Tag: home

Posted in Different Moments, Different Thoughts

Advent: For Your Home

Posted on by Wick

For a long time now, the season of “Advent” (which means “arrival”) has helped Christians to prepare for the celebrations of a special worship service celebrating the birth of Christ.  It includes the four Sundays leading up to Christmas – with a special emphasis for each week.  We believe many of these things can offer new opportunities for us to reorient our lives, our relationships, and our homes around anticipation of what Christ is doing even this year.  With this in mind, we believe Advent can be an incredible season of prayer, celebration, conversation, and devotion as we prepare for Christmas. Here is an easy and tangible way to bring this season into your home:

Advent Wreath – Often seen in sanctuaries, but traditionally this was also done at home.  You don’t need to make it look “churchy”, or even use the traditional colors (though you might find that fun too!).  Any 4 candles (one for each week of Advent) and one central candle (for Christ) will work.  If you have kids, feel free to invite them to help assemble a nice (non-flammable) display for the candles.

When?  You might light the Advent wreath during a mealtime, family devotions, bedtime, or whenever it works out.  Remember, it’s not a rigid discipline – but an invitation to reorient our moments & hearts.

What?  Each time you’re able, light the appropriate candles and make time and space for each person to respond.  Close the time of conversation in prayer, and for young kids especially – take turns blowing out the candles!

  1. Week One: Light one candle, and focus on the word “HOPE”.  What are you each hopeful for?  What is something fun you’re hoping for?  How can hope transform someone’s life?  Where have you seen hope today/this week?  READ Isaiah 7:10-14
  2. Week Two:  Light two candles, and focus on the word “PEACE”.  What does peace feel like to you?  Where is an area of your life/world that needs peace? Where have you seen peace today/this week?  READ 2 Samuel 7:10-16
  3. Week Three: Light three candles, and focus on the word “JOY”.  What’s the difference between happiness and joy?  What brings you joy?  Where have you seen joy today/this week?  READ Isaiah 61:4-11
  4. Week Four:Light four candles, and focus on the word “LOVE”. What helps you feel loved?  Who is someone you know who needs to experience love?  Where have you seen or felt love today/this week?  READ Isaiah 40:3-11
  5. CHRISTMAS EVE/CHRISTMAS: Lighting all 4 surrounding candles and the 5th “CHRIST” candle also. Why did God come as an infant?  What message does that send us?  If Jesus was sitting in your home today, why would He get excited that you have received Him? How will you respond?  READ Luke 2:1-21

(Here’s a printable version of this same content, you can edit for your context!)

Posted in Different Books, Different Thoughts, Uncategorized

A Wrinkle in Parenting (spoiler alert)

Posted on by Wick

We’ve just returned from the theater, only to verify once more – the book is always better than the movie.  It sounds like such a great homeschool policy – “We’ll only go see the movie if we read the book together!”  Yet every time – the movie ends up falling flat.  It just doesn’t stand a chance.wrinkle.jpeg

Pushing that aside for a moment, I do love the book and so much of the imagery and themes througout: Light fighting back the darkness. Strength discovered in weakness.  You cannot serve two masters.  Hope even in places where we’ve made mistakes.  There are even direct quotes from scripture used imaginatively throughout.

L’Engle presents a Universe much larger than we usually envision, and the invitation for each of us to become warriors on behalf of light.  This doesn’t mean strapping on our weapons, and polishing our armor – it means offering ourselves in places and situations where we aren’t assured of the outcome.  It means loving the other, even when there’s no visible sign that such sacrificial love will be received well.

One of my favorite scenes is toward the end, as the lead character realizes she has been self-centered in her relationship with her Father:

          “I’m – I’m sorry, Father…(tears came to her eyes, their hands together)..I wanted you to do it all for me.  I wanted everything to be all easy and simple…So I tried to pretend that it was all your fault…because I was scared, and I didn’t want to have to do anything myself–“
        “But I wanted to do it for you,” Mr.Murry said.  “That’s what every parent wants.”  He looked into her dark, frightened eyes….
         “No.” Mrs Whatsit’s voice was sterner than Meg had ever heard it. “You are going to allow Meg the privilege of accepting this danger.  You are a wise man, Mr.Murry.  You are going to let her go.”

So many layers to this.

We love our children, and want great things for them.  But we must remember, for them to grow and develop they must be allowed to experience the mystery of holding Gods’ hand into the unknown.  As John Ortberg has written, “Persons of excellent will, judgment and character are formed by having to make their own decisions.” (Focus on the Family, April/May 2018)

We see this same love as God invites humanity with free will to respond to a crucified Messiah, an image of self-sacrificing Love that doesn’t force, demand, or overthrow.  An infinitely compelling revelation of a path we’re invited to follow, not with the promise that all will go well – but with the promise that this is the path of New Creation Love.  This is the way of proclaming Jesus as Lord.  This is the way of light breaking forth into darkness.

So what is the wrinkle? If we want to invite our children to step forward into a faith-filled unknown – we must be prepared to respond to their obvious questions.  “Really mom/dad?  You’re doing this?”  Where are we following Jesus into areas of unknown?  Where are we trusting Him to do something, without which we would sink into the waves of a stormy sea?  Where are we experiencing this as a home/family?

This isn’t meant to be intimidating, but encouraging/inviting.  This isn’t saying every family should sell all things, move into a tiny home in the bad part of town, or other side of the world.  This is simply saying – great distances can be traveled by small and simple acts of sacrificial love.  Great rifts can be overcome by a humble dependence on a Love that reflects the brightest light that has ever shown.

This is how Christ began the ultimate victory.  This is how we continue to proclaim & establish it, empowered by His Spirit even now.   Not by our own power to Love, but as we are transformed by His…

Posted in Different Moments, Uncategorized

leading from behind…

Posted on by Wick

We carried them.

Then they began to wobble forward.

Next, they grabbed our hands as we ran together.fallersons

Now – they run ahead.

It can be easy to feel like my job is done, but any parent will be quick to remind – we’ve still only just begun.  Walking is not the goal…just another part of the journey.  I love to watch them wander through the woods.  To watch them play, and see the sparks of wonder inspire flames of imagination.  It’s fulfilling, to offer them the ability to lead as we take to the forest, and see them choose paths both winding and well-defined.

There are so many pressures today to grow the next generation of world-changers.  To mold them into products that are marketable on the future economies of skill and value competitions.  To form them into athletic renaissance machines that can out-perform the others and shine in ways that obviously deserve scholarship money.

I’ll confess – I’m not immune to this.  Even in realms of spiritual maturity, there are major parts of me that want my kids to shine with the love of Jesus.  Not for healthy reasons, but to show the world – here, is a product I’ve helped create and offer my fellow humanity as proof of my/our worth.

So every once in a while, on purpose, I slow down.  I watch.  I absorb their wonder.  I stop measuring things and start inefficiently using time with them.  Another confession – I don’t do this enough.  I’m busy.  I’m a student.  I’m a pastor.  I’m a husband.  I’m a ________.

All of that to say – I hadn’t said anything much about parenting in a while, and this was originally a parenting blog. 🙂  So I figured I would remind the reader – I’m still a parent.   I’m not winning any awards, but my kids seem to be increasing in love.  My wife and better half probably deserves a TON of that credit, as she gets the most time at home with them.  But I’ll take a little.  And I’ll watch them run ahead with her, and pause to be thankful for it all..