It feels funny to realize how close Christmas is. I've spent most of today working on the end of the year service for church, so I am know thinking past Christmas. That being said, I still have wrapping to do, but I have finished the shopping. Last night I snuck into Wal-Mart late and finished up some last minute buys including the stocking stuffers. It was nice to not be mobbed in the store. The secret is to go after 10pm. So now I need to wrap Sarah's gifts and finish up all the last minute stuff for the end of the year. I am excited for the Christmas Eve service. Should be a nice night as we celebrate the coming of the Light. Then I am looking forward to the end-of-the-year service on the 27th as we look back over the last year and see how God has worked and what He has done. Then the following week we will start looking ahead to 2010 and see what God has before us in this new year. It is great to be on this journey with such a great church family and work together as a team, not just a bunch of individuals. Off to supper with the Churchill's tonight. I am so thankful for the friendship, fellowship, and support as we work together and share one another's lives.

There's a question that seems like it belongs on a holiday blog. Should you spend or save? I'm not talking about money, although that is the way we normally think about it. I was just thinking about the philosophy behind these two ideas. Do I go for the satisfaction now, or later. Delayed gratification is a tough concept and a tough sell. We want to be happy now with the things that make us happy now. BUT God promises delayed gratification. The trick is, like an investment, if you invest wisely you get more back than you put in. Spend your money now and you have spent it. Invest, and later you have even more than you started with. Life in Christ is like that but a lot of people don't get that. They want it all now, and do not think about what they will have later, which often times is nothing. I often times see people who think I am missing out by embracing the struggles, boundaries, and challenges of the Christian life. They think that I am a fool and that they are happier their way. Sometimes they are right. At this moment, they may have more happiness than I sometimes have, but I have the security of joy, that I am saving up an inheritance. I will have so much to look forward to! I can't wait. Some of them, I shudder to think of what their "retirement" from earth will look like. Invest in joy today. Jesus embraced the cross, although it was awful, "for the joy set before Him." Don't waste your life by spending everything now. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. (2 Timothy 1:12)

I'm writing this Friday night to post Saturday. We are heading out to get our Christmas tree on Saturday. This will be the first year for our youngest to come with us. We have learned that it is better to wait until they are over two years old so that they can handle the trip. We will go out and cut our tree and bring it home. It is a small tradition, but important to us. The importance is that we do it together. Sarah and I are really seeking to build memories for our kids. We want many of those memories to center around doing things together as a family. Evening dinners together, sitting and reading together, going on short or long trips together. And going to get a tree. The kids help us pick out a good one and help (as much as small children can) to cut it down and bring it out. It is a great time for us to bond together and have a shared sense of accomplishment and purpose. Christmas is a great time to set some family traditions, although there should be regular and year round examples of family together times that build special memories. Especially if you have young children in your life, this is important, but it does not fade in importance as you deal with teens and even young adults. The anchors of family closeness (not merely together in the same house but a mutual sharing and intimacy) and tradition are bedrocks that will help kids and young people whether the winds of the world. I'm looking forward to a day with my family and time this coming week when I can focus only on them. Make sure you do the same.

Yesterday I blogged about the poor choices we make as we pursue what we want, resulting in consequences we don't want. I used Tiger Woods as an example. Tiger's story is so sad because here was a man who was admired by the world for having it all and the world was sure that that meant he had it all together. Now that it has all slipped and things are a mess, the world can't figure it out and piles on the poor guy. I wish I knew him and could go talk to him and share with him what Christ can bring to a life. The world's formula again reveals itself as bankrupt. Satan has great offers, but his bag of "goodies" is empty. Check out this quote from an editorial on Golf.com

the Tiger affair has changed our concept of happiness itself, recalling every tired but true aphorism along the "Money can't buy happiness" spectrum, starting with, "He who gets everything he wants will soon want nothing he has." Tiger had millions in the bank, a Swedish-bikini-team wife, a couple of cute kids (2-year-old Sam, 10-month-old Charlie), the adulation of millions, a labradoodle (Yogi) and a border collie (Taz), vacation homes, a yacht — and still it was not enough. He was, it seems, a lost, lonely man, searching for happiness in all the wrong places. -Golf.com article

Now an observation from the prophet Jeremiah.

"The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? "I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds. "As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly; In the midst of his days it will forsake him, And in the end he will be a fool." (Jeremiah 17:9-11)

The ultimate tragedy for Woods will be if his wife does leave him and he later returns to golf, girls, and glory as a way to again pursue happiness. It's still a hollow pursuit.

Now there's a phrase I hear plenty of with three young children. The number one situation where it arises is when they have been given a choice or deadline, not chosen well, lost an opportunity to do something, and then wail, "But I want to!" Case in point, the other night we were nearing the end of the meal and one of the kids had ceased eating and was fooling around. Several requests were made to return to eating and cease the "non-eating" behavior. The child was warned that if they didn't immediately return to the task at hand and finish what was on their plate, that they ran the risk of losing it. No change in behavior. So finally, I reached over and took the plate away. Then we had a fit on our hands. "But I want to eat!!!" My response was, if the child wanted to eat so much, why hadn't they when they had the chance? So, most parents have been there before. We're there quite often because we try to help our children make wise choices and understand consequences. This behavior is not limited to kids of course. Adults make poor choices, doing what they want and then are upset if they experience negative consequences. We've seen a couple of unfortunate examples of this in the last week or so. Tiger Woods. He wanted to and he did. Looks like he did it quite a bit. What he did is celebrated and simulated in many of our movies and television shows. I'm guessing that he also wanted to stay popular and respected. He may very well have also wanted to stay married and close to his children. He made some very poor choices and now that the plate is being taken away, he is sad. But choices have consequences. Chris Henry. The wide receiver for the Bengals died early this morning after an accident yesterday. He fell out of the back of a pickup truck. Details are still coming out but police describe it as a domestic dispute. Henry jumped into the bed of the truck as his fiancée pulled away. Fellow Bengal Ochocinco made the following tearful statement;

"He was doing everything right. He's been doing eveything right. "My grandma always says you never really question the man upstairs on decisions he makes because he never makes mistakes, but ... (holding back tears) I don't see how Chris was supposed to go already. Especially when you're on the right path."

I in NO way want to lessen the tragedy of this young man's death, but let's just realize that Mr. Henry died due to a very poor choice. I don't know all the details, and others may have made some poor choices as well that contributed, but let's face it; If you don't jump into the bed of a moving truck you don't fall out of it onto the road. I don't think it always has to do with whether "you're supposed to go." Tiger wasn't "supposed" to fall from grace and respect, Henry wasn't "supposed" to die falling onto the street. But both men chose paths that led directly to that result. Cain was warned by God that anger was about to destroy him. Yet Cain did what he wanted, killed his brother and later mourned that he was an outcast as a result. I pray for Tiger and for the family of Chris Henry. I feel bad for their plight. We have all been given opportunities and instructions by God. We have been warned that there are consequences for ignoring what He has asked us to do. There are many things we want to do, let's make sure we don't just do whatever we want, but that we do what is right and listen to God's requests and warnings. You don't want to get your plate taken away.