and well, you can imagine how excited 8 year old kids get when they get their hands on a microphone. We have three wireless microphones as well, that you wear on your ear and you feel very much like a rock star and there is much jockeying regarding who gets to wear those. These are the big decisions I have to make. Additionally, the angel Gabriel is tiny in stature so I have to figure out how to best make him seen. Sometimes this program is stressful. I have to remind myself that it's not about the performance, it's about the magic and wonder of children pointing us to the Christ child. I am excited about it and think it will be adorable...our children are a very fine looking bunch.
The final thing I am preparing for is Ken's funeral on Sunday. It's weird to think that in the midst of Christmas we are going to bury someone we have dearly loved for 10 years. The kids will have to say good-bye to the physical evidence of their dad and Geri will have to publicly mourn her new found status as a single woman. I can prepare for the worship service but preparing for the new way of life that awaits our church and the family will definitely be a work in progress.
But again I reminded of what a mixture of emotions those involved in the first Christmas went through. Fear was a common thread. Zachariah was afraid, Mary was afraid, Joseph too. The shepherds were positively terrified and in each instance God sent an angel to comfort them, to utter these wonderful words: "Fear Not for I bring you good news of a great joy." It is indeed that good news that sustains us as we prepare for both the joy of little children leading us to Christ and the sorrow of losing a loved one who is now with Christ. May the good news of great joy follow you throughout your preparations in the days ahead.