Emily and I were recently invited to attend a missionary conference hosted by The Mission Society, our future sending agency. The conference is in Orlando in early January, and to our surprise we found that purchasing round-trip tickets to Orlando were close to the same price as purchasing multi-city tickets to Chicago and then Orlando. So we were able to visit my family in Wisconsin for a white, semi-destructive Christmas!
Here are some highlights:
1. Blowgun Stocking Stuffers
Years ago my parents decided to divide the gift-giving responsibilities as such: Mom buys the real gifts; Dad stuffs the stockings. Now, I think it's my Mom's opinion that grown men-boys with a median age of 30 should no longer be receiving stockings. But my Dad's youthful influence (he was our hero growing up because he was the only dad on the block who owned a TMNT t-shirt--and wore it constantly) wins out. Usually our stockings consist of enough candy to give your eyes a cavity, along with a Nerf gun or other harmless toy weapon. This year my father outdid himself. Instead of the harmless toy weapon, we received blowguns!
You know it's a true Christmas when you receive something with a label advertising its use in incapacitating small animals. We quickly proceeded to the basement to try them out. Don't worry, no small animals were harmed. Here's a video of my brother Justin getting into the holiday spirit!
2. Family, Family, FAMILY!
It's easy for me to imagine Jesus being as pumped about Christmas as a five-year-old kid, not only because it's a celebration of his incarnation, but also because the amount of love on display can be staggering. Emily and I have been basking in the warm, fire-like glow of family love for the past week and a half, and it has definitely been recharging our souls. We have been able to spend quality time with my parents, brothers (and their respective families), as well as a good number of my extended family. Last night was our white elephant gift exchange with my mom's side of the family. It was a blast. I received a pooping penguin that I managed to convince my cousins was filled with actual poop. I also learned what Pillow Pets are. My worldview has changed.
3. God Time
It has been really good to slow down and reflect on all that we've walked through. Things have been moving so quickly for the last couple of months that it has been easy to try to start attaching our own preconceived, go-to interpretations on certain life happenings. But we have both been able to just sit with Jesus and let Him share His version of the story with us. Here are some encouraging things God has introduced into our minds and hearts:
For Em: I started reading a book about the seasons in our lives called Spiritual Rhythm. The first chapter is on winter, and I felt something resonate as I read this paragraph. "Winter shames those in it. It feels like personal failure, something we've caused, or missed or faltered in. We chide ourselves for being there. We're sure it's our own fault. We wonder if we're crazy, lazy, stupid...The assumption is this: God can't be in winter." Sometimes it is easy to look at the circumstances and think that we missed it somewhere along the way. Yet I have been reminded of God's presence in the quiet times, and I really do believe He has gone before us, behind us and is leading us forward.
For Trav: "On the other hand, theology could be provisionally described as that which attempts to come to grips with this life-giving experience, to describe the source from which everything is suspended and from which our faith is born. In faith God is experienced as the absolute subject who grasps us, while in theology we set about reflecting upon this subject. Here the source of our desire is rendered into an (intellectual) object that we may reflect upon. In faith we are held, in theology we hold."
--Peter Rollins "How (Not) to Speak of God"
It is easy for me to confuse theology with faith. It is easy to put the emphasis on using the "right language" or saying the "right things" about God, which in turn can take precedence over faith. But I think that Peter Rollins' distinction is correct. Faith is about what God is actually doing in our lives, theology is about trying to give definition and language to what is happening and who God is. It is an important reminder to me that one aspect of theology is that it can confine God in a way, by confining him to language, and often to subjective experiences. But God is so much bigger! Even the simplest parable from Jesus is an example of how narrow our language and experiences can be. But faith--faith is to be held by God. Faith is to experience that (in some ways) unexplainable presence of God in our lives--it is to be transformed. And that is a beautiful thing.
Overall it has been an excellent first Christmas as a married partnership of complete, bodacious awesomeness. We are excited to learn a ton at the conference in Orlando, and then to return to Lima. We already have a youth group night we are in charge of in Condevilla, so it will be a quick dive back into Peru. Please pray that it will be more like a beautiful swan dive and less like a belly flop.
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