click...click...click...

       Fighting against the commercial craziness of Christmas has been a reoccurring theme in my notes to the Greenridge Children's Ministry Team over the past few years. It's not easy to keep focused on the real reason for Christmas...and it's all too easy to miss the moments that God has planned for us during the season. This note was originally sent to the Team on October 2, 2008.


       I love a good roller coaster. There’s just something a good roller coaster. The speed…the uncertainty…the thrill. Picture it…you’re seated in a classic wooden roller coaster…perhaps the Rebel Yell at King’s Dominion. You pull the lap bar down (and check it again with brief panic that perhaps it’s not secured properly), and the car pulls out of the loading station. “Hmm…” you think. You know it’s going to be fun. You know you’ll survive…you know you’re experiencing this with a good friend right next to you…and then you hear it. The click, click, click as you ascend the first hill. What is it about that click, click, click sound that instills so much fear? Some of you are feeling a lump in your throat just from reading this. Click, click…until there are no more clicks to be heard and the car starts to inch forward toward the impending drop. Gulp. Yahoo!


       Each year about this time I find myself sitting here at my desk in the same spot…okay not the literal same spot…my office was in the house across the parking lot this time last year. But you know what I mean…the same mental spot. It’s October 2^nd. I feel as though the coaster is at the top of the hill. The “clicks” are done and now it’s all downhill…toward…Christmas. It’s about this time that I remind you and me about stopping this season. About being intentional. About not letting the pace of the holiday season overtake us until we are frantically racing around corners, flying through inversions, and coming to an abrupt, screeching halt as soon as Christmas has passed. Well, I’m here at this spot again. Top o’ the hill. Before I fly through the next three months too quickly, I want to stop. I want to do a gut check before taking the first hill. What will be different about this Thanksgiving and Christmas season? For me, I want to be more aware. I want to feel the weight of the moments that God places me in. I want to be awake. That is easier said than done sometimes. It means I need to ruthlessly edit my day and my life to ensure that when the moment comes, I can stop and fully savor it. I also need to be very in touch with Jesus. I need to see the moments He gives me through His eyes. To soak it up and soak Him up, I need to meet with Him, talk with Him, listen to Him. I need to throw my agenda out the window and see Him moving all around me…and move with Him. I want to stop and savor Him this season (and every season). It’s gonna take work…but with Him all things are possible.


       What will you do differently this holiday season? How will you help the children you minister to soak up the “Jesus moments” this Thanksgiving and Christmas season? How will you help them see Jesus moving all around them?


       Keep a sharp eye out. Check the lap bar. Make sure all objects are securely stowed. Hold on to the Friend next to you. Click, click, click…and savor the season.