Eve Candle Service

:: from the archives ::


I'm pretty sure that isn't the way that we say it in English, but it's how I said it in Japan.

Translation: Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Christmas in Japan really is Christmas Eve.  (The 25th is a normal workday.)  A typical family might order Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Christmas cake (see a photo here or here).  For the singles, it's the most romantic night of the year, and calls for a specially planned date, perhaps followed by checking into a hotel.

For Christians in Japan, Christmas Eve is the culmination of weeks of a full-throttle series of evangelistic events, since it's the easiest time of the year for nonbelievers to come to a church building or service.

For single Christians in Japan, especially single women, who live in a nation of few single Christian men and are patiently waiting for a Christian husband, this night can also be the lowest of lows, as they're "missing out" on this romantic night. 

The last three years I was in Japan, the single girls in my church and I developed a neat tradition.  We attended an early evening candlelight service at one location of our church.  Then we met at my apartment.  I provided the space, decorations (including tree), candles and background music.  A good friend provided the lasagna.  One year we did a summary of an Advent Bible study I had led.  One year we watched "The Nativity" in English.  The next year we rented it in Japanese from the video store. And then!  Then we went to an 11 PM Christmas Eve service at another location of our church.

Those were some of my best Christmases ever!  I remember coming home from the 11 PM service and thinking, "Now that was Christmas!"  I would have been content even if I hadn't had a traditional American celebration with missionary friends the next day, and even if I hadn't spent a few days later in the week with my cousin's family, enjoying our family traditions.

Praying tonight for my single sisters in Japan...

the Incarnation

or  Birth and Death ... and Blood and the Incarnation and Crucifixion


For a perspective we don't always hear of the silent night in the stable, read this post.   And then go through your hymnal, during this last week of Advent, singing hymns about the blood of Christ.

What's your favorite hymn about Christ's blood?

The 12 Thanks you notes of Emily

The other day we were in the nearest big city to us, driving to an authentic Mexican restaurant (which a random person had told me about while we were waiting outside an elevator in Atlanta last year - ?!?!), and the car radio was on.

It being the Christmas season, the music was Christmas, which one would think is rather predictable.  But it wasn't!

We both were laughing so hard, and after we parked, we kept the car running, so we could hear the end of the song.

At first we just thought it was "The 12 Days of Christmas," but after each gift was sung about, then there was a British voice reading a letter from Emily to Edward, thanking him for the partridge or the turtle doves, etc.

The first thank you started, "My dearest darling Edward," and ended, "Your deeply loving Emily," but soon degenerated into "Dear Edward, ... Love, Emily," and on to words of even less affection.

I couldn't find a recording online, but you can read the words here. 

Any other humorous songs of the season out there?

A box of kleenex

What does a box of kleenex have to do with the celebration of the Incarnation? 

This fall in the weekly women's Bible study I was in at church, for the first time since moving to the Midwest I felt like I was in a Japanese Bible study!  

There was a raw honesty ... with Scripture, with each other, and with and about ourselves.  We even had to keep a box of kleenex on the table. 

There was amazement at who God is and testimonies of how He had worked, esp. in hard times.  

It was beautiful ... and how it should be, I think. 

"The church that cries together stays together" may sound cheesy, but actually conveys quite a bit of truth.  

All because the Lord of the universe left heaven, came to earth as a helpless babe, identified with us in our human state, was reviled to the point of death on the cross for our sins ... so that we can know Him, grow in Him, and grow together in Him!

What moment from 2012 illustrates the beauty of the Incarnation to you? 

Lessons & Carols

To whet your appetite and to encourage you to find the December 24 live broadcast (or live-stream) of the Christmas Eve Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge, England, and carve out 90 minutes of that day to enjoy it, a former church music minister presents:

A Service of Nine Lessons and Carols
  
It appears he plans to post a daily selection of lessons and carols, leading up to the King's College Service. 

Sure wish I would be in a place to watch the live-stream on Dec. 24th! 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 4, #45

461.  quiet evenings sitting in a room lit by a Christmas tree that is filled with ornaments that bring back years of memories

462.  making our new traditions, including

463.  attending the Wheaton College Christmas Festival

464.  visiting the Watanabe Art Exhibit at Wheaton just before the concert

465.  visiting Sunday afternoon with Jim's uncle, one week after the surgeon said it was a miracle he is alive - Praise God!

466.  an aunt who once saw in a mirror dimly, but as of Sunday, face to face; who once knew in part; but now knows fully

467  a special week with another aunt, as she was healing from a fall while at the same time preparing for a move

468.  medical insurance, ultrasounds, and a compassionate, competent doctor

469. a new opportunity to trust God as I wait for the doctor to remove yet another unwanted growth ...

470.  time with family - the weekend of the Wheaton concert, a spur-of-the-moment "babysitting" hour midweek, and the anticipation of the upcoming holidays together

Trusting God

Going to the mission field for two years straight out of college?

Raising support?  

Flying across the ocean to wait by two bedsides in a Shock Trauma unit?

A one-week trip back to Japan two months after the 3/11 triple disaster of quake, tsunami and radiation?

Going out for dinner with a man I had met online?



Somehow God gave me grace to trust Him for all of those things. But it's the little things that trip me up.

I start feeling the symptoms of a sinus infection and can predict with great accuracy where it is heading, and I have a flight to catch in two days?  That is somehow harder than raising support.

I'm coughing and have become very close with my nebulizer, and it's Christmas, and I have cards to write, gifts to prepare and places to go and people to see?  For me, that is the type of thing that requires the hard work of faith.

Learning to trust Him in things great and small ... and wondering what are the small things that trip you up?

Christmas Reading

:: from the archives ::

How do you prepare your heart at Christmastime? How do you combat the to-do lists, busy schedule of activities, opportunities for ministry, and more? Have you found any articles helpful to read each year? How do you keep Christ in Christmas? In addition to playing my Christmas playlist nonstop, I have found the following helpful.

Noel Piper explains that Advent is a season to look back and look ahead.

USA Today explains that evangelicals are adopting Advent.

Chapter 5, "God Incarnate," in J. I. Packer's Knowing God is a chapter I try to re-read each December.

I am thoroughly enjoying Nancy Guthrie's Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus, "an anthology of Advent readings collected from the writings and sermons of 22 classic and contemporary theologians and Bible teachers."

Piper's compilation of verses that answer the question, "Why did Christ come?" makes a nice responsive reading, with the leader asking before each verse, "Why did Christ come?"

A small booklet my mom gave me years ago with daily Advent readings, and an article I printed from byFaith's website some years back round out my annual Advent reading.

Music!

While technically not a Christmas concert, on Nov. 18th we heard Brahms' "A German Requiem, To Words of the Holy Scriptures" by a local university's choir & orchestra in a nearby cathedral.

Nov. 25th we sat behind a half dozen relatives and were lifted to heaven by the Christmas concert at a local church.

December 7th we sat in a beautiful sanctuary (where we have lots of good memories) and heard a community choir sing.

December 8th was our second year to attend the Wheaton College Music Festival.  Glorious!!

December 9th was our church's Christmas concert during the morning worship service.

In the afternoon of December 9th, we listened to 13 beginning piano students peck out the traditional Christmas carols, as we waited to hear our nieces' beautiful recital pieces.

The evening of December 10th found us at the local middle school for the oldest niece's first band Christmas concert. 

72 hours of the gift of music!

Comfort Food ~ Meat Skillet with noodles

This comfort food consistently receives rave reviews, even though I have no recipe.

Brown ground meat (beef is best, but turkey works just as well) with chopped onions and minced garlic.  Drain fat.

Add a can of petite diced tomatoes, frozen or fresh vegetables (diced celery, carrots, or green peppers work well), tomato sauce, water, and some noodles. 

Serve when noodles are ready. 

This never lasts long!  I like it because I can make it with almost any quantity of any of the ingredients. There's no exact science, but lots of flavor (thanks to the meat). 

Angel Tree

Do you know about Angel Tree?  I was surprised that my hairdresser had never heard of Angel Tree.

From their website:

No child deserves to feel forgotten and alone. When you partner with Angel Tree, you help prisoners’ children know they’re not forgotten, you help share the Gospel with lonely families, and you serve as an example of Christ’s love to the parents behind bars.

How it works:

Our church had a couple tables covered with yellow angels.  We selected one.  The top section peels off and becomes the gift tag.  It is pre-printed with:

"This gift is sent to you to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. -Luke 2.8-14"

and then ours was signed:

"Enjoy the gift! Love, Dad"

The bottom section tears off and it tells us the name and gender of the recipient (we chose a 14-year old boy), his size and interests and what type of gift his dad would like to give him.

Then, we went shopping to buy this teenager a Christmas gift from his dad, who is incarcerated.  My eyes tear up each time I think of our little angel-shaped gift tag. 


How God provided for our gift:

We picked up our yellow angel gift tag on Sunday, November 18th, and were to return our gift by Sunday, December 2nd.

Thanksgiving week was not a good week for shopping.  When Jim and I went on a quick Saturday evening shopping trip Nov. 24th, I found a t-shirt that met his dad's wishes.  It was half-off, so I still had a lot of the $25 suggested budget left to spend.  But the requested gift was quite unique and hard to find in Wal-mart.

Looking online after we returned home, I found some suitable gifts, but it was confusing, and there were shipping costs.

Monday morning I looked online again, found two items that were perfect (and on a Cyber Monday sale), and we debated spending an extra $10 (over budget) to expedite the shipping, but decided against it, taking a risk that it would arrive by Sunday.

Wednesday, FedEx brought the final two gifts to our post office, and Thursday morning when I picked up our mail, I signed for them.

And now we pray for a 14 yr old boy (who will open up three gifts from his dad on Christmas and who will never know our names) ~ that He will know the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Comfort Food ~ Roast Chicken & Potatoes

This comfort food is a favorite in our home and has the maximum yield (of taste and expressions of thanks) for minimum effort (and cost - 97c/pound whole chicken and recently 97c/5pounds of potatoes!).

Take a whole chicken out of its wrapper.  Rinse and put either in a slow cooker or roasting pan. 

Peel and quarter some potatoes. 

No oil. No salt. No pepper.  That's how we like it best, though you'd probably like to add all three. :)