The Week Link

First, thanks to everyone who gave kind words about the Christmas essay from yesterday.

Second, on Christmas Eve, in the spirit of what 611 is trying to be, here's an uber-interesting look at some organizations doing good work that you may have never heard of before.

Life changers

Have a great Christmas Eve, and after opening the presents, you can check out Friday's Finds tomorrow.

Living the H.I. Life (humpday inspiration)

Last week I wrote an original Christmas essay telling the Christmas story, only this essay came with a twist.  Because I was doing this for family, there are 40 candy bar or gum brand names within the story, and each person in our family received one of the brands named.  I'm posting the story here, and I hope you enjoy it.

The Candy Christmas

It was a cold, snowy Christmas Eve night, four degrees below zero, as the Hersheys drove home from the local department store.  Hank Hershey and his dad, Clark, had just been on a miniature shopping spree, as it was payday at Clark’s work, and they had finished picking up all the watchamacallits and thingamajigs for the family Christmas gathering the next day.  Hank knew it would only take five more minutes to get home, and he was not looking forward to the annual tradition that would come once they settled in for the night.

“Dad, do we have to go through the Christmas story again?” asked Hank, hoping he could escape the inevitable.

Clark snapped back, “You know this is what our family does.  We’ve been doing this on Christmas Eve since before your mother passed away.”  It had been just Clark and Hank in the house ever since Evelyn, Clark’s high school sweetheart, had died four years earlier.  “Besides, it’s good to remember why we celebrate Christmas before we celebrate it.”  Clark launched into a short rant about priorities, but in doing so he missed the turn into their neighborhood, and had to drive an extra mile to circle back to their home.

Hank chuckled, “Maybe our new Christmas Eve tradition can be to orbit our own home.”  Clark was a good father, and was very patient with his ten year old son’s newfound sarcasm.  He pulled into the garage, and he and Hank carried in the heavy bags of treasures they had just purchased, managing not to crunch any of the next day’s gifts.

As Hank started for the living room, Clark quipped, “Hang up your coat (York oat), and then we’ll meet in your bedroom to go through the story together.”

Hank predictably began his protest.  “Dad, Andy’s parents don’t make him do the story anymore, and Reece’s family stopped reading the story together three years ago.”

“Well, son, Hershey isn’t Andy’s or Reece’s last name, but it is yours, and the Hershey’s go through the Christmas story on Christmas Eve.  So I’ll meet you in your room in a minute, and we’ll start the story together.”

Clark watched his son stride down the hall to his bedroom, and then started down the hall after him as Hank dove under the covers of his bed.  “Rollover,” Clark demanded as he walked through the doorway, “you’re hogging the whole mattress.”  As he plopped down on Hank’s bed, he opened his leather-bound NIV bible to the same page that Evelyn opened it to for the first time only nine years earlier.

Hank made one last attempt to avoid the story.  “Dad, shouldn’t we wrap the presents we just got before tomorrow?”  But Clark clearly rebuffed his young son once again, “No, we’ll go through the story now, and later we can just put everything bought in old gift bags.” 

As was the tradition, Clark let Hank decide which part of the story they would read.  “Alright, son, what’s it gonna be this year; a section from Matthew, or a section from Luke?”  Every year Hank had the option of focusing on a specific section of the story, but he always found that whatever he picked, Clark was always able to bring the story around to make the baby Jesus the centerpiece.

“How about this year we talk about the part with the three musketeers?” Hank said with a less than discreet snicker. 

“You mean the three wise men?” Clark corrected.

Hank’s giggle was now more than obvious. “Yeah,” he answered.  “The sugar daddies who brought Jesus all the gold, fur, and Franken-something.  What was with them?  When aunt Lisa had her baby Ruth, all we gave her was a hat and mittens”

Clark was un-phased by his son’s squirrely-ness on this particular Christmas Eve.  “Hank, we did the wise men part of the story last year, so why don’t we try a different part of the story this time.  Why don’t we take a look at the shepherds this year?”  Hank finally caught the hint that his dad was serious, and so he sheepishly nodded as his dad started in on the story.

“A star burst from the sky just over Bethlehem, and an angel appeared to the shepherds watching their sheep, proclaiming that unto them a child is born in Bethlehem…and the shepherds traveled over mounds and through valleys to see this child whom the angel spoke of…”  Clark’s voice got louder and louder while he read the story to his son as if it was the first time that Hank had heard it.

When Clark finished reading, Hank was ready with questions.  “Dad, how did the shepherds know that what they were following was a star?  How did they know it wasn’t an eclipse, or maybe something else weird happening in the Milky Way?”  Hank always was one to pose questions.

“Oh, Henry,” sighed Clark, as he smiled and shook his head, “the point of the story isn’t the star.  The point of the story is God sent his son to live on earth.”

“But I don’t really get why God would do that.  Why couldn’t God and his son stay together?  Why do parents and kids get split up sometimes?”  Hank quickly realized the tears in his own eyes from missing his mother, and buried his face into his dad’s chest. 

Clark kissed the top of Hank’s head, and comforted his son.  He waited for Hank to finish his crying, and when Hank began to wipe his face with his sleeve, Clark started saying something that Hank would never forget.  “Buddy, I love you so much.  And your mom loved you just as much as I do.  But as much as your mom and I love you, God loves you even more.  That’s why He sent His son, because we wouldn’t have known how much He loves us unless he sent Jesus.  That’s why we read the Christmas story on Christmas Eve.  If we didn’t read the story, Christmas would still be good, and plenty of gifts would get unwrapped.  But we read the story together because Christmas is about how much God loves us, and how he showed his love to us.”

Hank jumped in with one more question.  “So God sent his son just for me?”

Clark seized the opportunity, and answered with a smile, “God sent his son for you, but He didn’t send his son just for you.  He sent His son for the smart people and the airheads.  He sent His son for the cool people and the nerds.  He sent His son to be a life saver for everyone, because He loves everyone.  That’s why our favorite Christmas song is Joy to the World, because God’s love should bring joy to everyone.”

That Christmas Eve was the last time that anyone tried to get out of the Christmas story in the Hershey home.  As the years went on, Hank would look forward to reading his mom’s old leather bound NIV with his dad, and after a while, Clark would let Hank read the story to him.  And every time they read, they were reminded of a snowy Christmas Eve, when the real meaning of Christmas changed Hank’s life forever.

The End

Super Tuesday

There was an article today in the Detroit News that outlined the budget struggles of Michigan's public school system.  (You can check it out here)  The reality of our school systems, both in and out of this state, is that they are now starting to feel the impact of our country's economic woes.  The result is a crunching of budgets and the further exploration of how to maximize the resources to which our schools already have access.  All of this brings us to our Super Tuesday Poll of the Week.

Two sets of curriculum that are being used in school systems around us are the Advanced Placement Program and the International Baccalaureate Program.  Each curriculum is designed to prepare our students for their post high school education track.  But if you are limited to one curriculum to chose for the school in your area, which curriculum has your allegiance?  Let's take a closer look:

Advanced Placement Program - Of the two sets of curriculum, this track has been around longer.  Their website (linked here) can give you the general idea of what the AP program is, and The NY Times did a fantastic piece on the pros and cons of this program yesterday.  For the sake of comparison, let's label the AP program as focused  more on the extent of your knowledge base.

International Baccalaureate Program - Of the two sets of curriculum, this track is the newer track.  In fact, there are only 17 high schools in Michigan that currently offer the IB program, with 4 of them (Fenton, Clarkston, Notre Dame Prep, and Detroit Country Day) in our immediate area.  For the sake of comparison, only 13 schools in Illinois offer IB.  You can read on the IB program here, and this is one example of it's implementation in a Florida high school.  The IB has a CAS (Creative, Active, Service work) aspect to the curriculum that gives it a slightly different focus.  For the sake of comparison, let's label the IB program as focused more on the application of your knowledge base.

So, read up, form an opinion, and cast your vote for the curriculum you believe our schools should be using, as the next generation's priorities will be shaped by the kind of decisions that we make today.

Semi-thoughts

This post isn't in place of any other posts that will happen this week, but it just so happened that I've been overwhelmed with semi-thoughts for the last couple days, and none of them fit into the other weekly formats of this particular space.  These semi-thoughts have many applications, but I'll let you come up with those, and if you're so moved, you can write them under this post.  So consider this post a "bonus" post: a gift to you on this Christmas week:

• Each of us has a personal experience through which we understand God and the world, with each experience having its own unique twists, creating a point of view that is not shared by anyone else.  This is why it is a moral covenant of humanity to share our stories with one another.  If no else knows the context through which you see the world, then you are robbing from everyone, taking from them a piece of the puzzle God has given us to help us better understand His creation.  
• Why is it that when I put down a thought with a dot next to it, it's called a "bullet point"?  The dot doesn't look like a bullet at all, and the thought I'm writing isn't shot out of any kind of weapon.  I'm now very interested in the word processing linguistics reasoning as to how the "bullet point" got its name.
• At 611, we are doing a 4 week focus on ministry to children/orphans, and the final Sunday of that focus is Valentine's Day.  So we found out today that we have an agreement with Whaley Children's home in Flint, Mi that we're allowed to throw a big Valentine's party on that day for all of the children that are in their program at that night's 611, for the purpose of letting them know that they are loved.  This may be one of the top 3 coolest things I'll have gotten to do up to that point in my life.  Let us know if you want to help us make it happen.
• It struck me recently that the part of us that leads to our greatest successes is many times the part of us that leads to our greatest failures.  The totality of our lives can be measured by how we are aware, connect with, and then put to use the greatest gifts that God has created within us.  You may be savvy, meticulous, creative, thoughtful, confident, well read, unique, or a jack-of-all-trades.  Not one of these traits, in and of itself, is good or bad.  But each trait is both loaded with potential yet filled with blind spots.  If we can harness in ourselves that which has the potential to be great, together, all of us can have immeasurable impact on our world.

The Post Mortem

A couple quick observations from 611 last night:

1.  Talking to a large group of people is difficult enough, and it gets more difficult when you're trying to build a manger at the same time.

2.  It's good to have your dad in the area to bail you out if you can't figure something out.

3.  I now know what a toggle switch is.

Regardless, the point of 611 last night was that even though God is relentlessly pursuing us because He loves us, we still have to make room for him:  in our calendar, in our checkbook, in our priorities, in our life.

I do want to also say, with one 611 left in the year, that I am uber-thankful for each one of you that have been part of this new faith community, whether through the worship services, the service projects, or online.  We are barely 4 months old, and I believe God is using each one of you to make a huge difference in our community.  I pray you continue to find ways in the new year to be a part of God's work already being done around you.

Finally...Check the blog out Wednesday (H.I. Life), as I've written an interesting Christmas essay that you may enjoy that will be posted for this week's humpday inspiration.