My Family

This past fall we had family friend and photographer Dina take our family pictures. I've always wanted the beauty of the local fall colours to be included in the family pics - and I was not disappointed! We wanted the location to be very "local" and with the Parliament buildings in the background, there can be no doubt where we call home! 

I love these pictures so much that I've sort of gotten carried away. I had a small handful of Christmas cards made up most of which were never given because I never got them in the mail. Of course, I did just receive in our mail today a Christmas card postmarked on January 13 (what's up, Janine?!) so maybe it's not too late? 

Anyway, Shutterfly was having a rockin' sale somewhere around the end of November and I took advantage of it big time. I had a table runner made up, two Christmas ornaments and a huge throw blanket with really large pictures of us all over it. I was thinking at the time how nice it would be for Will to take it to school next fall to remember his family and snuggle beneath. But it may be too over the top for that upon further thought and only result in him getting beaten up by his classmates. 

And can I just say that the most stressful part of it all was what we were going to all wear!! I didn't want to be too matchy matchy and I didn't want to clash. I perused Pinterest for further wisdom which really helped with visuals. 

Maybe 40 years from now when I'm pushing 80, I'll be the one cuddling under the massive and obnoxious picture blanket of my family wondering how the years went by so fast! 

A New York Minute

It's been a dream of mine to visit New York City at Christmastime for awhile now. I'm sure it was influenced by the countless movies set there in iconic spots all over the city. So when we talked about our family getting away after a more stressful than usual fall, that was the place we agreed upon!

I knew I was possibly setting myself up for disappointment if my expectations weren't met but it was a risk I was willing to take. Turns out - it was totally worth it and if anything, exceeded my expectations!!

We've learned from previous trips to other big cities - this is the environment where our family shines. I did some preliminary work in reading travel books and scoping out what attractions would most appeal to us. I didn't want to plan our trip minute to minute but we wanted at least one planned thing a day and plenty of free time to work around that. Then once we're there and get a better idea of our surroundings and get a feel for what's really important to us, we start planning our days. Wayne shines in getting us from one place to the next and navigating where we need to be, what direction we're going, what subway train to take and when to get off. The rest of us are like little chicks following him around, confident that he'll get us wherever it is we're going! The kids are joyfully along for the ride and thrilled with "vacation mode" and the heightened possibility of ice cream for lunch.

We flew into LaGuardia and took a NYC taxi to our hotel. We stayed at the Excelsior hotel. Because we bought a flight/hotel package deal, it's hard to say what we payed per night and I'm sure there are cheaper ways to go - but this place was wonderful!! It was on the upper west side next to Central Park and across from the Museum of Natural History (Night at the Museum, anyone?).  In an insanely large city shoved onto a tiny island with cars honking, sirens blaring and the general racket of people, this hotel provided an oasis in the middle of insanity. Because of it's location off a main road and across from a quiet museum, the noise was minimal and gave us peace at the end of the day! It also helped that they upgraded us to a suite which gave us an extra room to put Zanna down to bed earlier than the rest of us. And of course, location, location, location. We were in walking distance to many areas and had access to the subway at the end of the street.

Food. It makes or breaks holidays for me. NYC fare did not disappoint us! In the mornings, Wayne and Zanna would head out and search for breakfast - bagels! Meanwhile, Will and I would get ready for the day and while I got ready I had the TV turned to the Today Show and/or Kelly and whoever his name is. I mention this because watching these shows when we were there took on new meaning. I never cared before what the weather was in NYC - why should I? Now I was fascinated! And while I wouldn't necessarily stand outside to be one of those crazy fans freezing their butts off just to catch a glimpse of Al Roker, it was neat to know we walked around that area the day before.

Sorry. Back to food. We ate at the overrated Carnegie Deli, had famous cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery, a latte at Dean and Delucca, ice cream for lunch at Tom and Jerry's and Dim Sum in Chinatown and pizza from Ray's Pizza which is apparently a local joke. My only regret was I never did have a chance to try a ConeyIsland hotdog. But I still did well!

The weather was great considering it was the beginning of December. It started in the upper 40's and got well into the 50's near the end of our visit. It didn't rain and it was never icky. We were still well dressed but being Canadians, it didn't phase us at all.

Our first day there we took a 90 minute scenic boat ride that we ended up getting for free with our travel package. It turned out to be great as we followed the shoreline of the city while the guide pointed out buildings and told stories. It took us out to Ellis Island and gave us a fantastic view of Lady Liberty.

We explored the area around Rockefeller Center and went to the "Top of the Rock" for an amazing view of the city. The famous ice skating rink was up and there were people on it already. The big Christmas tree was up too but not lighted yet. The official lighting would come a few days later. Meanwhile we made sure to hit some stores in the area - Will wanted to check out Lego, Zanna wanted to see the American Girl store and I was itching to browse Anthropologie.

We were amazed by Times Square and the utter insanity of craziness and action! Just walking around and taking in the sights and sounds was fun. We walked a ton and only took the subway 3 or 4 times while we were there just to save our legs and any energy we had left.

We walked through Central Park and recalled the movies we remembered were filmed there - Mr. Popper's Penguins, Home Alone 2, Elf etc. It was so clean and peaceful and the kids appreciated their "leash" being loosened up and allowed to run around. We made our way over to the east side of the park and marvelled at the impressive apartments, walked into the lobby of the Guggenheim and made our way to 5th Ave.

Christmas in New York! I gawked at the window displays of Sak's, Bergdorf Goodman and Tiffany and Co. I don't know exactly what they were trying to sell but they were works of art to look at!  We explored FAO Schwarz and Zanna played on the gigantic piano keys from Big. The Plaza Hotel sat across the street but under some scaffolding for repair. We liked being out after dark when the city really lit up and everything seemed magical.

The evening of the second day we bit the bullet and went to see a real Broadway show - Annie! This was the perfect family musical to see in NYC at Christmas.  It was an incredible experience and an huge opportunity for all of us!!! "It's a hard knock life, for us!" 

Day three we explored Chinatown and the Financial District which included a visit to the 911 memorial. Soberly we remembered the events of that fateful day as we circled the two memorials and tried to explain it to the kids. A museum is currently under construction.

From there we headed over to Grand Central Station which now gives me new meaning to the phrase, "What is this? Grand Central Station?". Then we hung out at the New York Public Library, found the kids section and some comfy couches and connected to their free Wifi. It was lovely!

That night was the official lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. We knew it was a big production and if we were going to attempt to go, we should get there early. We were in the area by 4:30 or so and crowds were already swarming, policemen were everywhere setting up gates to corral crowds like cattle and we found ourselves being pushed along in a sea of people with no idea where it was going! Wayne took control and dragged our family out of the current and into a nearby store whose doors were not yet locked. He thought we'd cut across the store and come out on the other side to see if it was better over there. As we approached the doors to exit, in walked in Matt Lauer! Zanna said, "Hey, that guy's on TV!" and I said, "Hey, Matt Lauer!". So that was our big famous person sighting. When we got out and the crowds were not better and we realized the tree wouldn't be lit for another 4 and a half hours and - what do people do when they have to pee? - we hit the road back to our hotel. We knew that although it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, we'd be way more comfortable watching from our hotel, warm and able to use the facilities whenever needed! And we saw Matt Lauer in person, so there you go!

On our way back to the hotel we happened to wander by Tiffany's. I thought it would be interesting to look around. Really. It wasn't a hint. The fact that we walked out with a Tiffany blue box is strictly coincidence.  Wonder what's in there? I'll show you sometime:) And yes. I posed my Tiffany bag and box and took pictures of them. Because when will I get the chance again?

 Our fourth day was our last day but we didn't leave until later in the evening. We checked out and  leaving our bags behind the counter, we walked across the street to check out the museum we had been looking at from our window all week. Truth be told, this was really the only thing that didn't live up to my expectations. Maybe because we have such fantastic museums in our own city, many of which have been recently renovated or kept up to date at least. We found this New York one underwhelming and frankly, disappointing. It didn't help that the evolutionary worldview clouded just about everything and while not surprising, wasn't even well done! No matter, we were exhausted anyways. Our flight home went well and even came with $40 of meal vouchers to use in the airport thanks to WestJet. Perfect for a quick Tim Horton's stop in Toronto:)

I loved NewYork City and we made such good memories!! I'd go back in a New York minute:)

December 25 - Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Jesus! Merry Christmas!

Jesus left the starry heavens to save us from our sins. (256) That's it in a nutshell. Go and tell it on the mountain!

More details, more prophecies fulfilled, more "just as it was said". Now, at the foot of every tree, we are all only recipients of grace. (257) Think on that when you unwrap your presents. Now that you've come to the conclusion of the slowly unwrapping of the Greatest Gift, give thanks!

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests." How many years was that the memory verse "my angel" recited on Christmas Eve?
What a sight that must have been for the shepherds to behold - those lucky ducks:) For a brief moment in time, God allows His created angel beings to be seen and heard on earth by His created mankind. When we sing the Gloria in Excelsis as a congregation as part of The Common Service (CW), we join the angels in their worship and song! What a glorious taste of heaven this is when His whole creation will be joined together without separation in voice and adoration to The King!!! I get chills ….

My angel and shepherd 

When your heart burns, you're a flaming match for other hearts. When you're a manger tramp who came with nothing but your ragged heart and leaned in close over that creche, when you've beheld His glory, the white heat of a Love like this - who doesn't tramp out of the manger and into the world with a heart glowing like hot embers in your chest? (258) Go tell it on the mountain! This Love came for the world - for all mankind! We hold this Gift given to us so we can share it with others. Go tell it on the mountain!

Christ, the always Gift for all our days. (259) 

This angel's halo is a little askew!

December 24

This night is Christmas Eve and our church family will be celebrating with choir singing and children testifying to the story of Jesus' birth in front of friends, family and strangers. This night we'll close the service like we do every year with ushers passing out candles, silent prayers that the church doesn't burn down and thankfulness that the fire station is across the street! Candles are lit, one off the other and the lights are turned off and while candles glow we sing "Silent Night".

This night a battle has been waged and won for you. Love had to come back for you. Love had to get to you. The Love that has been coming for you since the beginning - He slays dragons for you. This is the truest love store of history, and it's His-Story, and it's for you. All the other fairy-tale love stories only echo your yearning for this truest, realest one - this one that has its beginning before the beginning of time. This night, you on this visited planet, your rescue is here. You can breathe. (245)

He lays Himself down in your mire.
He unfolds Himself in the stench you want to hide, in that mess that is your impossible, in the mucked straw you don't want anyone to know. 

Rejected at the inn, holy God comes in small to where you feel rejected and small. God is with you now. Wherever you are - in a soundless cry or hidden brokenness or in your ache - God always wants to be with you. You are not ever left alone in this. We are never left alone in this; God is with us. (246) 

At home we put the final nativity figures on the Advent picture made of felt and attached with velcro. We, the manger tramps, who kneel where thrones tremble and demons fall and the self-made crumble and the self-righteous weep.
Tonight there are only manger tramps, who tramp in with all our poverty of spirit … so there can be an abundance of God. (247) 

We lay the final piece into the nativity - a baby.
The greatest Gift laid into our empty hands … (248)

Silent night, holy night … 

December 23

God is with us. God is with us!

Although Jesus was conceived to a virgin, God still gave Joseph to Mary. God provided her the protection of marriage so that while others may not have understood what miracle really happened it kept her safe and taken care of.  God is our Great Provider too!

We've read the words and touched the limbs of our Jesse Tree this Advent in preparation for His coming. God is here! God is with us! It is happening just as he said it would. The prophecies are full of details like this. They're not vague predictions or horoscopes that you could twist with little effort to make your own truth. They're detailed down to places and names and history so that we know that yes! God is with us!

Ann's direction here seems to emphasize the uniqueness and effectiveness of Christianity, the intimacy of our relationship to Christ and the enormity of what His coming really means. It's pretty impressive she could fit that into one chapter!

It is Christmas that first makes the absolute claims of Christ. Like the diagnosis of a doctor, every other religion says that good-enough living will save us. But like a soul specialist, Christianity examines our hearts and says that actually we're all terminal unless we take (have) Christ - that it's Jesus who saves us. (233) 

And like I've said before - you can't have Christmas without also having the Cross - every Christmas tree is shadowed by the Cross Tree: it's at the Tree that God does heart transplants - He takes your heart and does surgery. (233) 

In the care of our own souls, Christianity isn't so much about exclusiveness but effectiveness. What will actually save us? 
And it's the joy of Christmas that offers the gift of exclusiveness - because of its effectiveness to save the terminal soul. (234)
Well that blows away the old excuse "Christianity is only a crutch". It's the cure! The only one!

Beginning with the paragraph on 234 that starts God can't stay away. This is the love story that has been coming for you since the beginning - I go back in my mind to all the Scripture we've read so far. All the prophecies, the kept promises, the misfits and mess-ups and the unfolding of His-story. A love story for us. So God throws open the door of this world - and enters as a baby. As the most vulnerable imaginable. Because He wants unimaginable intimacy with you. (235) 

It cost Him everything to be with you. Who will spend a fraction of time just to be with Him? Who wants the gift of His presence? I thought about that and it made me think of birthdays. Who celebrates a birthday without going to the celebratory birthday party? It does't make sense! Our church has Christmas Day services every year to celebrate Jesus' birthday and I'm sorry to say, most years the attendance has been pitiable. Most churches around here don't even offer it just assuming people will be home opening up presents, hosting Christmas brunch and tending to the turkey in the oven. All in the name of Christmas tradition, one that doesn't include sitting in a church pew hearing the Good News proclaimed of what there is to even celebrate. I'm really not condemning here - I just wish more for the Body of Christ. If we want the gift of His presence, we have that through being in the Word. We have everything Needful because Jesus fulfilled our every Need. Do I need to stay in my pj's until noon? Do I need to host dinner and stay home with a turkey (I mean one you're not related to;)? My prayer for the Body of Christ is that we want to be with the Giver of the Gift this Christmas whether in our church if we're able to or if not, in the Word in our homes recognizing the enormity of the message God is with us and knowing we are so unbelievably loved. That's the gift God wants to give us.

God is with us!

December 22

Today our reading deals with the Annunciation. The angel Gabriel comes to Mary and fills her in on the part she's to play in the coming of the long awaited Messiah. She does ask the question "how will this be since I'm a virgin?" but it's more a question of the type we talked about the other day of wonder rather than of doubt. And she believes. That is a miracle!

Reading my "Martin Luther Christmas Book", I came across some insight into this. The Virgin birth is a mere trifle for God; that God and man should become man is a greater miracle; but most amazing of all is that this maiden should credit the announcement that she, rather than some other virgin had been chosen to be the mother of God." Her response is one of great faith - worthy of imitation! Her response at the end "May it be to be as you have said" is a quote I try to live as a child of God. I want to be able to say to my God no matter the circumstance that comes my way, "OK, Lord. I don't have to understand this, or feel good about it or imagine I'll get through this with my reputation still intact, etc. but may it be to me as you have ordained knowing that you have a plan and a purpose. Knowing you have taken care of my greatest Need."

Just as the virginal conception was the work of the Holy Spirit, so is the faith in our hearts. Mary didn't make anything - God conceived the miracles within her - of Jesus and before that , her faith. And so while I think again, this chapter could be understood correctly, I'm uncomfortable with the phrase she uses throughout "become a space".

I do think the best way to understand what I think she's trying to say is found on page 221 - When you are a space to receive whatever the will of God is in this moment as grace, you take hold of God. You most take hold of God when you simply receive Him in this moment of taking hold of you. I think she's trying to encourage us to take the example of Mary, who in great faith trusted the Lord to work it out instead of trying to work it out for herself. When Christ is in us, we are with Him always. There's no separating the sacred from the secular because it's all sacred. And when our eyes are open to that reality - the way the life for Christ stirs amazing grace within (222) - we see that all is grace through faith in Jesus.

"No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven," says the one who is preparing the way (John 3:27) 222-223. 

Everything is given from heaven. Everything is a gift. Your life becomes a masterpiece the moment you see it as a gift of grace to willingly receive. (223) It's easier to stand with hands wide open to receive the good than it is to accept the hard stuff. But everything is a gift.

This is the chronology of grace, the chronology of Christmas: before we're called to give, we're called to receive. This can be the hardest. We struggle to receive. Sometimes we are better givers than getters. Grace? For me?(223)

Here's where I jump back to my "Martin Luther's Christmas book" - This is the word of the prophet: "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given" (Isaiah 9:6).  This is for us the hardest point, not so much to believe that He is the son of the virgin and God himself, as to believe that this Son of God is ours. That is where we wilt, but he who does feel it has become another man. Truly it is marvellous in our eyes that God should place a little child in the lap of a virgin and that all our blessedness should lie in him. And this Child belongs to all mankind. God feeds the whole world through a Babe nursing at Mary's breast. This must be our daily exercise: to be transformed into Christ, being nourished by this food. Then will the heart be suffused with all joy and will be strong and confident against every assault. (16)

May God give us all the faith and courage to say with Mary, "May it be to me as you have said."

December 21

Locust eating, camel- hair wearing John the Baptist had a job to do and a message to preach -"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."  Why this message? Why make people repent when they may not want to hear that they're poor, miserable sinners? Maybe something happier might be more effective in getting them to listen. Something like - "Hey, everyone! Be happy because a really great guy who is also God's Son has come to walk the earth among us. Isn't that exciting?"

But no, he calls people to repentance for we are sinners in need of a Saviour. We don't know our need is met until we fully appreciate The Need. We don't grasp the significance of The Gift until we understand the significance of our sin. The law must be preached before the fullness of the Gospel is preached. That is John's calling.

Ann didn't touch upon the repentance aspect of it, maybe because she wrote more about it in another chapter. But it is still important to remember something we'd frankly like to forget about sometimes! In order to rest in the "wilderness" she talks about - which I'm all for - repentance comes first followed by the peace of forgiveness and the "rest" that follows. The wilderness offers you grace: we are most prepared for Christ, for Christmas, when we confess we are mostly not prepared. Rest here. There is room in us when we are done with us. (210) Preach it, sister!

It's Saturday and who is insane enough to go to the mall today or any retail establishment? Take this opportunity to stay home and Rest here and happy. You are unconditionally accepted and unbelievably wanted because you don't merely know of Him; you are related to Him by blood. (211) That's the beauty of the Jesse tree - that we can see His plan unfolding throughout time and how we are grafted into that tree by His blood!

Final thoughts for today? You are most prepared for Christmas when you are done trying to make your performance into the gift and instead revel in His presence as the Gift. (211) 

"Unwrapping…" Even if the day finds us out and about, we can still rest in His presence!