Christmas '11

I can finally sit and let out a deep breath and take some time to reflect on Christmas and the coming year.  Many people send out letters with the Christmas cards, and as I thought about what I would write if I were to send out a letter, I realized that most of the significant and notable happenings of the past year have revolved around Church or Church-related activities:

• One of the areas I feel blessed to have experienced and be a part of, is being on Selection Committee.    What an amazing experience to see the Holy Spirit working in selecting elders and members of the committee.  It gave me insight into some of the passages in Acts when the leaders were chosen in the Early Church.
• Another amazing experience was the Journeys of Paul Tour.   What a privilege to be able to travel to Greece and Turkey with my Pastor and the group from my Church.   
• And then studying through the Book of Acts.   Not only did the trip help supplement the study by helping me to visualize parts of Paul's Missionary Journeys; but, I really felt like I got to "know" the Apostle Paul a lot better.   And, I've learned much from the example of the Early Church.
• God has given me opportunities to serve and help the needy, an answer to previous prayer requests - my class did the Yes House Thanksgiving outreach and has completed another year of serving at COA.   Just last night, we served dinner and passed out Christmas Goodies packages.   Learning from the experiences of last year, it went quite smoothly and we didn't have too much left-overs, while still being able to be generous in giving seconds (and some thirds).   We served ham with pineapple (learned to glaze at COA rather than the night before to avoid the glaze spilling over during transport - however, in the future, should use more brown sugar) [10 10 lb hams at $1.50 per pound; were able to get 20 slices per ham], mashed potatoes (these were instant ones, but were well received), green beans with cubed ham pieces from the edges and cream of mushroom (next time, should reserve the liquid and only pour in as much as needed - it was a little too watery, causing me to have to add flour)  [8 cans of green beans, 2 cans of cream of mushroom - one ladle per serving], and Hawaiian bread rolls.  For the Christmas packages, we again used the brown paper bags decorated by the kids at church; this time, instead of punching holes and tying ribbons, we just put on gift tag stickers - in the future, it is important to buy the larger stickers so that they would stay on (the smaller ones would fall off or  require tape to keep the bag closed).   We put in an orange, a "Meaning of Christmas" tract, candy canes (to fit the message), and a combination of cookies, candy bars, lollipops, baked sweet bread,etc.   Throughout the year, we were also able to give out some Bibles, and I trust that God was able to use the messages.

There were, however, also some challenges through the year - my mom's illness, having to deal with the rental, weight of responsibilities, etc.   Yet, I do feel that I have grown through them all; and I know that God was with me through them.

Looking towards the New Year, I'm excited that I found my verse for the year associated with my area of focus on PRAYER.   In reading through the Book of Luke in response to the encouragement from my Asst Pastor, the verse stood out as I read it last night:  "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." (Luke 5:16).   This verse came in the context of Jesus in the midst of the demands of His ministry.    As I read the verse, I saw additional important reasons why I needed to focus on prayer - following Christ's example, spending time with the Father, and gaining strength, guidance, and realignment in the midst of busy-ness, maybe even overwhelming busy-ness.   I felt that I could relate to that verse; because there are times when I just feel this great need to go to a quiet place alone, in order to spend time in prayer to God.