My Favorite Part of Christmas

Everyone loves something different about Christmas.

For some of us, it is the lights and decorated trees, the wrapping paper and copious amounts of sugar-laced treats.

For others, it is the music, the snow on the ground, the caroling and the festive shindigs that are thrown.

Some people might enjoy that their grouchy neighbor actually smiles during December, and still others enjoy that it is a season of giving.

And then of course we all know the radical Christmas people. 

They have wanted it to be Christmas since last Christmas and have been listening to festive music since way before  Thanksgiving. 

Personally, I'm not a huge Christmas season fanatic. But there are three things I really love about it. 

#3 The Gift Giving

I don't know what it is, but there is something really awesome about giving gifts. I will be honest, my gifts are never gifts that cost a lot or necessarily even look nice. I think it is more about the thought that goes into it. Gifts involve inside jokes, memories of the past, and the occasional practical joke. A good example of this comes at my own expense.

It was during my middle school years (that excuses everything right?)  and what I really really wanted for Christmas was a iPod touch. I had told my parents at least 400 times, and I was so ready to unwrap it.

As we opened our presents, the pile under the tree dwindled away. I received my final present, and let's just say it was shaped nothing like an iPod. Brokenhearted, I unwrapped.....a ceramic bowl. For the record it was a nice ceramic bowl, but all I wanted to do right then was break it... a lot.

My selfish little tears on the verge of spilling out I took the bow and ran up to my room. It was then I noticed the box attached to the bottom of the ceramic bowl. 

Several minutes later a very humble middle school Josh walked down into the living room with his new iPod to be shamed by laughter.

God put some thought into his gift too. Thousands of years of thought actually. He did it in a way no one expected. It was almost a practical joke. The King of Kings born to a poor virgin in a stable and then rules with love.

I love gifts.

#2 Family Time

Even more than most holidays, the family seems to really pull together during Christmas. This year my brother went a little far will the whole concept and decided to pull in a fiancee. Not to rant or anything but the whole wedding thing is really harshing my mellow this winter season. Forcing cutbacks on presents and making us celebrate Christmas early. Baa Humbug. 

Totally kidding, I think Drew wins best Christmas present this year hands down. 

The family is one of God's best gifts. Our family hasn't always been the closest I'll admit. But as God has brought restoration and healing, I get more and more excited about family. 

Dear Reader, I don't know your family situation. But what I do know is that God can take the most broken situations and turn them into something beautiful. From divorce to death, from abuse to alcohol. Jesus can redeem your family. Out of the ashes of our mess, God can create beauty. We tried to fix it on our own for a long time. No one wants to be broken. But our sin is too much for us to heal, it is too heavy a load for us to carry.

This Christmas, turn your broken situation over to God. He kinda rocks at the whole family thing.

#1 My Favorite Part of Christmas is

That it isn't about us.

Every year at the Christmas church service, we usually hear the story of Christ's birth. But my favorite part of the story gets skipped every time. Matthew 1 starts with a long list of names, you know, the kind you always skip over when reading. It is Jesus' family tree. 

I challenge you to read it again. But for the slackers, I will point out some names that struck me and their...accomplishments.

Tamar- slept with her father-in-law

Rahab- prostitute

David- slept with a guy's wife, then murdered the guy and married the wife.

To me this just really speaks to the heart of God. If I was picking out a bloodline for the Son of God, you would be reading about big burly men of God and each generations Miss Israel. But thankfully, I wasn't picking.
This Christmas, some of you probably feel pretty flawed. And I will be honest so do I. I am not the ultimate man, the ultimate Christian, or the ultimate anything for that matter. My past isn't pretty, and my present isn't exactly beautiful either. I often don't feel like I am worth a whole lot, least of all the Son of God.

You may feel too broken to come to Jesus, and I have been there too. We might not make anyone's All-Christian team, and in the eyes of the world, you might be too dumb, too fat, too weak, too flawed, and too worthless to amount to much. But this story just shows how much differently God thinks than us.

God used some pretty broken people to give us a Savior. He used a family tree much like our own- full of pain, sin, and flaws. 

So this Christmas, remember that God so loved the world, that he gave (GIFTS!!) his only Son. That whoever, yea that means broken  me and you, believes in him would not perish but have eternal life.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Josh

What Are You Worth?

Lately,

this question has just been everywhere for me. I mean how can you really escape it?

Everything in this life is worth something. From gold and gas to stocks and funds, everything has a price tag associated with it. Naturally the question is,"What is on my price tag?"

Now I don't know about you, but I'll be honest. When I look at the world I see a lot of people who seem to be worth a lot more than me. Whether it's that brother over there who has more money in a week than I'll see in the next 10 years, or the friend who seems to have his relationship with Jesus way more figured out than me.

The list just keeps growing.

He's more attractive, he's wealthier, they're more passionate, they're less broken. I'm more scared, I'm less faithful, I'm less WORTHY.  Yea thoughts like that creep into my mind. Yea I find myself comparing myself to others more than I like to admit. But you know recently Jesus has been doing a remodel in the "worth room" of my heart. 

It all started when I realized...

It's okay, to not be okay. On top of that, I had to stop looking to people and society to find my worth, and look for my price tag in the Bible. That's when God laid Luke 15 on my heart. To summarize, Jesus tells three stories. In the first, a shepherd loses one of his 100 sheep. He proceeds to leave the 99 sheep, find the lost sheep, and then throw a party (worth WAY more than one sheep). In the second story, a woman loses one of her ten coins. She trashes her home, looking everywhere, finds the one coin, and throws a party (which would also cost WAY more than 1 coin). The third story is that of the Prodigal Son. You probably know it and are also catching on to the theme (a party worth WAY more than ____ ).

You see I don't think God is on the US dollar,

or any monetary system for that matter. To us it makes no sense that someone would spend time, effort, and money on something that is lost. That's when God told me "That's what you are worth to me Josh." And man I cannot wait for heaven because the way I read the bible I am expecting a party :) 

As I continued to learn about worth, I wrote a poem. It pretty much sums up everything I have learned. Me and Caleb P. recorded it, and set it to some musical magic, and yea if you want to check it out here is the link to download and listen:  What Are You Worth? 

Conclusion:

You are worth everything to God. He sent his son to save you and me. No one, and nothing can change that.

I still struggle with comparing myself to others. I still sometimes try to give myself a value I can put a number on. I need your prayers, and I think we all do. This world rips at our worth and results in some awful things: depression, anger, suicide. Let's keep our worth grounded in truth church.

Much love from a child of God,

Josh

Thankful For More Than Turkey

Turkey Jokes and other useless information!

Why did the Turkey cross the road???? Because he wasn't a chicken of course!

Americans eat roughly 535 MILLION pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving. 1 Million of which I am personally responsible for.

The first Thanksgiving was eaten with only spoons, knives and fingers! We should all try this. Less dishes, more entertainment, it's a win-win situation.

The best way to check if a cranberry is ripe is to bounce it. (Mothers everywhere will really love this one!)

On a More Serious Note.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There is family, fun, and let's not forget the food!

In my family, and I know many others, there is a tradition. After a meal consisting of everything but the kitchen sink, at a point where everyone sits completely still in fear that if they move they might explode, we all go around the table and say what we are thankful for. Every year I hear a lot of the same things, and I say a lot of the same things: Family, Friends, God's provision etc. 

Not that any of those things are bad. On the Contrary I think we should be thankful for them! 

But this year, I am thankful for something else. I realized it as I drove home from school and heard a song that said:

I'm not where I want to be, But I'm not who I used to be.

And I thought about that line the rest of the way home. You see I spend a lot of time focusing on the person I want to be today, tomorrow, and 20 years from now. And the plain and simple truth is: I'm not where I want to be. As a young christian that can be pretty discouraging. When I look at the gap between me and this ideal man of God, I'll admit, I often think "I'm never going to be that."

Then the second line of that song hit me like the post-Thanksgiving meal nap. 

But I'm not who I used to be. Wow. 

If you haven't ever done it, sit down and write a list of the things you were/did before you let Jesus in, and then, next to it, who you are now. Or if you don't want to take the time to do that, I can summarize it for you.

It is a MIRACLE.

So this year when we go around the table, I have something pretty cool to be thankful for. A miracle (Bet none of the siblings can top that!) But honestly, I am so thankful I am not who I used to be.

But more than that I am thankful that I am not where I want to be yet. Yes you read that correctly, and no I'm not crazy :)

There is something exciting about the journey, that would be lost if I just woke up one day as the ultimate giant-slaying, fear-conquering, bible-memorizing, word-preaching Man. 

To make it more tangible, think about the Pilgrims. I just don't think the story would be the same if it went like this:

Once upon a time,

a group of well-mannered protestant folk decided that they would worship God differently than the king. The king said  "Ok! That's fine by me!" They proceeded to have a giant feast because they were thankful! "We will call it THANKSGIVING!" and we wouldn't have a fantastic holiday today.

The struggles to fight through, the obstacles to overcome, the pain and death to push past. These are the things that make the end goal so meaningful.

Someday, we will look back and say, "Wow, that is beautiful!" 

But today I am thankful. Thankful that I'm not where I want to be, but I'm not who I used to be.

So as we move into Thanksgiving,

I am thankful for family, friends, church, God's provision, and all the blessings that we have. 

But most of all I'm thankful for God's miracle at the cross.

Much love,

Josh

Waiting

We wait for many things. 

We wait for our food so it can fill us , we wait for trains so they can move us, and we wait for people so that they can love us

What I have noticed about waiting is that we have a time frame for most things we wait on.

Furthermore, our culture is all about shortening the time we have to wait.

From instant mashed-potatoes, to trains that run every ten minutes, we are taught that less waiting is better and no waiting is best.

Life moves at a frenetic pace, and there is no time to just sit around and wait. We need what we need and we need it now.

As each day of my life blazes by and I get ready to go to bed, I realize that I am waiting.

Waiting on something, more filling than food, more moving that trains, and more loving than any person, to find me.

I can get along fine most days. 

Life keeps me busy enough to distract from anything other than the next task on the long list of to-do’s.

My mind thinks mostly short term. What feels good now? Where is the next tweetable moment? Could that sunset be my next Instagram?

But lying in bed, waiting to fast-forward to the next day, I find life slowing down. I begin to feel a little bit empty, a bit scared, and a lotta bit broken.

If you are anything like me, you have been hurt at some point in your life. Some have been hurt less than me, some much deeper. But at the end of the day we are all so broken.

(As I typed that last sentence I noticed the colloquialism “at the end of the day”. Maybe I’m not crazy and there is something to this lying in bed thinking thing!)

But you know I have to be careful,

lying there feeling empty, scared and broken. Because through my emptiness I first realized my need to be filled, through my fear I found refuge with the one who is in control, through seeing my brokenness I was able to find healing.

As I finally think through things at a less break-neck speed than the average day permits, I begin to relax. You see as I think deliberately and slowly, I can compare the thoughts of my desperately wicked heart to the source of truth -- God’s Word.

Each night I realize a little more that I am not empty, because I have an immeasurable God living in me.

Each night I am a little less scared, as I learn to trust to an all-powerful Creator.

Each night I focus a little less on my brokenness, and a little bit more on my loving Saviour who was broken for me.

When I wake up in the morning,

I will resume my frenetic paced life.

I will feel empty, scared and broken again.

I will face thoughts I never thought I would have, or said I would never have again.

I will fall down, I will mess up.

But at the end of the day I am waiting.

Waiting to be reminded who I am, where I am going, and to whom I belong.

Waiting for the day when this painful, messy, broken mess we call life is behind me, and my Saviour’s face is before me.

Until that day, I will keep learning to slow down, and face the reality.

The reality that God is fulfilling me, God is comforting me, and God is healing me.

Love from a broken vessel,

Josh

Hey! What is this all about???

Who are you? And What is this about?

I am a broken sinner, who is thankful to be able to say that he knows the Healer and Redeemer.
But as one of my favorite bands, the Rend Collective Experiment, puts it - "I love you Lord, But I want to love you more."
I believe that every one of us comes into our relationship with God carrying a lot of misconceptions.
It is truly a journey, to rediscover God, and his heart for us.
This blog will merely attempt to document my journey, to the purpose of encouraging my brothers and sisters striving along side me.

Why are you blogging about it?

I think a lot, and it helps me express my thoughts to write them down.
My heart in this is to let God use my thoughts, and the journey of my heart however he can.
I have some reservations about expressing my thoughts, but I am going to do away with my insecurities
because I feel like God has gifted me in this area for a reason.
This blog is not meant to be instructional, seeing as I am in no position to teach.
Instead please comment and correct freely so that I too may be edified by you!


I pray that God would use this as he sees fit, and that we, his children, would everyday try to grow closer to him.

Much Love in Christ,

Josh