Coming Home for Christmas . . .

(Decided to send out our Christmas greeting via the blog this year, in contrast to copying, printing, stuffing, addressing, stamping and then mailing at the current postage rate times 75.)

I created this post on Thursday night, but still needed to add pictures. I mentioned in the following highlights that my Grandma turned 100 in September. On Friday morning we received a phone call that Grandma passed away peacefully. So, I changed the title this morning from "Merry Christmas from Dennis and Gwen" to "Coming Home for Christmas . . . " A few years ago while visiting Grandma we were talking about having peace with God, leaving this world . . . and Grandma said, "I just want to go home." And she didn't mean back to her home that she left to enter an assisted living facility . . . she meant heaven. So Grandma is "home" for Christmas this year.

Highlights of the Jackson family in 2007:

JAN – A visit to CA to see Mike & Joni, Josh & Kari

FEB – Josh & Kari left on a 7 month traveling adventure throughout Asia and Central America; Dennis & Clint took Dad J. on a trip to England

APRIL – Evee Marie was born to Clint and Jamie on April 24; Gwen graduated with a Bachelors degree from IWU on April 28th




MAY – Dennis & Gwen had the privilege of going to Israel for 2 weeks

JUNE - Dennis took a 101-day Sabbatical through the summer months with Gwen joining him for most of that time (hiking in Glacier, Eastern Europe, and Midwest)

AUG - Julie traveled to Costa Rica to hang out with Josh and Kari for a week



SEPT – Gwen’s Grandma turned 100 years old in September, Gwen, Jamie and Evee made the trip to PA to celebrate with the family; Julie began her first semester at IUPUI and turned 21 years old!

NOV – Dennis celebrated his 50th birthday

DEC – Speaking of "Home for Christmas," everyone, except Mike & Joni :(, will be home for Christmas this year and Dennis & I will be heading "home" to PA to celebrate Grandma's homecoming on the 29th.

What's everybody doing these days?
Josh & Kari – living in Pasadena, Josh owns an ebay business and Kari is a waitress at a local restaurant
Clint, Jamie & Evee – living in Indianapolis, Clint still a Youth Pastor at Eagle Church, Jamie chose to stay home with Evee
Mike & Joni – living in San Diego – Mike is a student at Point Loma, Joni is a hair stylist
Julie- living in Indianapolis, student at IUPUI (Ind./Purdue Univ.)
Dennis & Gwen – still live in Spring Lake ministering at SLWC, love being grandparents to Evee!

MAY YOUR CHRISTMAS BE MERRY & BRIGHT

WITH THE LOVE OF JESUS

AND MAY 2008 BE A YEAR OF JOY AND PEACE

Late night thinking . . .

It was midnight. We had just settled into bed for the night. Quick goodnight kiss, “love you,” and with that Dennis curled up on his side for a long winter’s nap. Me? I laid flat on my back in thinking mode.

“Honey, what brings you joy?”

“What?” He loves when I ask him questions right before he goes to sleep.

“What brings you joy?”

“Sunrises, sunsets, Evee, changed lives.”

“Changed lives? You mean watching peoples lives changed by God?”

Muffled as it was, I caught the “yea” as he drifted off to sleep. I was happy to get that much out of him.

I lay there for a few minutes thinking about what brought me joy.

Of course, Dennis
My kids
Evee, too
Good friends
Sunshine
Walks on the beach (where I love to pray)
Me too, for changed lives
And I'll throw this one in, comments on my blog (for real)

Joy.

What brings you joy?

Birth Announcements . . .

I’ve been anticipating and watching for the news of two births this month. They both arrived this weekend. Little Kalyn Emily (picture on left) arrived at 2:54 a.m. this past Saturday in Harrisburg, PA, my niece Mindy and her husband Erik’s first. Then, just minutes ago (3 a.m.) I read the news of Samuel James born at 12:44 a.m. this morning to our friends, John and Mandy in Princeton, NJ. I was so excited and rejoiced with both these new little families.

Doesn’t everyone love to hear the news of a baby’s birth?

I was thinking about the news of Jesus’ birth. Mary and Joseph didn’t have internet, which is how I learned of both of the above births, pictures and all. Nor did they have postal service or pony express, as far as that goes.

So God had his own plan to get the news out.

He sent one of his instant messengers – an angel – to some shepherds on the night shift crew. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone!” the angel announced. “The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born tonight in Bethlehem . . ." Talk about a unique birth announcement! Then, kind of like “forwarding” messages in our inbox, which I did when I heard the news of Kalyn and Samuel, the bewildered, but excited shepherds ran to the village to see the baby and then proceeded to tell everyone what had happened.

Oh, the joy of birth announcements. But, this one was different. Luke wrote that this news would be the greatest joy to many. "Unto us a child is born . . . " Not just any child, Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, Immanuel - God with us - you, me, the whole world.

Joy to the World!

Speaking of Hope and Peace . . .

Our little Evee . . .
no wonder God came into the world as a baby!

Peace . . .

Yesterday at church we lit the candle of "peace" as we continue to celebrate advent, the coming of a Savior. The advent season has had special meaning for me this year. The simple, yet complete words like "hope" and "peace" remind me of why Jesus came.

I was thinking about a song written by one of Dennis' and my favorite pianists, Jim Brickman. You probably hear his music as you shop in stores at this time of year. Below are the lyrics to one of his songs called "Peace."

On a city street somewhere someone shoots a gun in the midnight air, and I don’t know why.

Somebody lives, somebody dies, somebody wrongs, and a mother cries, and I don’t know why.

Some things we’ll never understand. Other things you change if you can.

Peace – you find it where the heart is. The heart is right where love lives. Love can always find a way. Hope is the something that reminds us, it’s not too late to find us. One day we may be in peace.

Haven’t spoken in 30 years after angry words and bitter tears, and I don’t know why.

Best of brothers and best of friends, one mistake and their story ends, and I don’t know why.

Some things we’ll never understand, Other things you change if you can.

Peace – you find it where the heart is. The heart is right where love lives. Love can always find a way. Hope is the something that reminds us, it’s not too late to find us. One day we may be in peace.

It’s all about forgiveness, with God as my witness, I want to live to see . . . peace.

Some things we can change . . .

Is Mrs. Jackson coming today?

This is Leah. She's my little Kids Hope girl who I visit every week for an hour at her school (or a bit longer cause we have so much fun doing things together). Our church has 50 Kids Hope mentors who meet one on one with children from Jeffers School - children who will benefit from a one-on-one relationship that invests in their lives emotionally, socially and academically.

Her teacher, Mrs. Mumby, told me when I was only three weeks into my visits, that Leah asks every Tuesday morning, "Is Mrs. Jackson coming today?" It brought tears to my eyes that my one hour a week in a very short amount of time was making such a difference in this little first graders life.

I look forward to seeing Leah every week - we color, read books, work on her math, play games and just chat. Leah is a very special girl. What a joy to bring hope to her life.

Hope for the world . . .

I've thought a lot about "hope" since I posted my last blog entry just a few days ago. I took time tonight to look through mail after a few days away visiting family in Indy. One newsletter reports of orphaned children in Nigeria whose parents were murdered in the midst of religious conflicts. A Christian agency provides food, shelter and education at a center where they live and study. The director of the center says, "There can always be hope, even in seemingly hopeless situations."

Then on a website today I read of a village in Zambia where a Christian organization purchased a well drilling rig to provide the people with healthy and accessible water. A pastor touched the water that gushed up out of the earth and said, "This is Resurrection day - we have been resurrected to hope when we had none."

Jesus . . . a father to the fatherless.

Jesus . . . living water.

Jesus came to bring hope to the world.

Hope . . .

I have the privilege of teaching the 3rd and 4th grade children's church at my church. I love to teach, but most of all I love the kids. They are so fun and full of creative energy, wonder and questions. This past Sunday marked the first week of the advent season. Alex lit the candle of hope and Emma read the scripture passage from Isaiah 9:6 . . . "For unto us a child is born, a son is given . . . and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

We had just finished a unit that covered key people and events in the Old Testament. These kids understood the meaning of hope - they understood how much the Israelites needed the hope of a redeemer. We wondered together if we could ever mess up so badly that God would say he was done with us or wouldn't love us anymore. The Israelites had certainly had their share of goofing up. Before the answer came out of my mouth, the kids were nodding their heads to say "no." They understood that God is real, that he loves them, and that God sent Jesus to bring hope to the world. Hope to Alex and Emma and Seth and Nolan and Mia and Katelyn and David and Andrew and Mason and Elizabeth . . . hope to me.

Sometimes in life we need someone to lend us hope. Someone did that for me last week. Someone who drew me into the presence of God. Someone who spoke words of love, value and life into my heart. I needed that. Someone who had a certainty that God is, that he is a God of truth, a God of hope. As funny as it might seem coming from a pastor's wife, I needed that. The heart of the problem was my heart - it hasn't been all God's - it's been divided. So, I got down on my knees and told God that I wanted him to have all of my heart. I asked him to make himself "at home" in my heart again.

My heart was made to be "at home" with God. Trying to fill it with something or someone else, or trying to search for something outside of his truth, will always keep me searching. The search and the answers are only found in him and when I get that, I don't need to search anymore, only seek. Every heart needs a home and it's never truly "home" unless God lives there. So, I'm done with the divided heart thing. It's all his. A fresh joy and peace fill my heart - how good to be all his - a renewed hope.