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IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE EVE!!! Or what, sometimes in my house, has become known as 'Christmas Adam'... don't try and work it out, it really doesn't make sense even in a child's logic! But anyway, YEAH, CHRISTMAS EVE IS TOMORROW!!!!! :-D
Today has been quite boring, as it was my last real chance to get a solid amount of work done before my grandparents arrive tomorrow and then it's fun and festivities all the way to the end of Sunday! But now, sat watching Jackie Chan (I love Jackie Chan!) and writing this, I'm feeling a little of the excitement begin! Also a little bit of the panic, as I realise I still need to move the bedding out of my room and tidy up so my grandparents can sleep in there tomorrow night, set up somewhere I can sleep, wrap my presents, finish planning my sermon for Sunday, make a banoffee pie (Mmmm!) and probably loads of other things that are currently slipping my mind; not to mention all the Uni work that still needs to be done at some point before next term...! But you know what, thank goodness, none of that is what Christmas is about! Thank goodness that there is more to life than all the busywork and all the little things I need to do day-to-day. And thank goodness that if there is any time to put that realisation at the forefront of my mind, it is Christmas, when Jesus, so small and delicate came to earth as a baby - a baby who had no cares in the world - to live a life that would prove there is more to life than this! I'm preaching the Sunday after Christmas, so I've started planning for that service - looking at readings, thinking about the message I want to bring to people; the message God wants me to give. And it's very strange! Trying to think from the perspective of 2 days after Christmas, and yet still waiting for the day to finally be here! It reminds me of the paradox of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom that came to us with Jesus - the Kingdom that is here on earth and being built every time God's love is acted out and cherished in the hearts of his people. And the Kingdom that is still to come - the Kingdom that very much isn't present every time hatred is acted out and unforgiveness is held on to in the hearts of individuals. And it's the same with Christmas - we're waiting for it now in Advent and yet we know it has already happened. We wait hopeful and expectant for God to come into the world - but we know he is already here with us.
So with renewed vigour, and only 3 days left to go, let's hope and expect and pray that God will come into our world. That he will mend the broken hearts and strengthen the weak; that he may be the hope in the despair, the joy in the sadness and the love in the hatred. That his Kingdom will come - on earth as it is in heaven. For the past couple of days I've been staying at my friend's house, with some of our other friends too, and today I came back home. And it made me think that friendship groups are very strange things! A gelling (or sometimes mashing!) of several very different people - everyone strange in their own individual way (and some stranger than others!!!). And yet you all come together and everything just works! Everyone is yet so different, but enjoys that same thing that brought you all together as friends in the first place; being with each other. And it doesn't matter if you're doing something new and exciting (like paintballing), or just chatting, or chilling out, watching a film, playing games, or simply cooking dinner.
Because that's what relationships are. And that's what a relationship with God is too. It doesn't matter what we do, and we're so different that we could never even begin to understand him, and yet we both enjoy being with each other. So often, different groups of Christians, and even people of different religions and faiths, get so hung up on what we should do when we're with God and how we should bring ourselves before him - and yet it doesn't actually matter. We could be literally be doing anything because God is always with us. That's what happened at Christmas; God came to be with us, in everything we do. So let's just enjoy being with him; our dearest and closest friend. IT WAS SOOO GOOD!!!!!
I had so much fun today - running around, shooting paint, wading through rivers, climbing over branches and up banks (and falling over branches and down banks!). I got quite wet and muddy, and now have quite a few paintball-sized bruises covering my thighs, one on the back of my shoulder and one on the back of my hand! Oh and one bruise from falling down a muddy bank on to a protruding tree root on my shin! Hahaha! I wouldn't say it was the sort of fun that I'm in a particular hurry to do again, but remembering the excitement and exhilaration from the day are making me quite content - as is sitting down on a comfy sofa, all clean and dry while my muscles simply do nothing! Well. I'm not sure what to say about advent here... I'm now so tired, I just want to rest and then sleep! But just as Mary did, this can be added to the memories I can "treasure in my heart". Perhaps not so deep, or meaningful, but the general and exciting moments of life - the moments we spend with the people we love; the moments we get out of the normal routine and really enjoy life; the moments we try something new, leave any fears behind, and we REALLY ENJOY it! |
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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