We are now working hard for our Christmas meal celebration with our teammates tonight...more gifts and laughter and good food. It's been a great day.
I listened to this song again the other day and the words keep rolling around in my head. It isn't a Christmas song but the message really resonates with me these days. I find myself grateful that THIS is the meaning of this season. The little tiny baby didn't come to be innocent or cute or tiny forever...He came to bring hope and healing to a lost and broken world.
I hope that this Christmas has been one of wonder for you. A wonder that goes beyond lights and cookies and carols, even beyond the manger. I hope and pr.ay that you have been struck by the wonder of the Cross, the Gift that has brought us hope and life. What joy and peace we have because of Him! In spite of all of the grossness of this world we live in hope that there will be a day of healing and restoration. I can't wait! Hope you can't either.
There Will Be A Day: Jeremy Camp
I try to hold on to this world with everything I have
But I feel the weight of what it brings, and the hurt that tries to grab
The many trials that seem to never end,
His word declares this truth,
that we will enter in this rest with wonders anew
But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we’ll hold on to you always
I know the journey seems so long
You feel your walking on your own
But there has never been a step
Where you’ve walked out all alone
Troubled soul don’t lose your heart
Cause joy and peace he brings
And the beauty that’s in store
Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting
I can’t wait until that day where the very one I’ve lived for always will wipe away the sorrow that I’ve faced
To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery this is why this is why I sing….
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face
There will be a day, He’ll wipe away the stains, He’ll wipe away the tears, He’ll wipe away the tears…..there will be a day.
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| Christmas in Lal 2007 |
"Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of hope — not the prudent gates of Optimism, which are somewhat narrower; nor the stalwart, boring gates of Common Sense; nor the strident gates of self-righteousness … nor the cheerful, flimsy garden gate of 'Everything is gonna be all right,' but a very different, sometimes very lonely place, the place of truth-telling, about your own soul first of all and its condition, the place of resistance and defiance, the piece of ground from which you see the world both as it is and as it could be, as it might be, as it will be; the place from which you glimpse not only struggle, but joy in the struggle — and we stand there, beckoning and calling, telling people what we are seeing, asking people what they see." ("The Gates of Hope," Minister Victoria Safford )
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