Underwear and Sandwhiches

Merry Christams Eve !

I hope that Merry is a perfect word to describe your Christmas... lets be honest - the holidays are a tough times for a lot of us. We spend a lot of time thinking about the things and the people that are no longer in our lives. Maybe they passed away, maybe they are in the army, maybe its our first christmas without them... maybe its our twentieth and it isn't any easier. Or maybe we got a diagnosis that wasnt what we were hoping for, or maybe we are still waiting for the results... The holidays represent a season of family for most of us - we travel for hours and over seas to be with the people we consider our family. Our memories are consumed with our dads jokes or our moms gentle spirit. We look back and remember it being perfect when those certain people were still around...

Tonight at church our pastor's wife read a story about a little girl who was longing for the sense of hope to be renewed in her community. The cold and foggy atmosphere was becoming too much for her... she had to take matters into her own hands. Something needed to happen and she was determined to see that it did.

She was sick and tired of life being bland. She was hungry for some spice - some hope. She knew there had to be more to life than materialistic necessities... There had to be more to life than underwear and sandwhiches. She was convinced that there was something they were all missing out on... something big that would spice everything up, given the chance.

Mark my words, there is more to life than underwear and sandwiches. You can experience the fullness of God amidst adversity. In fact, hope stands firm when it seems that all else has fallen.

Jesus himself says this : "You will face difficult times. You will experience hardship because you live in a fallen world. You will have troubles. The road is not smoothe. You will fall and bleed and cry. Your heart will get broken. but...

take heart. I have overcome it all."

We have been redeemed - we have been restored. No matter our losses, no matter the schemes and plots of satan... Jesus has the final word. He came to show us his redeeming love, so that we would encounter Him and hold tight to the hope that he has given us.

Where ever you find yourself this Christmas season, remember that Jesus was born so that You would know his outrageous, unconditional, furious, overpowering love he has for you. He is gentle, and strong - He makes up for what is lost, and he understands where your heart is.

When you expereince his abundance amidst adversity, you wont be able to contain your joy. Your cup will overflow, and your peace will surpass all understanding.

May your Christmas be Merry, May you see the joy through the fog, and May you know that there is more to life than underwear and sandwiches.