When The Children Lead Us

There are fewer things more wonderful than a Children's Christmas Pageant.  Ours was yesterday and it was fabulous!  The storyline followed an angel who wanted wings and she eventually got them by showing a sheep, a donkey and a dove acts of kindness as they all made their way to the manger.Several kids sang solos and all were spectacular in their costumes, singing like cherubs and delivering their lines like pros.  Of course, an army of adult volunteers made this happen and we are so thankful for the hard work that so many put in to make this wonderful afternoon possible, especially those who worked with the acting, the costumes and the music.  And really, what warms your heart more than 2 and 3 year olds dressed up like angels and sheep?
There were the usual unplanned, hilarious moments.  One of the 4 year olds was dying to get her hands on the microphone and so she kept positioning herself in front of it.
Finally, she just grabbed it and got her 10 seconds of fame.
I would not be surprised to see this little one trying out for Idol a few years down the road.
We had a camel, requiring two people to walk almost blindly down the center aisle and up on the stage.  The cuteness factor jumped way up when they finally found their way to the manger.
What I really love about Immanuel International's program is the diversity of children participating.  Angels from Nigeria, the U.K., Uganda, the Philippines, the US and Eritrea to name a few.  An Indonesian Mary and an Eritrean Joseph.  Shepherds from the U.K., Pakistan, and Uganda. Animals from Kenya.  Wise men from Indonesia, Ghana, and Kenya.  The whole wide world coming together to tell the story of Jesus' birth and to let us know that the greatest gift we can give to Jesus is to love one another.  If only the real world could learn this.
The whole afternoon was filled with laughter, joy, meaning, and delight.  The children were so proud to participate.  The congregation was so filled with joy to see the pureness of the story unfold before them.  And everyone was thrilled to witness the old, old story in a brand new way...through the eyes of children once again.

4th Sunday in Advent

We had a most wonderful celebration yesterday, the 4th Sunday in Advent.  Our theme for 4th of Advent was the Incarnation.  Doug preached an amazing sermon that challenged us to think about how we REALLY feel about God coming so near to us in the person of Jesus Christ.  He said that if we allow God to come really close to our lives then God will also see all of the messiness, all of the failure and sometimes we feel too much shame.  But that is when we must remember that the whole point of the incarnation is to redeem all of those sad points and usher us into a new and beautiful relationship with God.  One of Doug's points was that God ultimately became separated from his son in order for us to become his children.  It was a beautiful and poignant thought as we ponder Christ's entrance into our world once again.  Our music director, Rigael Drake, sang one of the most beautiful renditions of O Holy Night I've ever heard.  Rigael's usual style is gospel but he really captured the essence of this song on Sunday.  It brought me to tears, actually.  The whole day was such a warm celebration of the love that surrounds us.  The kids shared in a wonderful Christmas pageant after the service, we had some dear friends in for a beef burgundy stew lunch, and all in all I was wrapped in feelings of love and warmth all day.
I feel inspired and ready to enter these final days of our journey towards Christmas. Reading Bonhoeffer and Nouwen is defintely an amazing way to prepare for the incarnation once again.

Doug is Healing

Last week we ventured to the hospital for x-rays, a cast change and an update on all that is happening with the tibia and fibula of Doug.  It was kind of sweet as we had a little unplanned reunion with the guys who shared Doug's hospital room!  Lars, the older man with the broken ankle who doesn't live too far from us in town, and Josh, the professional hockey player from Canada now playing for one of Stockholm's teams.  We met up in the waiting room and the boys shared their war stories from the winter weather and lugging their casts around.  Then we could hear the Dr.'s talking to one another whilst all were in their little curtained rooms.  Finally, we ended up at physical therapy together!  Forever bound together by various accidents in the winter of 2010!  I did end up giving my card to the Canadian couple and invited them to our Christmas Eve service.  They might discard it, but then again, they might come.  We'll see.  It would be fun to see them again, at any rate, and it would be great to get to see Josh play hockey, but that is likely not going to happen during this season.  But I digress.

Henrik with his magic saw that cuts away the cast but not the leg!

Doug is doing great!  Everyone oooed and awed at how great they felt his scar looked.  The leg looks tender however and there is still a bit of healing to come. 
Getting the plaster cast off has been a big blessing and he's finally adjusting to his Robocop type of cast.  He can remove it to shower and sleep and while he's sitting or lying down, but any steps taken must still be supported by the boot.  No crutches anymore so that's a big help.  We really have appreciated each member of the staff at the hospital.  Henrik the cast guy is a wonderful person and all of the Drs. and nurses have been just super.
He wears this one through New Year's and then hopefully he'll be able to begin to rehab.  We did find out that another minor surgery awaits him mid-January to remove one of the pins holding the leg together at the moment.  They warned us that if he stepped too hard on the foot prematurely, that pin could break inside the leg and we'd be back to square one.  Sounds like one of the worst things I could imagine so we're emphasizing BEING CAREFUL! 
His progress has been excellent even though he would like to be doing more.  He gets around well and while tired at the end of big days, is successfully figuring it out.  I know he really misses being able to walk Tanner and I think we'll all be glad when we can resume that activity again.

3rd Sunday in Advent

I'm late with this post but last Sunday was a great day in the life of our church.  We went to bed on Saturday night with the news that a car bomb had exploded about 5 blocks from where we live and another man carrying explosives had died while walking toward a busy shopping area.  Authorities called it a terrorist act that had failed.  We were very thankful that more damage was not wrought and that all in all, the incident seemed contained.  Still...to have this happen in Stockholm, Sweden has shaken many of us.  Sweden is a peace seeking nation with an official stance of neutrality in the world's conflicts.  Still, some have been angered by some things here and thus the offensive action.
As we gathered on Sunday morning for our 3rd Sunday in Advent celebration, I suppose it was more appropriate than we could have ever have guessed that our theme for the day was redemption.  We were also lighting the candle of joy, a joy that is based not on what the world brings, but the everlasting joy that knowing Christ offers.  As I lit the candles of hope and peace from the first two Sundays, I was struck by how badly our world needs the gifts that Christ brings to us at Christmas.
In my pastoral prayer for the day I prayed for those involved in the violent act that ensued in the streets of our city the previous night.  For those injured or shaken to their core, we asked for healing.  But I also prayed for those perpetuating the violence, that in the midst of their anger and disappointment they would see that there are better ways to solve problems or address issues than to reign down terror on others.  This is a good word for us all...we need to find peaceful and reasonable ways to make our point and listen to others.  When we don't get our way, we need to be able to humbly accept what we cannot change and continue to seek to live our lives with courage and integrity, whilst not oppressing others.
Another highlight of our morning together was watching Doug share in the children's time about how his broken leg was a real bummer, but that in the midst of this unwanted thing, God was teaching him many things.  The kids were rapt in their attention as they listened to Doug talk about learning to have compassion for those who are hurting.
The day was a blessing for me.  It came to a close with our church choirs concert and the honoring of one of our Sunday School teachers who gives tirelessly to the ministry of our church.  What a joyful place to be on the 3rd of Advent.
May the hope, peace and joy of Christ penetrate the dark places of our world and bring you personal peace and rest.

The Dazzling Beauty of a Stockholm Winter

We've had loads of snow this year, far more and earlier in the season than I ever remember in years past.  When it has finally quit snowing, the sun has decided to show its face for the few hours that it rises above the horizon at this time of year.  I have actually enjoyed the winter weather as the snow makes everything incredibly beautiful and the sunshine has helped guard against the darkness hemming me in. 

1.30 pm 

When Doug first broke his leg, I was rather dreading having to get the dog out all the time.  But truth be told, I've enjoyed building these outings into my schedule and have used the time to take in the beauty that surrounds me. I play Christmas music on my Ipod, I delight in Tanner's antics as he buries his head deep in the snow, flips over and makes his own brand of snow angel!  He's really such a great companion.
The light has been dazzling this year.  Every day I'm out, I see something different on the horizon.  The sharp angles of the sun cast an incredibly magical hue and while it doesn't last for long, I'm thankful that I've been out during the few hours it's happening. I continue to realize how important it is to drink in the sunshine.  My mood has been greatly helped by even the small glimpses of daylight we're getting.  During the times when rain and clouds dominate, when the sun doesn't bother to break through the landscape and it feels like daytime never came, it is really tough.  But this year, my walk through this Advent season has been enhanced by my beautiful walks in the woods with my dog.  
I feel the presence of God doing something special as I delight in his marvelous creation.  The small but brilliant light of the midday sun draws me nearer to light that is Christ that I'm seeking to walk towards each day.  We are about halfway through our Advent journey.  I hope yours is marked by the light that truly sustains.

Good Fun with White Elephants

A few years back my book club decided that in December our get together would be focused on Christmas cheer as opposed to chatting about a book.  I introduced the tradition of exchanging White Elephant gifts, (those things that are lying around the house that you no longer want.) 

MB is not sure what to think of her new art pieces

Each year has yielded a variety of delightful gifts and true to form, one always finds its way to the favorites list. 

Judy making a dish towel into a top.

One of the fun things about having this tradition with the same group of people year after year is that one or two gifts find their way back to the pile year after year.  For us, it has been a plastic napkin holder with napkins that say Merry Christmas in a variety of different languages!  Many of us have had this through the years and it re-appeared this year and ended up with the person who originally brought it so many years ago!  We decided to take it to American Women's Christmas party this year, put it on the table and slowly back away from the offending object.
The best part of the night is the laughter.  For some reason this whole gift exchange just brings out the joy in us all!  The fact that the first gift opened this year was a candy bra really ramped up the event!
But after all was said and done I had actually scored a great gift.  A black T-shirt with rhinestones spelling out America that I will proudly wear on the next 4th July, some Aveda hair conditioner that I will use, and a necklace that I wore to church yesterday!  I guess it's true what they say...one woman's trash is indeed another's treasure.

I treasure my book club girls.  We've journeyed together through many stories and continue to create many of our own.  It's a special highlight of the Christmas season and it brought much joy and laughter to my heart this year once again.

2nd Sunday in Advent

     We lit the second candle of Advent today.
Our theme for today was mystery.  I spoke of a concept that C.S. Lewis wrote about called Sehnsucht —the longing for the mysterious, the wonderful, the other-worldly that our daily experience does not satisfy. I also noted that the dictionary definitions of mystery included references to the divine, the sacramental and aspects of Christ's life, like his passion and the incarnation that have a mysterious quality to them.  I believe that God as our creator designed Christ’s coming into this world to have an air of mystery about it so that we would curiously be drawn to this amazing event year after year.  
     But what I really concluded was that the greatest mystery of all however is the fact that the God of the universe, in all of his vastness, decided to enter our world through his Son Jesus Christ, in humble circumstances, through ordinary people in order to reveal his great love for us.  God draws near to us so that we might draw near to him.  And by doing it through humble means, He ensures that anyone, no matter their lot in life, regardless of race, class, gender, intellect, virtue, family lines or age, may come to know God through Jesus Christ.   
      Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that “this is the unrecognized mystery of this world:  Jesus Christ.  That this Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter, as himself the Lord of glory: that was the mystery of God.  It was a mystery because God became poor, low, lowly and weak out of love for humankind, because God became a human being like us so that we would come to him.  God is the one who becomes low for our sakes.  This is the depth of Deity whom we worship as mystery and comprehend as mystery.” 
     It is mysterious that the God of all creation would care so much for us.  And yet he does.  All he asks of us is that we accept His gift of love.  I hope you do.