Christmas...

Most Americans look forward to Christmas every year - for various reason. Most I think have to do with time off from whatever your vocation is - a change in routine, time spent with family and friends, the warmth of affection given and received.

As Believers in Jesus, we try to focus on His birth as the reason for the season, but I suspect that many of us get caught up in the fruit of His birth and don't focus as much as Him as we would prefer. Shopping, cooking, going, coming, eating and doing become the daily activity and sitting gets pushed aside for a season.

That brings me to the name of this blog, "The Life After....". What does that mean? Well, let's look at our lives.

We are born - so we go through a transition of "the life after...the womb". A huge adjustment as we learn to eat, breath and survive on our own - with a helping hand from our caregivers.

We grow and start school, so then we have a transition from pre-school to school life. A whole new regimen takes form in us that will then follow up - except for school breaks - for the next 12+ years. We go through transitions from elementary to middle and from middle to high school. These are significant in our growth as a human being - learning to be more independent along the way.

We finish high school and in today's society, most of us then go on to college or technical school for fine tuning of our chosen vocation....so we go through a period of transition from high school to college.

As we grow and change, so does the world around us. We grow older and so does our family and friends - all along the way we develop new relationships and lose track of older ones. As our relationships deepen we long for that one relationship that will be ours - with the greatest hope and expectation that it will endure the test of time and emotions and be "ours" until we die.

As we grow and mature we take on "mantels" that define for the world who we are - kindergartener, 5th grader, junior, senior, young adult, student, soldier, college graduate, son, daughter, sister, brother - friend, wife, husband. It is truly a unique individual that is able to retain the truth of who they are, aside from all of this, in the midst of all of this.

Then, boom, out of the blue life changes. You fall in love, you get a divorce, you get a job or lose one - a parent or friend or sibling dies - or heaven forbid, a spouse or a child dies. These relationships make up the core of who we perceive ourselves to be. When one of the "plugs" at the bottom of our pot is removed, some of the dirt of who we are begins to be spilled out. A little here, a little there - sometimes it makes a mess and sometimes it's barely noticeable. However, the fact remains, the structure of who we are changes.

I find myself this Christmas season, reflecting more and more on the life after...the life after my children are grown and married with families of their own; the life after the passing of my spouse 1 1/2 years ago; the life after the passing of my mother 4 years ago, my father 21 years ago...seeking the answer to the eternal question "who am I?" and "where do I fit"?".

Don't get me wrong - this is not totally without merit. I believe that the Lord is trying to open my eyes to the world around me - not just in Africa and India, but right here in Marietta or Kennesaw, Georgia - the area where I travel the most - to see the pain, lonliness, and quiet suffering of others that remain silent...

So, I am making a plan now, that I hope to stay with, that will seek out the lonely and lost this year and make a place for them. A place that will include the warmth of family and traditions that bring comfort. The smell of a candle that reminds you of home, the cold crisp air that tells you that winter is here, the heat of a summer day and the scorching of feet on hot sand.

A place that I and others can say they fit - a place where many can come together and form a bond - so that at the end of the holiday day they can retreat to a place that is familiar and comfortable.

Jesus help me - I know this is from you and it is birthed in our longing for Eden. Help me to walk this out if it is Your will for such a place to be born on the earth prior to Your return.