Christmas is a season of transition…Jesus moving from the heavenly realm to earth. It’s in this time that we especially gather together…just like everyone did at the manger. Christmas is a time of awe at what God has done and will do. All of these were experienced some 2,000 years ago and they are being experienced in our home this Christmas as I transition out of my current job with Young Life.
I’m not sure if Christmas could be better tagged than as a time of transition as modeled by God’s great move “into our neighborhood” (John 1:1, The Message). Obviously, this Christmas is a time of transition for us as well. We are moving out of a “neighborhood,” a job, we have loved for over a dozen years. It’s a big move. We take great solace in know that God understands what it means to be in transition.
With our transition, it’s an especially important time for our family to gather. Families have been gathering for centuries around the Holy Christmas night, doing exactly what was modeled in Nazareth, “Come let us adore Him.” With our family strung across the west, we are going to gather in the South before attending Young Life’s All-Staff Conference. We are looking forward to visiting the deep Rutledge family roots in Charleston, S.C. and also being together.
Finally, Christmas is a time of awe around what God has done in coming to Earth and also in what He will do for us through His Son in those following few decades. We are in a similar place this Christmas. We are in awe of what God has done in this Region and in our family life over the last 12 years. We are also in awe of the amazing work that God is going to do in next few decades. At the manger this was a time of awe and it is a time of awe at the Rutledge house.
All of these are true of Christmas. They are especially true for us this Christmas season and we pray that they are for you as well…that you’d understand God’s grand transition of Bethlehem, that you’d gather and share about God’s movement in your life and finally that you’d reflect upon what God has done and will do through you and those around you. Merry Christmas.
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