Category Archives: Adventure

Some reflections on Christmas after my trip to Israel

As I write this I am just coming out of the fog of jet lag and an Israeli cold that I got on my first ever trip to Israel. This was a trip that I am sure I will be unpacking for quite some time, but I thought I would take a stab at some reflections on Christmas since we traveled so close to the holiday.

The location of our hotel on the trip was very close to Bethlehem. Out of our window you could see the wall that separated Jerusalem from the Palestinian area of Bethlehem. The bus stop outside of our hotel was called, “Bethlehem Check Point.” It was a constant reminder of the traumatic experiences that region has experienced for centuries. I imagine Mary and Joseph had similar thoughts as they saw Roman soldiers on their way to Bethlehem. Your Christmas this year may feel raw and messy, but that is okay. The first Christmas would not have felt anymore like a Hallmark movie than yours does.

Before we left we watched a kids Christmas movie called the Star. It really highlighted the messiness of the first Christmas. Talking animals trying to figure out what is going on when things felt chaotic and dangerous. Most nights of the trip my wife, daughter and I each tried to come up with two take aways from the day. On one night my daughters had one of her take aways was that we as a family needed to learn to trust God more in the day to day experiences of life. She was so right. The same would have been true of  the story on that first Christmas. It was a journey of trust in a world that did not make sense.

Traveling on this trip with my wife and daughter makes me appreciate in a small way what Joseph may have felt on his journey to Bethlehem. As we travelled I was aware of the needs of my little family and the challenges of being in a new surrounding. I read someone talk about how it was interesting that the angel did not speak to Joseph about Mary’s situation until after Mary had talked to him. We like nice and neat where as God is okay with our journey as we learn to trust Him.

So as I look to Christmas this year, I will try and walk with God in a new level of trust. I still like five year plans, but I will try to trust God when He simply says take the next step with me. I will try and remember those rolling hills of Bethlehem and know that it is not always about nice and neat, but about the presence of God coming to our messy and chaotic world.

The 5 minute challenge

Our only daughter started middle school this morning. This is a big deal around here so since yesterday was a holiday, here in the USA, we tried to have a low key day to get ourselves ready. As I was reflecting I thought about how seasons like this allow for new opportunities and new growth. As kids we can see a lot of progress in the course of a school year. But what about us?

This got my nerd mind going. As of yesterday there were 276 days till her last day of school for the year. What could be accomplished in that period of time? The danger of thinking that way is that we overwhelm ourselves with too big of a challenge and don’t do anything. But what about 5 minutes? What could be accomplished in 5 minutes? Turns out a lot could be accomplished if we commit to a five minute habit.

Spiritually a new five minutes a day practice could make a big difference. I saw one site that said you could listen through the New Testament in 18 hours and 20 minutes. That is less than 5 minutes a day. You could actually listen through the Psalms as well.

Physically 5 minutes a day could make a big difference. If you were to simply add 5 minutes of walking a day to your life by the end of the school year even at a slow pace you would have walked about 44 miles. You can drink a bottle of water in 5 minutes. I am guessing 276 bottles of water over the course of the year could be good for your health.

I am sure that you can be creative and find a 5 minute challenge that God would have you do. Let me just encourage you to only start with 1 challenge. 5 minutes. For me, I have shared elsewhere that I am committed to learning Spanish well enough to preach it. Well I am going to add 5 minutes extra a day to that learning time to see where it takes me. I hope you come up with a simple practice for yourself and see what the year will hold.