It was a great year...

...thanks for being a part of it.

Yes, it seems everyone on Facebook is sharing about their 2014, mainly because Facebook has written code that compiles pictures and makes it really easy. In some cases, it has even caused some unintended heartache. But it's definitely the thing to do.

Well, while I'm not going to click the button for one of those automatic slideshows, there is some value in looking back over the last year. Life is short, and what happens to each of us in a given year has incredible significance. Sometimes good, sometimes bad...but definitely loaded with significance. So, as we come to the end of this year, what stands out about 2014 for me?

There were definitely events and activities that I will remember, both fondly and otherwise. Trips to other parts of the world, exciting sports events, a few days skiing, and a short trip to my favorite big city in the USA. Those were awesome, and they are are the kind of things we usually use to "bookmark" years. ("2014 - It was the year that I.......")

But there are four things about 2014 that make it a remarkable year for me. Two of them are events, and the other two were more of a pattern:

• The graduation of my niece Brooke from nursing school at the University of Alabama. As watched her walk across the floor of Coleman Coliseum, I was so proud of her. It may be the moment from 2014 that stands out.
• The engagement of another niece Macy, and watching her go through the preparations for the wedding. In a way it's hard to realize that these young adults whom I've loved for about 25 years are moving so fast into the world of work, marriage, and building of their own families. But any melancholy is overshadowed by happiness for them. Macy's wedding will certainly be on this list for 2015.

Now, the more subtle:

• I have had such a good year of learning and growing in my knowledge of God and his purposes for the world. I read several outstanding books that expanded my view of salvation, the nature of the universe, and just how big and awesome God is. There has been a growing appreciation in the areas of the work of creation, God's ultimate plan for his kingdom, and my role in it. I am not looking up at the night sky the way I did a year ago. Books, videos, and long talks with friends have opened my eyes to a new sense of wonder.
• And I have had a wonderful year of experiencing the sense of community that God has blessed us with. Regular time with family and close friends, visits to close friends who don't live so close, and developing deep friendships while serving in Ethiopia - I can't even put into words how much these things mean in my life. It's like they are sacraments - means of grace where God speaks to me and draws me closer to himself. I don't mean to put this on a level with the Eucharist. But it does seem to have a similar effect. Every time I get to bask in the glow of people who I know love me with the love of Christ, I am renewed. Even when I go through the struggles of life alongside others - helping and being helped, praying and being prayed for - I am renewed. There is no doubt, I have been blessed with a lot of renewal this year. Thankful.

Yes, to quote the Facebook phrase, it was a great year. One great year - just one. May God grant that I will sense his purpose in 2015, as I did this year.

Happy New Year!

Here we go...the playoffs

So college football has a playoff. Not a single championship game, but an actual playoff structure. In the words of Coach Jim Mora...



Yes, playoffs.

So here we go. Let's do this, Bama. Two more games on the Road to 16.



Roll Tide!

Afterwards...

Peaks and valleys. The euphoria of a long-anticipated event, and the crash. I know there's a biochemical aspect to it, part of how God has made us. Knowing helps. But it still kinda stinks. I call it a "camp" adrenaline rush.

So many times it happens. From my teen days, youth camps where I felt so close to God, and then the emotional crash when coming back to the real world. Young Life camp, where I would get really close to a bunch of people, and then it was over. Working on plays, where I was with a cast every single day for two months - and then the last curtain dropped. Mission trips - it's hard to describe the empty feeling in my gut when I part ways with friends I have been with 24/7 for a week or more.

And Christmas.

We do so much to build up to this extravagant holiday. A lot of it is hype, alot of it is ridiculous commercialization - no question about that. But that's not the part that gets me. There is something about traditions with family and friends, as well as the church rituals, that work together to produce the "camp adrenaline rush" in me. And so then there's the crash. I went to a movie yesterday after we finished our family Christmas dinner, and that postponed it. But there it was last night, just like most every Christmas, trip, and big event. Just a mild case of the blahs: Ughhh, it's all over. And here I sit.

And that's another reason I am thankful for Jesus. He came to give us joy and peace - joy and peace that's deeper than the fluctuations of our emotions. When I'm in my sweet spot, serving with friends in Ethiopia or gathered with my family around the Christmas tree, he provides joy deeper than the rush. And when I'm sitting at home after it's all over, wondering why I can't shake a blah feeling, he provides joy stronger than the crash.

He entered history 2,000 years ago, and showed us how to live through the ups and downs. He has been through everything we have, and is there to stand with us. Whether it's some temporary case of the blahs, or dealing with real hurt and sorrow - as I know some of you are - he's there. And he understands.

Hallelujah, what a Savior! So Donnie,

Rejoice! rejoice!
Emmanuel
Has come to thee, O Israel.

Candlelight 2014

Christmas Eve candlelight services have become very popular, and for good reason. On Christmas, those of us who follow Jesus actively look for ways we can worship. I think most of us, regardless of how close we feel to God on a daily basis, want to take some time for worship. In the midst of the bustle of Christmas, we want to remember the holy birth. And lighting candles in a dark auditorium to a song like Silent Night has a reverent tone that moves us.

So tonight there I was, singing in the choir at our church's service. It was awesome. As we sang about coming to worship the king (O Come All Ye Faithful) and what God was doing that night (Silent Night, O Holy Night), it was easy to overflow with thankfulness and love.

And then, the message took on a deeper meaning. For some reason, as the gospel story of Jesus' birth was being read (Luke 2:1-20), I looked around the sanctuary. There were well over 1500 faces looking up at me in the choir loft, and they all looked so similar. They were listening, nodding, smiling at times, and all seemed to be glad they were where they were. But I realized they were not similar. Every face was a unique individual, with their own story, with their own reason why the gospel resonates with them.

With that many people there, I know that almost any life situation you could imagine (at least in our American culture) was represented, although we all hide them very well. I looked around and imagined...

• That one has cancer, and he's scared to death.
• This one in front just lost his job, and doesn't know how he will support his family.
• Over there...she just wants someone to listen to her but nobody pays any attention.
• See him? He just went through a divorce, and it's killing him.
• This one is going to the hospital after the service to see her husband.
• The one to the right has children who won't speak to him anymore.
• That one thinks he has everything he needs, but his life is empty.

On and on and on and on...1500 people, and all of us are broken in some way. You don't even want to get me started on my brokenness. Are we just whistling in the dark? Are we going to church, pretending that everyone is alright, when we are dying inside?

Well, the fact that we are not identical, that we are all broken in our own ways, is why the good news of Christmas is so powerful. The Creator of the universe knows everything about our world, about the broken societies we've built, and the struggles of each one of us. But instead of holding his nose and walking away, he decided to mix it up with us. To come down into the middle of it, suffer through the mess of being human, and bring us healing by his own suffering.

 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11, ESV)

And so we gather. And light candles. And sing. Not just to God, but to each other. To remind ourselves that while we are broken, God loved us anyway. So much that the Son entered time and space to live among us, serve us, suffer, die, and rise from the dead.

It's not surface. It's as deep as it gets. Have you experienced this healing, the healing that God sent us at Christmas? That's my prayer for you...and for me. Have a blessed Christmas!