WORDS COME TO MIND:
GASP!!! GULP!!! SWALLOW!! WHAT A RELIEF!!
When I was a kid there was a commercial that had the tag line: “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, Oh what a relief it is!” For the uninitiated, that was the Alka Seltzer commercial with Speedy. I suspect there are many of you who have welcomed some relief this time of the year. In fact, you relish the time between Christmas and New Year’s, if for no other reason than to get your second wind. You poke the air out of your belly for a bit of relief, so you can be ready for the typical New Year’s Eve and Day gorging festivities. 🙂 The Grandi clan had a double overdose: food and family. Our humble abode housed a Queen bed (ours); a single bed (extra room); and 3 blow up mattresses (one in the Bowflex room, one in the living room, and one in my ManCave) for a total of 7 people. Sunday 3 of them left. Today Tami leaves. Tomorrow Jo takes her sister home (but Jo is returning).
OUR TIME TOGETHER WAS FULL BUT FUN.
Jo’s sister has been visiting with us for two weeks. Tami came in early Friday afternoon. Janna, Jason and Braden came in late Friday night.
The church I pastor had a Christmas Eve meal for the community and delivered meals to shut ins. (Total of 90)
Sunday morning I broke my study routine to deliver meals to personnel at 3 different gas stations who had to work Christmas Day (total of 8). Someone else took meals to EMT and police.
We broke tradition by opening gifts Christmas Eve because the 3 had to head back to Ohio in the afternoon.
I rode Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (yes Christmas Eve day) and found out that I was 12 miles short of riding 100 for the week (been a couple of months since I saw that number) when I entered my mileage into Daily Mile. (Update: I rode 21 miles on Christmas Day after the kids left-and while others took naps- to top 100). 😀
Oh yeah, I also studied and then preached Sunday morning. 😉
In all that “mess” I also finished Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. Almost 600 pages that started slowly but caught me and I was hooked. What a great read! I would definitely recommend it for 2012. Bonhoeffer spent Christmas at Tegel prison in 1943. He wrote the following in a paper distributed to all prisoners:
O God,
Early in the morning do I cry unto thee.
Help me to pray,
And to think only of thee.
I cannot pray alone.
In me there is darkness,
But with thee there is light.
I am lonely, but thou leavest me not.
I am feeble in heart, but thou leavest me not.
I am restless, but with thee there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with thee there is patience;
Thy ways are past understanding, but
Thou knowest the way for me.
Have to admit I had a little trouble with the King James. 🙂 But what a powerful prayer! It is also one that fits us today. Take some time today (or this week) to work your way slowly through it. Do you have any “quick” thoughts about it? What was your Christmas like? What did you do to get your second wind?
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