December, 2005
Greetings,

LISTS seems to be the word of the season. There are Christmas card lists, children’s wish lists, Santa’s list of children who are naughty and nice, shopping lists, etc.

I always thought that the purpose of making lists was to produce a more organized and possibly easier life. This is not always the case. Just the thought of these lists can be overwhelming and stressful. I am reminded of the words of Jeremiah who said, “Peace, peace they say when there is no peace.”

When the angels startled the shepherds who were caring for their flocks in the fields outside Bethlehem they proclaimed, “Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please Him.”

How can you and I experience this peace?

I suggest you start your list making with a Christmas list of blessings. I was recently sent the following Christmas list of blessings, so I offer it to you as an example of what I am encouraging you to do.

My Christmas list is more than just a way to keep track of the special people God has brought into my life to love.

It’s like a treasured scrap book filled with pleasant memories of all the times God’s answered prayer through family and friends.

Every name’s a touchstone that leads to a place and time, where God has used another’s heart to reach out and touch mine.

It may have happened years ago or even yesterday but every person on my list has changed my life in some way.

Through simple conversation, a warm hug or a shared meal, every person on my list has helped me grow or heal, or laugh or love or learn or smile.

The blessings never end as God allows our paths to cross as family and friends.

Remembering the awesome endless love of God that is fully revealed in Jesus, whose birth we are preparing to celebrate and the love of God that is revealed through family and friends invites God’s peace, “a peace that surpasses all understanding” to break through the darkness of life, so that light of His glory and grace may dwell in you this Christmas season.

May the peace of Christ be with you.