Forty-One

I go into every Christmas break with lofty goals of reading several books, writing several blog posts, and working out several times. With little basketball and no teaching, I see an opportunity to catch up on some of the activities I love doing most. This year, like many others, I accomplished almost none of that.

Christmas break is busy. Perhaps a better word is eventful. From December 22-30, my family had some event or gathering in which to participate every day except for one. There was some down time here and there, but we really never stopped traveling, preparing, visiting, cleaning, etc. until today. One anniversary, five family Christmas celebrations, and two dinner parties later, and I'm beat. While many of you are out ringing in the new year this evening, my plan is to nestle snuggly into bed by 10 and consider myself a lucky man.

My accomplishment-driven nature tempts me to chide myself for the "lost opportunity" to read, write, and exercise more in the last week and a half. Starting Thursday this week I have 6 games in 12 days and two weeks left in the school's semester to get all the last minute grading and planning done. Unscheduled time will be at a minimum. If I can't accomplish my goals when I don't even have to work, how can I expect to the rest of the year?

But that's foolish thinking. A calmer, wiser me sat down last night to count my blessings. I sat down and tried to run through everything I'd done over the past 9 days and all the people I got to talk to. I made a list. In those nine days, I counted 41 people with whom I'd had meaningful conversations. Opportunities lost? I beg to differ. Forty-one times over, my life and time were enriched with boisterous laughter, penetrating questions, competitive banter, quick hugs, Nerf-gun wars, and several bottles of wine. 

Part of being a coach is being a numbers guy, and I've decided to put some numbers down for the new year as goals for certain areas of my life that I see as a priority. Having numbers for the year that I'm aiming to hit, with weekly and monthly averages to chase, is the equivalent of challenging my players to get a certain number of rebounds per game, or holding the opponent to a certain shooting percentage for a time. The goals are important; therefore, I've put firm numbers out there to shoot for. However, if people "get in the way" of achieving those numbers, so be it. Forty-one is a pretty good number too. I can celebrate that.

Thanks to all my readers this year, to the 41 for the past week and a half of smiles, and to all those I hope to smile with soon. Celebrate well, and thanks for reading.

Notes on Advent

A few notes on Advent from the book Good News of Great Joy: Daily Readings for Advent by John Piper:

1. Every year I love going home for Christmas. So do many of you. I know what to expect, I know I will be loved, and I know someone is there waiting for me. The meals, the downtime, the not-so-downtime: all of it beckons me with comfort and familiarity. This homecoming feels right, according to Piper, because it is a foretaste of the ultimate Homecoming to our eternal home, with eternal comfort, to be eternally loved by One waiting for us.

A warning, though: "All the other homecomings are foretastes. And foretastes are good. Unless they become substitutes. O, don't let all the sweet things of this season become substitutes of the final great, all-satisfying Sweetness." May all our homecomings be blessed foretastes that remind us of Home, not distract us from it.

2. When Christ was born, there were two kinds of people who didn't worship him, just as there are now. First, there were people like Herod, who didn't worship because they saw Jesus as a great threat. Today, many refuse to worship out of fear of the same thing - the fear of Jesus threatening their autonomy, their sovereignty over their own lives. Seeking to avoid being dethroned, they refuse to worship.

The other kind were the chief priests and scribes who knew exactly what was going on and did nothing anyway. In Matthew 2:4 it is these individuals who are asked by Herod where the Messiah is to be born. They know the answer and tell him. They know the Messiah is being born and they know where it's happening. That's a pretty big deal. Imagine knowing and doing nothing. Unfortunately, it doesn't require much imagination. For we know what happened, we schedule an entire season to celebrate, and often we make Christ an afterthought, a nonentity in Christmas.


3. For many, Christmas is a time of mixed emotions. While there is abundant celebration,the time brings sorrow for those who are missing those they often celebrate with. Rather than attempting to ignore the feelings or brush them away, Piper suggests embracing them, for Jesus came to love us in a way that amplifies life and love: "Many of you will feel your loss this Christmas more pointedly than before. Don't block it out. Let it come. Feel it. What is love for, if not to intensify our affections - both in life and death? But, O, do not be bitter. It is tragically self-destructive to be bitter."

This will be my last post before Christmas. I'm off for about 5 straight days of celebrating starting on Saturday. Merry Christmas, thanks for reading, and I hope you'll check back in after your own celebrations. 

A Gift-Wrapping Lesson From My Daughter

I bumped into an acquaintance at church recently and asked how his week had been.

"Mostly good," he replied. He hesitated, then continued, "It's just been really busy. It will almost be easier when. . ." He paused. "I don't want to wish the Christmas season away, but to a certain extent it will be nice when everything calms down after the 25th."

He said out loud what many of us occasionally think. December is a busy month, full of duties, dates, preparations, and celebrations. There's so much to get done, and so little time to do it. At times it feels like we're trudging through, getting stuff done; and in the meantime, we don't have the energy to be excited about it and really enjoy it.

That's why I'm glad I came across the Christmas presents my 5-year old has been wrapping.

If you look at the picture, you can see what she does on most nights when she gets home. After asking my wife for some wrapping paper scraps, she rushes to her room for a while and reemerges with a newly wrapped masterpiece, labeled by a makeshift name tag, to enthusiastically put under the tree. Apparently they are pre-school projects that she's wrapping up for us. There are now more than ten packages that look exactly like this under our tree at this moment.

It's her spirit and enthusiasm in wrapping these gifts that reminds me of the right approach to all that's going on right now. Yes, I'm excited to see loved ones and celebrate Christmas at many family events. The getting ready, though, is not necessarily done in a spirit of "Christmas cheer." Elise can't wait to open presents at our house, but she's also really enthusiastic about getting ready. She wants everything to be just right, and she's willing to use whatever is available, whether it be perfect or not, in her enthusiasm. The pictured gift has 3 different patterns of wrapping paper and a mountain of scotch tape. But it was wrapped by her, thinking of us, and she put a big fat bow on top to make it even cooler.

In all of the last-minute hurrying going on at your house and mine, perhaps we can apply this lesson - not to quit hurrying, but to hurry with enthusiasm and love, anxiously anticipating and rushing towards all that's good.

Undistracting Excellence

I hear a lot of Christians worry about the best way to represent Christ to the world, especially a world weary of being beaten down by holier than thou evangelism (whether that be perception or reality). Just last week my Sunday School class was discussing the topic of the obstacles to sharing Christ or even of bringing Christ up in conversation. To inject the story of salvation or even to reference Jesus' name can make the best of conversations look like an agenda-filled setup or even a trap.

After reading an interview given by John Piper, I've added to my perspective on the topic. In the interview he uses the phrase "undistracting excellence" to describe the job of ministry leaders. I see an application in this for all Christians.

The idea comes in reference to how we should approach what we do in life. Piper speaks of more reliance on God and an understanding that the work of ministry is primarily supernatural in nature, not some professional club that is relying on the perfection of ministers to accomplish God's will. That fact does not, however, absolve those ministry leaders from doing their job as well as they can. His challenge: portray undistracting excellence. Says Piper, "The aim is for a kind of excellence that does not distract from God or the spiritual engagement with God in all our natural acts. Both fumbling and finesse distract. . ."

While I appreciate this approach in ministry leaders, I think this may be an important way to go about our daily lives as well and perhaps a more effective way to portray Christ to the world. If we display "undistracting excellence" in our jobs, relationships, and daily interactions, we "do life" in such a way that we are not a distraction from God. To me, it means performing in these areas with a quiet dedication, attempting to not create a distraction from the goodness that is God by representing him poorly. Our mistakes, failures, and weaknesses are amplified a thousand fold in a culture looking for reasons to reject a Sovereign God. At times unspoken diligence, consistent excellence, and obvious faith are the best ways to "speak" about Christ and allow focus on the supernatural beauty that He contains.