Quote from Forum Archives on December 1, 2005, 4:26 pm

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

 

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The Hope Chest Home School News

with Virginia Knowles

December 1, 2005

A Simplified Christmas

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Dear Hope Chest friends,

 

I'd like to keep this Hope Chest issue very simple -- just like I am trying to keep this whole month simple!   Please free free to forward it along to your friends and family.  Most of all, be blessed!  

 

Virginia Knowles

www.TheHopeChest.net

 

In this issue you will find:

• A Simplified Christmas
• A Bittersweet Advent
• The Paradox
• The Shepherd's Tale

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A SIMPLIFIED CHRISTMAS

by Virginia Knowles

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 In the interest of making the most of the Christmas season, let's focus on the essentials and not get frazzled running around too much.   Speaking as a busy mama of 10, I know how easy it is to lose joy and peace in the very season that it is supposed to be abundant!   But here's a simple fact:  You don't have to fill your calendar or empty your wallet to have a truly merry Christmas! 

 

Let's try a simple assignment.  Label three pieces of paper with the following headings:

• How we can worship God in gratitude for the gift of Jesus....
• How we can spend special, relationship-building, memory-making time with our loved ones...
• How we can minister to the poor, the lonely and the lost out of the abundance God has given us...

Sit down with your family and brainstorm to fill these pages.  (Listen to the dinky dudes and the hubbies, too!)  Write down all of your great ideas -- whether they are old traditions or something totally new.   Then carefully prioritize and choose what you really want to do in each area.   Plan your month accordingly.   Of course, you'll schedule in selected activities others have invited you to do -- but it will be because you want to do it and it fits in with your family's goals.  Keep it simple!   (And don't forget that you still  have to do the laundry, dishes and other menial stuff, just like January through November!)

 

Do try to be very purposeful in what give as presents.    A huge pile of fancy gifts does not make for a contented child or a tidy house.   Go for quality and creativity.   Since Jesus is the Reason for the Season, I always like to find at least one gift to encourage them in their faith -- whether it is a book, a CD, a video or a piece of art.  

 

Oh, and please don't forget to just sit quietly once in a while, focus your heart, and say, "Thank you, Jesus!  I love you, too!" 

 

 

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A BITTERSWEET ADVENT

by Virginia Knowles

from 2002

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[Virginia's note: This was written in December 2002 -- and still as applicable as ever!  As many of you know, my mother-in-law passed away the following September,  full of Jesus.]

 

It’s Christmastime, and life is supposed to be jolly!  But it’s not, at least not always.  For many of us, this Advent season brings a strong sense of the bittersweet aspects of real life. 

 

Several weeks ago, as I was speaking to a home school group, I commented my family is “swimming in stress soup” right now,  with unemployment,  an exhausting pregnancy, and all the other niggling challenges of life in a large home schooling family.  Little did I know what was to come!  My wonderful mother-in-law, who has been quite ill this past month, was diagnosed with a second case of cancer, this time inoperable.  My dear husband Thad has been taking care of her and tending to her business matters almost full-time since she has been sick, which actually makes me thankful for this period of “unemployment.”  As we await more test results, and then see her through chemotherapy and radiation, the future remains uncertain.

 

I know that we aren’t the only ones in the midst of trials.  I hear from so many of you who are facing illness or death, either for yourself or in your  families.  Some of you sorely miss loved ones who have passed away, or are just far away in other cities.  Some of you have spouses who are being deployed to the Middle East or other far-flung locations for our national defense.  (And God bless you for it!)  Some of you have simmering and even boiling conflicts with family or friends, which alienate you during this season of supposed “peace on earth, goodwill to men.”  Some of you are on what could charitably be called a “tight budget,” and like us, are doing your Christmas shopping at the dollar store and the clearance bins.  And some of you are just plain tired from running all over town searching for just the right gifts, or chauffeuring children to endless holiday events that require hours of preparation and fancy clothes that will only be worn once. 

 

Yes, the Advent season can be bittersweet, even in the middle of jolly parties, holiday baking, tree trimming and gift wrapping.

 

May I offer a few observations and encouragement?

 

The manger was not filled with tinsel, and I don’t think there were any candy canes or mistletoe hung overhead either!  That first Christmas, joyous as it was, spangled with the Star of Bethlehem, heralded by an angelic chorus -- was still bittersweet.  Imagine being God the Son, leaving the glory of Heaven, and being plopped into a scratchy, smelly barn to be raised by lowly humans, and later, mocked and crucified by those you came to save.  That’s a real life Christmas.  Life on earth was no vacation for our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He came to serve, not be served.  Likewise, we should be about our Father’s business, not just expecting everything to be automatically perfect just because it is December.   As we face the challenges, we should have a multi-faceted approach. 

 

First, we trust that God has allowed each circumstance to enter our lives for our enrichment in the faith.  If we have confidence in the sovereign grace of God, who controls all things, we can not only survive the trials, but learn and grow through them.  At least they will cause us to learn harder on our gracious Lord, who wants us to depend on Him and not ourselves anyway.

 

Second, we look for practical ways to minimize the extra stress by dealing with the realities of life.  For example, we can reduce our expectations of what Christmas needs to be.  Much of our overload is caused because we are trying to create unrealistic images or experiences for our children.  This causes us to overspend and overschedule, just cramming it all in.  Slow down!   Spend less!   Learn to savor the relationships you have with family and friends -- you never know when this will be the last Christmas you will see or talk to a loved one!  If those relationships are ailing, we must seek to repair and restore them, rather than shoving the problems under the carpet.  Preferably this could be done right now, so you aren’t trying to hastily patch things up over the sweet potato casserole at the Christmas dinner table. 

 

Third, we should find little ways to follow Jesus’ example of serving.   If you are not personally going through trials right now, I can assure you that someone you know is suffering, perhaps in silence.   Please be sensitive to this, so that you won’t blithely blunder through the holidays!  Find a way to extend the healing grace of God.  For some, this will be as simple as writing a sweet note to a discouraged friend  or a check to a charitable organization.  Other families might be involved in some sort of service project -- caroling at the nursing home, serving food at the homeless shelter, or delivering gifts to a needy family.  It takes our minds off our own troubles when we help those who may be even less fortunate than we are.  It can remove the root of selfishness that clamors for our own needs to be met, and instead plant the seeds of compassion. 

 

Above all, let us seek to glorify the One whom we celebrate in this Advent season, bittersweet as it may be.

 

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SHEPHERD'S TALE

by Virginia Knowles

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Shepherd’s Tale

by Virginia Knowles from Luke 2:8-20

 

A prayer I make to stay awake,

To watch the sheep safe in my keep,

When I should see, in front of me,

An angel bright in darkest night.

“Be not afraid!” the angel bade.

“Good news of joy!  A baby boy

Is born today, on bed of hay.

The Savior mild, the Lord’s a child!”

Now in the sky the angels fly,

And gladly sing of newborn King.

“Give God high praise, hosannas raise,

And peace on earth through Jesus’ birth!”

All shepherds know that they should go,

To follow them to Bethlehem.

Where baby rests is not the best,

A scratchy stall holds Lord of All.

But God above sends Gift of Love.

Forgiving sin, he lives within.

Now spread the word, till all have heard

Amazing story, to God be glory!

 

 

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THE PARADOX

by Virginia Knowles

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The Paradox

by Virginia Knowles

 

Come, see where He lays,

Good Shepherd and Little Lamb

King of Kings and Servant of All

Prophet and Prophecy Fulfilled

Physician and Wounded One

High Priest and Atoning Sacrifice

Counselor and Rejected One

Builder and Foundation Stone

Righteous Judge and Condemned Prisoner

Ancient of Days and Newly-born Babe

God and Man

 

Jesus is a paradox, a seeming contradiction in terms.  Who is he?  What is his nature?  And why did he come?  If you have ever wondered how to understand or explain the mystery of Jesus, I invite you to look up the following passages, which correspond line by line to the facets expressed in the poem, The Paradox.

 

• John 10: 11 / John 1:29
• Revelation 19:16 /  Mark 10:43-45, Philippians 2:7
• Luke 7:16 / Matthew 1:22, Luke 4:16-21 (Isaiah 61:1-3)
• Matthew 15:29-31 / Isaiah 53:4-6
• Hebrews 7:23-28 / Hebrews 9:11-14, 10:19-22
• Isaiah 9:6 / Isaiah 53:3, John 10:22-33
• Hebrews 3:3, Matthew 16:18 /  1 Peter 2:4-9
• John 8:1-11, Acts 10:42-43, Acts 17:30-31 / Mark 14:60-65
• Daniel 7:13-14 / Luke 2:8-20
• John 1:1-5, Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:19-20 / 1 Timothy 2:5, Romans 1:1-4

 

Blessings,

Virginia Knowles

 

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