The Gifts of Christmas

A Christmas candle is a lovely thing; it makes no noise at all,
But softly gives itself away; while quite unselfish, it grows small.

- Eva K. Logue

Some people downplay giving gifts at Christmas, as if it were an "unspiritual" enterprise.  Others seem to relish gift giving (and receiving!) with inordinate gusto.  I wonder if, when gifts are given and received rightly, they aren't a shadow, an aftershock, of God's greatest gift of all to us: Himself, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

Recently, we have been overwhelmed by gifts.  Here are just a few that made an impact:

• A friend took some pictures (see right) of the house we'll be living in when in Kabala. He was thoughtful enough to anticipate the anxiety of my children so he made sure he included some pictures of the school and some potential playmates for Maria, Jacob and Naomi.
• At 11 PM Christmas Eve, I phoned my dad because of a sewer problem in my basement.  He listened, helped insofar as he was able, and was simply 'there'.  That, in itself, was a gift. 
• Then, on Christmas Day, after my Mickey Mouse repair job the night before (which I was, strangely, quite proud about), after church, my neighbour dropped what he was doing to help fix our clogged sewer.
• We hope to go skiing with our kids in the next few days. We don't own much of our own equipment but our friends have lent us everything we need, except for pontoon-sized boots for my size 13 feet.
• An unexpected gift from Air Canada: Due to my own misunderstanding of humanitarian flight rules and despite my travel agent's warnings that Air Canada would never budge from their policy, they actually gave special dispensation and waived their flight-change fees so we don't have to pay extra to stop over in Vancouver to spend time with family. 
• Staff from our denomination, both in North America and on the ground in Sierra Leone, have been consistently working behind the scenes 'preparing a place' for us.
• We have been overwhelmed by the financial gifts received by CRWM for our time in Sierra Leone.  Terrace CRC has been generous.  Other BC CRCs have been generous.  Significant gifts have been received from private and corporate donors.  Friends and family have proven consistently supportive.  Strangers have pledged money and prayer.  As recently as yesterday, we received a financial gift that warmed our hearts.  But maybe the gift that stirred my soul most was from a neighbour, not connected to any church that I am aware, who came by a few days before Christmas to see us off.  She gave us a card and and some cash and asked us to use it for a charity of our choice when we're in Sierra Leone:  God bless you, she wrote.  God bless you, I thought!

Softly giving themselves away.  Growing small so that others may be enlarged. 
These are gifts that reminds me of Someone.

What will you be doing?

I have had the conversation a lot lately and I appreciate it each time I do.  People are genuinely interested in our trip to Sierra Leone.  And so they ask if we're 'ready to go'.  They are curious about our flight plans.  Some are intrigued by our living arrangements.  Others make a point of marvelling how much things are about to change for us.  But most of the conversations get around to the question eventually, "So, ummm, like, what exactly will you be doing in Sierra Leone, anyways?"
It is a good question.  But I'm afraid I often give pretty poor, incomplete answers.  Here are some of the answers we have given:

• I (Joel) will be doing some work with Christian Reformed World Missions.  Primarily, it will be leadership training and development of local church leaders.  For more details, see the sidebar (right).  [Hover over the picture of the Ringmas and click.]  Also, you can take a look at the youtube video at the bottom of the blog, which also summarizes the work.
• Maria (11), Jacob (9) and Naomi (7) will be attending the CRC Primary School in Kabala. 
• Ella (I won't include her age) will not have a neat and tidy 'job' description, but will hopefully help us hold things together under new conditions (food, shelter, clothing, language, etc.). 

         We're accustomed to setting goals, like climbing mountains and checking off to-do lists.

But the question ("What will you be doing?") also prompts us to wonder:

• How much will we measure our time in Sierra Leone by 'doing' and how much will we measure it be relational 'being'? 
• Will our Calvinistic work ethic get in the way of what God is already doing?
• "What will YOU be doing?" Maybe the short answer is "not much", at least not until the bigger question of the primary agency of God is settled. 
• The engagement of CRWM with the local church in defining the what of what we will be doing has been very encouraging.  They are listening intently to the initiative of the local church in determining what they want and need.  Who will we look to when we wonder 'what' we should be doing?  (Within ourselves?  To the church in NA?  To the local church?)

So, with one question comes a few more.  I suspect there will be exponentially more questions than answers six months from now.

Getting Ready ...

We're getting ready.

Getting ready for Christmas, to be sure. As a pastor, there are a few ministry-related details to the season. As a family, there are some Christmas traditions that we are enjoying and anticipating. But we're also getting ready as a family to spend time in Kabala, Sierra Leone (much relief with the arrival of our visas in the mail earlier this week!). 

The Reverend Gates (the preacher's voice in Paul Simon's "Getting Ready") encourages his flock to get ready for Christmas Day with a longer and broader view than just the bustling season. As a family, we don't know fully what we're getting ready for with our trip to Sierra Leone. But we have hopes and longings about what God might do in our hearts and lives and in His world. So does the Reverend Gates. And so does Paul Simon: 
      Getting ready, oh ready, ready for Christmas Day
      Ready, getting ready
      For the power and the glory and the story of the
      Christmas Day