Baghdad – 12/24/07 (Smells of Christmas)

Dear Family and Friends,

It is hard to believe that we are so close to Christmas.  It is different over here.  There aren’t commercials on TV to buy this and that for Christmas; as a mater of fact I haven’t seen one Christmas ad on TV here.  Part of it may be that we are in the Middle East, but I haven’t even seen any on the Armed Forces Network (AFN).

Saturday night I went to the MWR lounge in the palace where about 30 Ugandans were to sing Christmas songs.  They got there about an hour late and had to reduce the number of songs down because it was so late, but their performance made the Christmas season even more real to us that were there.

In less than two weeks, Lord willing, I am going to meet Ann, Katie, and Doug in Paris and then we are going to fly to Zurich.  We then take a 2-1/2 hour train ride to Lauterbrunnen, where we have rented a three-bedroom apartment in the Swiss Alps.  Here is a picture taken before winter arrived:

As I am sitting here on Christmas Eve (Baghdad time) I think about all the blessings of my life. I have been blessed by loving parents, a beautiful and beloved wonderful woman who chose to love and marry me, wonderful and kind children, and dear friends.  Most of all, I and we all have been blessed by our God who chose a long time ago to sacrifice His own Son so that we could have eternal life and live with Him.

Christmas:  What does it really mean to us?  When I was talking to Ann this morning I asked her if the house smelled like Christmas.  You know, the smells of the Christmas tree, fresh baked cookies, cinnamon, bayberry, and candies.  I can almost smell them all.   I can almost feel the freshness of the winter air that seeps in every time the door opens either to let someone in or to let someone out to do another last-minute errand. I can almost see the decorations on the houses on Walnut Street in Wilmington, Ohio…

Is Christmas just the smells of the season, the snowmen, the decorations, or the presents?  Being here in Baghdad, I am not able to enjoy the season like you are all doing there, but don’t feel sorry for me.  This time here has caused me to really think about my life and what I have done with it.  It has also made me ask myself what do I want to do with the rest of my life?  Most of all, I hope this time has helped me grow closer to God.

Don’t misunderstand me, I am still the same person I was when I got here.  I still have the same faults, same look (less hair perhaps), and same history.  I hope though, that even with my shortcomings, that He has helped me to understand that our lifes are but a wisp, a wisp that He has given us to make a difference.  For some of us, the difference may be raising Godly children, working for a charity, healing people, preaching sermons, singing in a choir, or just living a life that we hope is pleasing to God.  

As part of the wisp of our lifes, we have many Christmas days.  How is our Christmas now different than it was many years ago?  For me, Christmas long ago became less about me and more about others.  Perhaps that is the message that He gave us by sending us His Son.  It is not about us, but about Him.

Now, it is time to really think and praise Him for all he has done for us.  Our breath and the beats of our hearts were given to us from Him.  Not a beat of our heart goes by without Him knowing.  I pray that this Christmas, that I can give back to Him something that is not about me, but about Him. 

I hope you make time to go to a Christmas Eve service, or a Christmas Day service.  Take time from your busy holiday time to go and give thanks to Him.  Not for the gifts that we have under the tree, but for the ultimate gift that lives in our hearts, the gift of eternal life.

Please remember in your prayers the service men and women that are here.  If you see one in uniform there, please take a moment and thank them.

This may be my last post before Christmas.  In case it is, Merry Christmas to you all.  Thank you for your love and support.

Love,
Jim