Thursday, December 08, 2011

The Good and the Ugly

Is  there anything more fun and more maddening than Christmas shopping?  O, for a magic wand to just wave and have it all complete.

In her book 1,000 Gifts, Ann Voscamp suggests that we give God gratitude not only for the good, but also for the ugly--that is, things that make us stop and realize how blessed we and have been.

There are so many good and ugly things happening at Highland these days--sicknesses and death; baptisms and disappointments; beautiful decorations and sad people.  Good news and bad news.

Thank you God for Jimmie Gomez and her life encouraging others.  Thank you for the apparent good news about Liam.  Thank you for the life of Judy Fisher and the beautiful eulogy at her funeral J. New gave.  She is why we have women in the ministry.  Thank you for the promise of a life after this one--it is such a comfort to know we can mess up here and still go to be with You.  Thank you for those good
thoughts that pour out of people as they drop off food for the Food Bank and feed 8,000 people a holiday meal (Thanks HEB).  Forgive  us for forgetting some of the people we serve now  when the holidays are over.  Thank you for the wonder and excitement in the eyes of children as they pour over Christmas catalogs and search the internet for gifts.  Forgive the old curmudgeons who scrooge their way through Christmas--they don't know what they are missing.  Actually they are missing the whole point.  Bless those who are sad these days for various reasons.  Help us to not overwhelm them with our joy.

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