'Twas the night before Christmas

I just went to a Christmas Eve service. In English. In America. With my family.

And now I'm sitting on the floor of MY room - one that I never have and never will have to pay for - feeling very thankful.

The pastor at the Christmas Eve-in-a-barn service pointed out that since the beginning of time, we have been asking, "Where is God?"

I too have asked that question. Recently, my belief in God and in Christianity has gone through some intense shaking, reforming, and renewing. Slowly, I am putting the pieces back together to form a picture that is more beautiful and more complete than the one that was there before. The past two years, I was enamored with Advent. I related to the waiting before Christmas more than to the joyful season that begins Dec. 25. This year, I spent some intentional time being centered on God. It didn't happen everyday, but it happened. And something shifted inside of me. I began to laugh again like I haven't in a long time. I LOVE laughing.

This is the message of Christmas: it answers the question "Where is God?" God is not where we expect. Jesus is born in a barn-cave., essentially a garage. Homeless people who are not allowed to worship in the synagogue are the first people to know about it. Jesus is with the farmers, the people who do dirty work with animals, the beggars, and the dirty homeless ones. God is surprising. I think I am most surprised that God is not with the academics and that Jesus isn't born to someone who has studied theology and fully comprehends what it means to be Jewish. Such is grace though. Such is grace.

May you see Jesus where you least expect it.
Merry Christmas.