The Zippy Christmas Extravaganza

I meant to post this link ahead of Christmas, but it is still the 12 Days of Christmas, so…

The Zippy Crew takes you over the river and through the woods with a review of a fantastic new Nat “King” Cole Christmas album, sharing of Christmas memories and reflections on the upcoming 12 Days of Christmas. Also, Special Guest Jim Krenning joins us for a preview of an adventure through the Psalms in the New Year.

This episode was so much fun. I hope you enjoy it!

On the Fourth Day of Christmas

I've often wondered something: many of our “Christmas decorations” these days are snowmen and snowflakes, so why do we take those down now — just days after the start of winter — and leave the nights so dark? For that matter, this is only the fourth day of Christmas. If you've been already contemplating taking down your decorations in general, why not pause for a few days and actually enjoy them as we bask in the glow of what we have just been celebrating?

A few years ago, I wrote a post questioning why people take down their Christmas decorations so quickly and as I already see the holiday festivities winding down, I again find myself wondering why more people don't observe the Twelve Days of Christmas. I'm not sure about you, but usually the lead up to Christmas is so hectic I find its hard to really stop, reflect and enjoy. Instead of going and grabbing the boxes to put decorations away this weekend, why not sit by the tree, with the lights glowing beautifully, and spend some time in awe at the Light that came into the world the first Christmas morning?

2016

2015 was a very hard year for me and for my family, as many of you know. It began on January 6 when my dear friend and colleague Roy did not show up for an Epiphany service he and I were to lead together at Lindenwood. As it turned out he had fallen unconscious at home the day before due to a very aggressive infection. Heartbreakingly, he was not able to overcome the infection and he died a few weeks later; his absence loomed over many of the ministry events in 2015, as things he and I dreamed about happened, but he was not there to see them. Though I did not know him for all that long — just a few years — he was a dear friend and his huge personality has been sorely missed.

A series of other painful difficulties have mounted since then with family and work, not the least of which being my dad's stroke in May. Much of 2015 seemed like an ever more uphill battle in which the terrain just grew steeper as the year went on. While there may be no substantive difference between yesterday and today, it feels promising to turn over the page and start with the fresh canvas of a new year.

I'm praying all of you have a very happy New Year!

In the Bleak Midwinter

I remember growing up that every year I would wake up on the morning of December 26 and see that the neighbors next door had their Christmas tree lying next to the trashcan. I suppose by the time the festivities of Christmas Day had wrapped up they were so tired of the holiday season that they had to rush the tree outside either that night or early the next morning lest its smell pollute the house like old fish.

I can't say I ever really understood that.

Happy 2015

I hope you have the happiest of 2015's! And, that any ideas you may have during the year will turn out just like those in this GE commercial. I'm excited about what this new year holds. Are you?

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Independence Day! If you are still looking for some fireworks to use for today, check out my 2010 post on St. Charles fireworks stands which mentions the details on my two long time favorite stands, one of which I've been shopping at since the early 2000's and one since it opened in 2007. Both have their own, interesting inventories of fireworks, a few of which have become family favorites that are must haves each year. Both offer massively better bang for your buck (pun intended) than the big chain stands. Here's a sample of new and old favorites:

• From Red Dragon: Lava Lamp, California Sunrise, Pacific Paradise, Funky Fountain, Havana Heat and 2 Cool.

• From Powder Monkey: Attack, Evil Stairs, Bees in a Thicket, Angry Alligators and Smoke and Mirrors.

Also consider some classics that have been around for decades and virtually all tents stock, such as Happy, Golden Silver Flowers/Flowering Peach, 96 Shot Colored Pearl, Cuckoo, and (naturally) long lasting mammoth smoke.

I hope everyone has a blast today!

Merry Christmas!

To all of my friends in the blogosphere, I hope you have the merriest of Christmases. May Christmas Day be a joy for you as we reflect on the joy of Christ's coming and may the days beyond glow richly with that same good news.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

As I reviewed my notes on Dr. Michael William's book, Far as the Curse is Found, for the office training class I'm co-teaching, I was struck by a helpfully stark statement Williams makes: “The future collides with the present in Christ.” As Christ ushers in the Kingdom of God, Christ himself represents the point of collision between the old and the new promised in “the Day of the Lord.” Likewise, Advent serves to point us to the wait for that in-breaking of God's kingdom and the Twelve Days of Christmas serve as a sort of “second wait” very much parallel to the world today: Christ has come, yet we await Christ's coming again.

Happy Twelfth Night! Tomorrow, the Magi find the Savior on Epiphany.

On the Ninth Day of Christmas

A very thoughtful post by Lindsey Crittenden on the Twelve Days of Christmas:

Not yet. Advent is all about waiting, about living into the not yet, and Christmas is about Emmanuel. God is with us. We are always waiting””for Christ to return, for peace, for good will, for those things we yearn for yet can't quite, on our own, bring about.

Christmas lasts twelve days as an invitation to sit in this place with the God-made-man a bit longer. We'll get it again””painfully so, of course, in Lent and Holy Week””but for now, let us rejoice for all twelve days.

On the Eighth Day of Christmas

I hope everyone had a happy New Year! I think a good resolution for the new year might be to get back to more of a regular posting frequency here on asisaid. There is something good about the discipline of regularly posting to a blog. Sometimes, the opportunity to quickly share things on Facebook has a tendency to lead me away from posting as regularly here, but really I ought to aim to post more here instead, since my blog posts appear on Facebook, anyway.

I sometimes wonder what will happen in five or ten years to all of the data so many of us have put on Facebook. Unlike data on sites we control, will it eventually just fade away? Given that increasingly important information is sent through the service, that could actually be quite unfortunate down the road.