Irony: finding comfort in discomfort

Comfort. Your favorite sweatpants, a warm cup of tea, and a good book next to a fire on a cold day. Oh, and don't forget the fuzzy socks.

Are you drooling yet?

I love being comfortable, in fact, I have been convicted recently that I might love it just a little too much...and it may just be time for me to step away from the fireplace and get out of those sweatpants and fuzzy socks.

I'm not saying comfort is a bad thing, but I am saying that too much of it certainly can be. I live a pretty "comfortable" life. I have a roof over my head, I get a check every other week, I never worry about where my next meal will come from, and I surround myself with people that are a lot like me. I find comfort in all of those things.

For twenty of the last sixty days, however, I decided to leave a lot of that comfort behind. Ten of those days were spent in El Salvador, which was an incredible experience. (You can read more about that here) The other ten of those days were spent bouncing around Europe.  On both of those trips, I had no choice but to experience different cultures, attempt to communicate in at least 4 different languages, sleep in places I never desire to again, and eat food that my body doesn't know what to do with. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining! Most of that I asked for, even chose.

At the time I didn't necessarily love being put in those "uncomfortable" situations, but since being back and having time to process I have realized that not only did those experiences make me so much more aware of my sin, but they also brought me to my knees and forced me to be totally dependent upon the Lord.

You see, on both trips I was forced out of my comfort zone and put in places and situations that I had never experienced before. I was forced to seek the Lord and ask for his provision because I had no knowledge of my own to draw from.

Woof. Let THAT sink it.

 I was forced to seek the Lord and ask for his provision because I had no knowledge of my own to draw from. 

Let me explain by using a really weird analogy because the Lord has a really great sense of humor and uses those quite often to teach me...

When I am in a place that's comfortable and known then I don't have to think twice about where I am going to get my next meal or lay my head that night. I know that there is a Chuy's just a few minutes into town and even a sonic just around the corner. If I'm hungry I know exactly where to go and what to do to satisfy that hunger. I don't feel the need to seek provision because I am so used to operating on my own knowledge and capabilities. When in an unknown place I get a little uncomfortable when I start getting hungry. I have no idea where to even begin to look for food. I don't know the street names or the good/bad places of town. When attempting to operate out of my own capability I could just settle for the first thing that comes along...which is exactly what we did in Paris on our European Adventure. We wandered into a restaurant that was closest to the Eiffel Tower simply because we were tired and hungry and it was the first thing we saw. This resulted in me being terribly disappointed when my "Frankfurter and Fries" came out. What I was expecting to be a gourmet European hot dog (partially because I had seen a delicious looking one earlier and partially because it cost 15 euro) ended up being literally just two boiled Oscar Meyer weenies thrown onto a place next to a pile of french fries. Yup. Did I mention that it cost 15 euro??! Hopefully you share in my disappointment. From then on, we decided to approach our meals a little differently. In fact, we approached our every move differently: we sought the Lord in almost every decision and situation because we didn't know what else to do. When our time in Paris was quickly coming to an end and we only had time for one last stop before catching our overnight train we decided to pray very specifically. We didn't want to end our time in Paris with another overpriced plate of Oscar Meyer wieners. So we prayed, "Lord, please just let us find falafel and a good crepe stand!" We prayed it aloud as we were strolling the streets of Paris. I am not going to say that we were not sincere in this prayer, but at at the same time I can't say that I was really expectant. At least not until we turned a corner five minutes later and saw this...

...provision. 

 Look at the picture closely and you can see that there is a greek gyro place literally right across the path from a crepe stand. Pretty cool, huh? The best part though is that finding crepes and falafel wasn't something we took for our own and did out of our own knowledge or capabilities. I couldn't find that street again if I tried. We sought the Lord and his provision and it made our falafel and crepes SO much more satisfying.

This is a silly example, I know, but there is a lesson to be learned.

Rather than just taking something for our own and on our own timing, we waited on the Lord. We sought HIS provision and HIS timing. Doing so wasn't us saying that we couldn't find food on our own, it was us humbly admitting that we didn't WANT to. We had already tried and we knew that it only led, ultimately, to disappointment.


 So I guess what I am really trying to say is that when I am comfortable it's easy to default to MY knowledge and MY experiences and MY abilities. In doing so, I easily forget that ALL good things come from my Father, the giver of all good gifts and not from myself. It took being uncomfortable in unfamiliar places and situations to see this.

Ellie Holcomb says it beautifully in her song "Only Hope I've Got" ...

I take all the gifts that You have given and I stake my claim like they're my own,
Will You help me when I forget to remember,the good I've got is yours alone,
 Because I don't want to tell some arrogant story
or let myself believe I'm you.
I don't wanna be a thief who's stealing Your glory...
Will You help remind me of what is true?
The ONLY hope I've got...
It's You. 

I am learning to find the comfort in discomfort, and that it is actually a good thing. Discomfort creates dependence upon my Creator and not myself and that is a GOOD THING!

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! -Psalm 34:8 

The Beauty in Babel

Just over 24 hours ago I was in a different part of the world. I was in El Salvador, which isn't just another country, but also has a different culture, climate, and language.

Obviously I realized all of these things before traveling there, which is why I was anxious to go. It wasn't my first time out of the country; I actually went on a similar trip last year and you can read about it here. The biggest difference this time from any other is the weight of responsibility and fear of failure that I felt. Let me expound upon that a little more...

Every three years Christian Camping International (CCI) and Pine Cove create a new partnership with a church or organization in Latin America. This year, we began a three year partnership with a church called Vida Nueva. This should be a really awesome and exciting thing (here comes the "but")...but, I was entrusted with the responsibility to co-lead this team. So here I am, 23 years old, co-leading a team of 19-22 year old college students to a country I have never been to before to partner with people I have never met before and who speak a language I cannot speak. Needless to say, the thought of this was slightly overwhelming. I had been on a trip like this before, but I had never been responsible for leading one. Naturally where fear lives there are also lies that like to cohabitate too. I began to feel unequipped, inadequate, and totally unprepared...which is exactly where I needed to be in order to learn the things that God wanted to teach me.

When I arrived in Dallas for our orientation time with all of the other Commission Camping teams, the Lord began to work. He immediately gave me an overwhelming peace that only His presence can. It didn't change the realization that this trip could be really hard, but it did reassure me that regardless of where I went or what happened that God would always be there with His hand on the situation and that my labor would not be in vain. The more I dug into the sea of fears swimming around inside my heart, I realized it all came down to the language barrier. I knew how to do camp, how to teach camp, how to be relational with our PC team, and I was even passionate about all of those things. What I didn't (and still don't) know how to do is communicate in a differently language, Spanish in this case. I was fearful of getting there and not being able to communicate our philosophy for camping, servant leadership, love, and the Gospel...and if I wasn't able to communicate any of those things then what was the point in even going?

My fear and anxiety was somewhat relieved when we were greeted in El Salvador by our contact, David, whose English was just as good if not better than mine! Although this was a huge relief, I knew that we would still need to meet/communicate with the National staff and the campers that would be coming to camp in a few days.

Now that you know where my heart was, let's fast forward and get to part where God does the really incredible stuff. So, we met the National staff and spent a full day getting to bond with them. A lot of them knew English, and the ones that didn't were put at ease when we attempted to speak Spanish to them, especially when one of the guys from our team introduced himself as "Yo soy Tejas" (that means "I am Texas" for all of you non-Spanish speakers like me). So God was gracious to allow us to communicate decently well and start to bond with the National staff.

The next morning in my quiet time, part of my bible reading for the day was to read Genesis 11 which talked about the people of Babel. They had become so confident and comfortable in themselves and their community that they wanted to build a tower to make a name for themselves. God decided this wasn't good and dispersed them among the face of the Earth and confused their languages. Well, that was a convenient passage to read considering I was experiencing firsthand the effects of the selfishness and pride of the people of Babel. I immediately related with the people of Babel and saw how comfortable I had become in relying on my words and only finding community in people who were similar to me because that was what was easy and familiar. Woof. Thankfully, we serve a gracious and loving God who has a plan and purpose for everything. Even though he scattered the people of Babel and confused their languages, they still all shared a common-thread of unity and brotherhood, which I realized was also the case for our relationship with the people of El Salvador. From that point on, God graciously allowed me to see this common-thread in all that we did. We weren't always able to articulate everything we wanted, but we shared a common bond in Christ and it always came back to that. So once I was freed of my fear and anxiety, God completely blew my expectations out of the water and showed me just how good, gracious, and powerful He was and is. I didn't let my fear of the language barrier keep me from loving these people deeply and learning to live in community with them. I saw this in the people on our team as well as the National team too. By the end of the first day of camp, we were laughing, dancing, and sharing life with people of a different language, culture, and Nationality...all in the name of Christ.

In one of our last meetings with the National staff, we posed a question. At that point we had discussed and modeled a lot of philosophy (mainly intentionality, servant leadership and "It's Not About Me"), so we wanted to ask them if they had any questions about why we did the things we did or wanted to know more about anything they had heard or seen. No one moved or raised a hand. It was quiet for a good 15 seconds and then one of the counselors, Christy, raised her hand. She explained that no one had any questions because they knew exactly why we had come and had done everything we had done. She continued by saying that from day one we had made it clear that we were there to show Christ's love and to serve just as he had in humility and love.

Wow.

What an incredible God we serve! For the longest time I had been so fearful of the language barrier and what a hindrance it would be for us to communicate our purpose, but in reality the whole time God was working in incredible ways by using our lack of verbal communication to show the people of El Salvador His love and servant-hood solely by our actions. Our words were nothing but babble (a term affectionately coined from the story of Babel) to them majority of the time, but it didn't matter. God had a message to share with the people of Vida Nueva in El Salvador and He not only did that, but He allowed our team to be a vessel for it and to be part of His plan.

So now I see the beauty in Babel. The beauty in being forced out of what is comfortable for the sake of not relying on something that is easy and familiar, but instead relying on something that runs much deeper and is so much sweeter. Instead of finding comfort in familiarity and seeking to build a name for myself, I now desire to continue to find the beauty in Babel by not allowing a different language, religion, culture, Nationality,or  physical appearance to keep me from finding community with someone in the name of Christ and to constantly seek the common-thread of brotherhood and unity with those that God puts in my path no matter how different they may be.

I will never forget seeing both the National staff and precious, tiny El Salvadorian campers stand in front of our team on the last day and testify to the work that God had done through us and the love they felt from us. Those words are burned into my memory forever and I am brought to tears every time I re-live those moments. God used those people in a  mighty way to show me the beauty in Babel and a compleley new aspect of His character.

Lately...

Well, as some of you may know, my job has very different seasons throughout the year. All are awesome in their own unique way, and I enjoy them all equally for different reasons. It's been entirely way too long since I've posted on here, so I thought I would attempt to get back into the swing of things...consistency is actually a personal goal that I am focusing on this year (random side note) so we shall see!

Anyways, summer came to an abrupt end in late August. I still haven't gotten a chance to fully process that season of life yet, but once I do I'm sure I will blog about it! In the meantime, here's a glimpse of what I've been doing since...

We came right off of summer and started prepping for our retreat/recruiting season. So I have spent a lot of time the last few months praying, prepping, and then actually getting to interview some of the coolest college students there are (at none other than A&M, of course). One of my responsibilities for the trip was to blog about it. I thought instead of regurgitating everything from that post onto this one I would just give you the link here if you were interested to see what all that entailed! Check it out! Until next time...

One of Those Days

One of those days. You know, the kind of days that one moment you are completely content just going about your day and then all of a sudden it hits you. "It" could be anything, depending upon the person, but for me "it" was the urge to just pick up the phone to call my mom. Just to tell her something completely random because I knew she would've appreciated it and it would've made her laugh. Thing is, I couldn't. My mom passed away two years ago. Funny thing is though, she is still an integral part of my life...so much so that it just seems normal to want to pick up the phone to call her...to laugh, joke, and share stories & advice like we always used to.

Days like this are bittersweet reminders. Bitter because my mom's absence is even more evident. Sweet because she left such a lasting impression on me that if I just close my eyes I can still see her big smile with those pearly white teeth and hear her laugh that instantly brought joy to any room.

It's days like these that I am reminded of just how much pain comes with losing someone you love. But, it's also days like this that I am reminded of the goodness of the Gospel. My flesh tells me to mope around and feel sorry for myself because of the pain that I feel, but God's word tells me to seek hope in something greater...Someone greater. Someone who is much bigger than any pain or void that I can ever feel. Someone who will take that pain and trade it for life-giving hope that produces JOY.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith[b] into this grace in which we stand, and we[c] rejoice[d] in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." -Romans 5:1-5

"The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish."-Proverbs 10:28

You see, it is days like these that I realize my need for the Gospel daily. Without it, I become prideful and Satan tricks me into believing I can fix things on my own. That I should just brush off the pain because I don't need to bother anyone with my burdens. The problem with that is that means satan is getting exactly what he wants and I start distinguishing myself by the pain I've suffered. The reality is, God WANTS us to "bother" Him with our burdens (Matthew 11:28//Psalm 55:22). Ben Stuart says it well, "Don't strive to distinguish yourself by the pain you've suffered, but by your ability to move past the pain and be a blessing to people." 

So, today I choose to not let it be just another one of those days. Today I choose to "bother" God by laying my burdens at His feet. The loss of my mom will always be bittersweet, but I do not have to let it steal my joy. I can let the God who has overcome the world fill me with peace that surpasses all understanding. But, I have to trust Him enough to let Him. Instead of believing that my pain is a result of God's failure to give me good things, I choose to believe that what He gives me is best...and more than enough!

What is "it" for you that Satan can use to trick you into believing lies that steal your joy? Instead of chalking one of those days up to "it", refresh your soul with the hope and goodness of His promises so that you can move past "it" to be a blessing to others!

The essence of fear is not knowing the outcome. Revelations 19. I know the outcome. God wins. And in the end I will be singing Hallelujiah.

Southern Hospitality

As some of you may already know, in a few short hours I am starting a 10 day adventure to Latin America with Pine Cove. Each year Pine Cove partners with Commission Camping International (CCI) and sends teams from each camp to different countries to partner with a church and put on a camp for the children there. You can read more about it here: http://www.pinecove.com/missions/commission_camping 

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go on one of these trips two years ago as a summer staffer with the Timbers team to Costa Rica. This was our first year to partner with the church there, La Iglesia Nazareth, and my first time to ever go abroad! I had high expectations and a few preconceived notions, but all were radically changed after encountering another country and culture for the very first time. As the blog title eludes, I experienced hospitality that was both unexpected and humbling. This southern hospitality was not the kind that can be found here in the southern states, it was better. The Lord allowed the people and places on this trip to leave a huge impression on my heart that I will never forget. As I begin to share this new journey with you, I would love to share with you a few excerpts from my journal as I was reflecting on my trip two years ago: 

"Wow, I don’t even know where to begin. Every time I attempt to sit down and re-cap our journey to Costa Rica I am still brought to tears and stirred with strong affections for the relationships I was able to build, all of the work that God did, and the sight of His wondrous creation! We arrived in Costa Rica really late the first night...
I was a little nervous when we were told we’d be staying alone in a host home, but was highly relieved when the girl I would be staying with, Silvia, spoke very good English! I was welcomed with open arms by her parents (at 11:30 PM) with jugo de uva y galletas (grape juice and cookies). We talked a little bit (with Silvia as our translator because her parents spoke no English) and I felt myself feeling more and more at home with every passing minute. The biggest thing that I took away from the people in Costa Rica was their hospitality. I never felt like I was inconveniencing them at all. I went expecting to give, give, give to them, but ended up actually receiving, receiving, receiving.Every time I came “home”, Silvia’s mom had something new to give me. She called me her daughter and continually expressed how thankful she was to have me in her home. She cooked for me and even hand-washed my clothes without me asking! On my last night at the host home (we stayed three nights: the first, middle, and last nights) I truly felt like part of the family as we sat in the living room watching futbol, talking, laughing, and just hanging out in our pajamas. I have no doubt that if I ever went back to Costa Rica I would be welcomed, once again, with open arms by Silvia, Elisabeth, and Moises...
Even though Silvia spoke English the language barrier was still a significant obstacle to tackle. I couldn’t ask her to translate everything, so there were many times that I felt absolutely useless. I had nothing to contribute. After being a counselor at Pine Cove, intentionality has been drilled into my head. I wanted to make every moment with these girls intentional, but how could I do that though if the most I could say in Spanish was “hello” and “where’s the bathroom?”. Later I realized though, this was a lesson in humility. God didn’t need me to contribute anything but love, and that was all I had to give. It wasn’t my place to be the one building relationships with these girls because I am not the one that was going to be there the next week or year when they needed someone. That was Silvia’s place. I wasn’t sure what was being talked about in bible study, at meals, or at night before lights out, but I just had to trust that God was in every moment and was revealing exactly what He wanted to those girls." 

This is just a small glimpse into the huge lessons I learned from the people in Costa Rica through their incredible hospitality and overcoming the language barrier. The biggest take away that I am still applying to my life today, especially as we prepare to go back to Costa Rica, is that I will never have anything of real value to offer anyone apart from my Lord, Jesus Christ. Without Him, my words and actions truly are useless. Sometimes my pride allows me to think that there is something that I can do to help someone or that I need to always have something to offer. The bible talks a lot about love, but the few verses that come to mind for me are 1 John 4:7 and Matthew 22:37-39, which both talk about how love is from God and we are called to first love God and then love our neighbors as ourselves. I invite you to look these verses up for yourself and instead of striving each day to see what you can do or what you can offer someone, to simply put on love and seek to love and serve others out of the love you have received through Christ. That is what I will be praying that our team does as we spend 10 days with the people of Costa Rica!

Follow us on our adventure here: Timbers Take on Costa Rica!

Immanuel, God With Us

Why do I celebrate this Christmas?

²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”
²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[g] (which means “God with us”). - Matthew 1:21-23

This video says it all, and really well at that. Have a blessed and merry Christmas!


Advent: God With Us from The Village Church on Vimeo.

Presentation and Perception

I was recently charged with writing a talk for our big winter junior high weekend at the Timbers called Winterfest. Our team decided to make the theme for the weekend "Dreaming of THE White Christmas" putting a spin on the traditional Christmas song and tying it back to scripture (Isaiah 1:18).

 I love Christmas time, and I love the songs we get to sing (starting no earlier than the day after Thanksgiving though). The song I chose to do my talk over isn't necessarily my absolute favorite one, but it is one that packs a powerful message and so often gets overlooked.

Now, if you want to get the FULL experience, take a moment and prepare your heart by closing your eyes and really listening to the lyrics as this video plays. Really, close your eyes.

Wasn't that great? ...

Ok let's be honest. You probably really couldn't even pay attention to the lyrics because of how terrible the singing was. I set the campers up perfectly for this one. It was a room full of silent middle schoolers, sitting indian style on the floor with their eyes closed. Then, as soon as Alvin and the Chipmunks started singing...they all started laughing, which is exactly what I wanted them to do in order to prove my point!

You see, I have realized that today in our culture the way things are presented or proclaimed affect the way they are perceived. The chipmunk's singing was such a distraction that I didn't even think about the lyrics. I could have easily listened to that entire song and missed the whole message. With this realization came the question, "How often do I do that today?" So, now I ask you that same question.

The funny thing though is that most of the time it is for the opposite reasons. We get so caught up in a good beat or we just like the way a song makes us feel, so we start singing along...But we have no idea what we are even singing! For example:

"Rah, rah, ah, ah, ah Roma, roma, ma Gaga, ooh la la"

 WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? Lady Gaga makes          millions of dollars singing nonsense like this...and we sing right along with it (I will admit I am definitely guilty of this one 

 "And the bullets catch in her teeth. Life goes on, it gets so heavy.
The wheel breaks the butterfly"                                                          

 Any guesses where that one is from? COLDPLAY...One of my absolute favorite bands. I have sung "Paradise" so many times and have never even noticed that I was singing about teeth catching bullets and wheels breaking butterflies!

The list could go on (J. Biebs topping the charts with a song whose lyrics predominantly just include the word "swag" or rappers talking so fast that you have NO clue what they are saying...and it's probably best that you don't)
 
So, you get the picture right? These are the things that are popular in our culture these days. These are the things that are making millions of dollars on the billboards: people proclaiming phrases you can't even understand, people talking about bullet teeth, and songs that just say burr and swag over and over again. These are the things that our generation is proclaiming. People have gotten so good at the presentation (the good beats, flashy lights, etc.) that we don't even pay attention anymore to what they are proclaiming. And you know what? The same thing can happen with Christmas. We get so caught up in the flashy Christmas lights, the presents, the parites, etc. that we forget the TRUE meaning why we celebrate. So many of the Christmas songs that we sing so non chalantly are proclaiming a much bolder message than we give credit for...THE GOSPEL!

I was convicted and convinced of this when I took the time to REALLY look at the lyrics of my song of choice: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing  

hark! the herald angels sing 

"glory to the newborn king!"

peace on earth, and mercy mild 

god and sinners reconciled

joyful all ye nations rise

join the triumph of the skies

with angelic host proclaim 

"christ is born in bethlehem."

hark! the herald angels sing"

glory to the newborn king!

"christ, by highest heav'n adored 

christ the everlasting lord
late in time behold him come
offspring of the favored one
veiled in flesh, the godhead see
hail th' incarnate deity
pleased, as man with men to dwell  

jesus, our immanuel!

hark! the herald angels sing 

"glory to the newborn king"

 god and sinners reconciled- this is the gospel, the good news, the whole reason why we celebrate Christmas.
¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  -Col. 1:17-20
 
"christ is born in bethlehem."- Bethlem would've been the last place we would've chosen for a king to enter the world!
²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. -1 Corinthians 1:28-29

pleased, as man with men to dwell- This is the miracle of Christmas!
⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!  -Phillipians 2:5-8 

jesus, our immanuel! - This means GOD WITH US!
¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you^[a] a sign: The virgin^[b] will conceive and give birth to a son, and^[c] will call him Immanuel.^[d]  -Isaiah 7:14






Isn't that incredible? It's funny how much richer the content becomes when you take the time to know it. Shauna Niequist, author of Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet, gave graduating college students this advice:

"Become a student of what you love because what you love flows out of the way God made you."

 Psalm 19 talks about how the heavens and creation just naturally proclaim God's glory. Even though we are definitely God's creation, the difference is The Fall. After the fall of man, sin entered the world and from that point on we were no longer to live in bliss. Now, we have to ask God every day for His grace and mercy so that we can be used to proclaim His glory because without Him, we proclaim nothing but fleeting and evil things.

The reality is that we are always proclaiming something/sending some kind of message, but do we always know what we are proclaiming? Let's become students of what we are proclaiming. If we are proclaiming to be Christians do we REALLY know what that means or are will we just spend our lives singing empty words and throwing around empty phrases? Not only should we be aware of what we are proclaiming, but also HOW we are proclaiming it. Are we like Alvin and the Chipmunks and no one even hears the things that we are proclaiming because they are so nagging and distracting? My hope is that our hearts can have the same cry as that of David's in Psalm 19:14,

 "May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

Hopefully this changes the way you worship. That we would no longer just sing all these songs and get caught up in powerful music, but that we would truly focus on the words so that we don't miss the real message. So, join me this Christmas season, and from now on, in proclaiming the truth of our Savior's birth!