december 24, 2000
i'm down in LA for the holidays! i drove down from the bay area yesterday, and i'm looking forward to spending a few days a home with family and friends. church was good - it was good to worship at my 'home' church again, and catch up with my friends there, some of whom i've known practically my entire life. since it was christmas eve, i also got to see the annual christmas program also. you know the one - throw all the little kids up there and have them perform the story of christmas. lil' korean joseph and mary, lil' korean shepherds and wise men, lil' korean angels and....farm animals??? ha ha...they even had a kid dressed up as a TREE! he just stood there and kinda swayed from side to side. as always, watching the cute little kids stumble over their feet and through their lines is a lot of fun. i can't imagine a "tough guy" like me was up there doing the same thing when i was a kid!
all kidding aside, i always thank god that he's given us the opportunity to celebrate christmas. beyond the gifts and the trees and the shopping and all the other so-called tradtions that are often associated with the holiday, it is a celebration of the birth of jesus, my savior and my lord. it blows my mind away that god himself would send his only son to earth, to live his life and have it end at the hands of those he came to save; that through his death and resurrection, we who were lost and condemned become children in his family, and gain the gift of life in heaven with him forever and ever. as much fun as christmas can be (yes it's still fun for me - i don't hate shopping, the crowds, the stress of not knowing what to get), the blessings are so much greater when i stop to think of the very special reason this holiday exists in the first place.
for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger. - Luke 2:11-12