This Cannot be True

Ran across this the other day. It says a lot about how someone feels about people in general. While I think the number of "Nobody Cares" is quite high, it cannot be the whole world.

Because some people do care. And some people are doing something about the fact that they do care. me personally? Not doing enough, and I care about THAT. Have to work on that in 2009.

This is meant as humor, but this is a message in it. Those of us who do care are probably not all doing enough to show it to the rest of the world. I have been doing some stuff on the 12DoCC, but not enough. I am serving in church a bit, but not enough nor with enough of a servant's heart heart.

My hope for this Christmas season is that the population of "Nobody Cares" becomes a ghost town, or at least severely underpopulated. My wish is I do my part to drive people out of town.

Permanently.

Getting Back More Than I Could Ever Give

I have talked about the 12DoCC and how it has impacted me. I have written about all the Bibles in my life as well. And how has the Lord given me some blessings this Christmas season?

He sent me another Bible.

And this one will have a special place in my heart. It is from my friends at the Kanakuk Institute. Even has that embossed on the burgundy leather front cover. I have had the privilege of meeting the staff and students at the Institute over the past few years and a more impressive bunch of young men and women you would be hard pressed to find. Don't bother, you will not, you just can't.

This Bible is a New Inductive Study Bible - New American Standard Bible. Yes, a NISB NASB. What makes this one dear to my heart is that the students penned thank you notes for our support and they are inserted on notecards all over the Bible. often the students included a verse reference and that is where you will find that particular note sticking between the pages. I read them quickly so I could see them all the first time. I will have to go back and read more slowly again in the very near future.

I have it placed on my Franklin library stand in my office. I'll see it every time I go in there, which is more than I can count daily.

I will treasure the thought that went into each note, the thought that made them send it to me and what it represents: a new generation of men and women eager to share the Gospel.

With people like this, I do not expect the following to happen too easily:

All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel. Judges 2:10 (NASB)

12DoCC Update

We got the opportunity to visit the family I mentioned earlier in my post on The Twelve Days of Christmas Challenge. Seven of us from our small group made the trip, dropping off presents for the family, some food and some donations of clothes and toys.

They were a very nice couple, with a darling 18 month old daughter. We got to talk a bit about how they met, and came to be in the United States, how they are adjusting to life in a new country (they have been here since early July), what they do for work, a little bit about where they came from. The husband has been learning English by studying a Chin/English dictionary, and his English is way better than my Chin, since I do not know even a single word.

It was a nice visit and hopefully went some distance to deepening the relationship between the family and our small group. Time will tell, but our group leader is committed to staying in touch and seeing how we can help them adjust to their new life. They live in an apartment complex that has many from their country living there, so there is a sense of community and support in place.

I think we all left feeling blessed by what the Lord has provided us in the way of a lifestyle and resources, but also blessed that we can reach out and share some love with people from around the other side of the world from where we are (Myanmar, not New York City. I am from NYC, and that is around the world in the other direction from Texas). I am hoping the next visits can allow us to exchange more about our cultures as language will vbecome less of a barrier over time given their desire to learn the language of their new home.

I am enjoying this Christmas season so.

12DoCC Status

I have to admit that it took me some time to get into the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge, but I feel good about participating, even in my limited extent.

Yesterday my wife and I did some Christmas shopping for a refugee family from Myanmar that our small group at our church adopted for the Christmas holidays. Today, I hope a bunch of us will be able to go visit with them, to drop off the presents, and spend a little time getting to know them better.

It felt good looking for Christmas gifts like this with my wife, I enjoyed the opportunity to do some ministry for others with her as my partner. Looking back on the past year, I do not think I seized enough opportunities to minister as a couple as we should, for we are partners in life, and partners for life.

It has bothered me greatly for years the emphasis placed on gifts during Christmas, for I felt it was always more about what you get than what you give. This group of gifts is about what we are going to get, but this time it will feel right. Because we are going to get love and appreciation back from this family, not material presents. Although they may get some immediate needs met by our gifts, what they will give us will be truly lasting, the type of treasure one can store up in heaven. And as a result, I pray we give them back some of that treasure as well in addition to some nicely wrapped presents.

God has given me much knowledge over the years, He has also given me Jesus as Savior. What I pray for now is that He gives me even just a smattering of wisdom so I may cherish the other gifts He has lavishly bestowed on me in love. And today His love for my wife and I has given us the privilege of sharing that love with a family we would not even know existed if He did not put them squarely in our path.