Life's Expectations

K2 The Church just posted their video from the Christmas eve services and I just had to share this with you all. You see, K2 The Church is growing fast in a place where another religion flourishes and for this to happen is such a miracle. Watching this message again after seeing the service 4 times during Christmas eve still touches me.

The first part of all services has a drama, but normally not as long and special as this one. Pastor Andy plays the ESPN announcer Dan Jackson and most of us didn't even recognize him with his hair combed. Pastor Dave had experience at ringing the bell for the Salvation Army and this is where the theme came from. The message of "All I Want For Christmas Is A Miracle" really fits in well, and today it gave me more hope and direction of how God expects me to be.

During the service everyone received a gift and all but one of them had a nickle in them, the one without contained a new iPod. This also fit the message well. Many of us have little expectations of what God can and will do and the last few days I was starting to get on this band wagon. Well, tonight I'm back at working for and expecting the miracles God can give us. I don't expect this all of the time but at least I have the hope that miracles can happen when He wants them to.

I don't want to drag this out so here is the video, I hope you enjoy it as much as many did at the service.

A Great Birthday Party

This past weekend was filled with love, joy, friendship, and miracles. My new found love for Jesus has given me a new birth in life filled with love and hope.

On Sunday I volunteered to serve at K2 The Church where I was able to meet many of the brothers and sisters who attend there regularly. K2 offered 4 services throughout the day and I was privileged to serve at all 4 services, greeting those that attended the services. The message for the day was "All I Want For Christmas Is... A Miracle", and each time I listened, I was able to gain more and more love for God. Having the opportunity for new life with God has opened many doors for me in the past month and all of them have been filled with love and care.

During 2 of the services I took a seat in the lounge area that contains a pool table, climbing wall, foose ball, and a coffee bar. I sat in one of the comfortable lounge chairs to watch the service on one of the many TV screens available. While watching the services 2 gentleman also took advantage of the relaxing chairs and the conversations began. I was blessed by the Lord with love and understanding from Norm and Bill along with some guidance on this new journey that I have begun. It was awesome how the Lord was working on that day and I was truly seeing miracles happen.

I had no plans for Christmas when, Andy, a pastor and spiritual leader for K2, ask me if I would like to join his family along with others who attend K2 for Christmas dinner, which I accepted. Andy picked me up on Christmas afternoon and off we went to the home of Brian and Mary where we joined their family and friends for a great celebration of Jesus' birthday. Yep, we even had a birthday party for Jesus, that included a cake inscribed with "Happy Birthday Jesus".

In my former years of Christmas, I always found myself being reserved and not partaking much with guests, but on this day I found myself feeling so loved and accepted that mingling and conversing was very easy, just as everyday is now since turning my life over to the Lord. You see, I don't need to lie or deceive others into being accepted and love, because I know that God and his family all love me. This is something that I really never experienced in the past, and man, it is just awesome.

Being reborn has brought many miracles during the past month and a half and this weekend was not to be without. The biggest miracle for me was LOVE.I had many people during the weekend just walk up and give me a hug and tell me that they loved me, and these were from people I've never met before. To me this was God showing me how much he loves and cares for each and everyone of his children. Another miracle that is still in the process is the offering of an apartment. Tomorrow I will start my search for a new warm place to rest my head which has been offered to me by some of my new family. I was so grateful for this offer that throughout the night I found myself waking and thanking our Lord for this opportunity.

I'm headed off to work now with one of the largest smiles and warmest feelings about my new journey which is all possible because of the birth of Jesus Christ, who's birthday party I attended yesterday.

A Homeless Merry Christmas

I had my meeting with Andy and all went well, in fact I now have a new bible with a leather cover and zipper that I can carry in a pack without tearing it apart. Andy also gave me a new book to read, "Wild At Heart" by John Eldredge. It was great just to be able to talk with Andy truthfully about my life and where I'm at. He'll be praying during the coming week on who will be the best fit to disciple me in the Lord's ways.

During my days of working at a mall I've witnessed many who I do not believe know what the true meaning of Christmas is. Most people I see running around and trying to find the right gift, the most expensive gift, the biggest gift, the best gift. I see people with short tempers, unhappy, and feeling totally pressured by their idea what Christmas is about. Well I feel they are missing out on the understanding and purpose of Christmas.

Would it really hurt just to slow down a little bit and actually remember what Christmas is about?

For me Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ, the one who done as his Father ask. The one who sacrificed his life for us all and its through Christ's blood that those of us who believe will have eternal life. It's about peace and joy, fellowship and purpose, and of course the biggest, love, trust and faith for someone who gave his all for you and I. It is a day to thank Jesus for all He has done for me and others around me.

Sometimes I would just love to stop everyone and ask what they feel the true meaning of Christmas is. Of course many wouldn't stop because they feel they have no time. I do pray that those who do not understand Christmas' purpose, become acquainted with the person who's birth we are celebrating.

If you are thinking of donating items for those who are homeless I have a few suggestions:

Socks: Everyone of us enjoys being able to put on new socks
Knit Hats: Nothing like being able to keep the old noggin warm
Warm Gloves: Many of us tend to loose or misplace gloves during are shuttles throughout the day
Razors: Here in Salt Lake they can become a highly sought commodity for us
P38: For those of you that don't know, it's a army can opener you can carry in your pocket
Underarm deodorant: the stick kind preferably
Thermals: A must and great for the cold weather states

If you want to give something special, throw in some instant coffee bags or a couple of candy bars. Whatever you do give, you can be assured that all of us who are homeless are grateful for you help.

I most likely will be unable to post anymore until after Christmas, so I would like to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas and I thank you for your prayers, trust, and faith in me. This may be another homeless Christmas for me, but it also is a special one, because I know in my heart what Christmas truly is all about.

Retailers Who Celebrate Christmas

I guess I've been in the dark ages about retailers who have eliminated Christmas from their marketing materials. Two days ago I noticed a blog stating that some retailers are avoiding the use of the word Christmas and use Happy Holiday this year, as a suggestion by the ACLU. The thought of this just got me jumping mad. I became upset that retailers were eliminating Christmas, when actually they should be adding niche marketing efforts for the celebrations of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa along with other non-christian celebrations.

I was ready to grab up the sword and go into battle with the ACLU!

After a quick search about the ACLU and the use of Christmas, the only article I could find written by the ACLU was, "How the ACLU Didn't Steal Christmas", which was written back during the 2005 Christmas season. It states at that time the ACLU had no lawsuits or other litigation concerning the use of Christmas. I did, however, find many articles and lawsuits against the use of Nativity scenes and other Christmas oriented forms of recognizing Christmas.

I kept my searching up on this subject and found a site Stop The ACLU, which is suggesting that the ACLU wants Christmas out of the retailers marketing plans. I found the "Committee to save Merry Christmas", which contacts retailers suggesting bringing back Christmas to their stores. They also had a list of retailers who celebrate Christmas and those who were not. After more searching I located an article stating that a couple of retailers listed by savemerrychristmas.org, as not celebrating Christmas had actually brought it back to their marketing programs these included Wal-Mart and Target.

I never found any strong evidence that the ACLU suggested retailers not to celebrate Christmas. Darn, there goes my battle.

For myself, Christmas is a time to show my love for our Savior by acknowledging His birth. I was into the gift thing when I was a kid but now see to much commercialism with Christmas, which has turned me off. This doesn't mean that I don't celebrate Christmas, because I will this year by thanking Jesus for His sacrifice for our sins and just spending time with God throughout the day of Christmas. My gift to others, is sharing our glorious God with them.