Maybe that’s what most of us really need — just a little bit of love.

It’s something to remember when that driver cuts in front of you in traffic or when the person on the other end of the phone is less than pleasant.

The holiday season often brings out the best — and worst– in all of us. Each of us will probably have moments when we’re less than our best selves, so it’s important to extend grace to others when they falter.

Above all, don’t forget that God in Jesus laid down His life for us while we were still sinners and enemies and a long way off from where we should have been.

Also don’t forget in the midst of this season to take a little care of yourself. Give yourself a little room for peace and quiet, even if it’s early in the morning or late at night.

The Advent season is a reminder that a little bit of love goes a long, long way.

This is what you do when you drive an old Jeep. You decorate it, of course.

The antlers and red nose came courtesy of the clearance section of Publix.

The Jeep is courtesy of 21 years of driving (and an engine that is still going strong after almost 346,000 miles).

I bet you’re not gonna see many brand-new Mercedes or Lexus or BMW cars sporting festive holidays.

But when you drive vintage, you do what you want.

You’re welcome.

“Do all things without complaining or bickering with each other, so you will be found innocent and blameless; you are God’s children called to live without a single stain on your reputations among this perverted and crooked generation. Shine like stars across the land” (Philippians 2:14-15, The Voice).

The challenge is to go 7 whole days without complaining or grumbling.

That was the gauntlet thrown down at Kairos tonight by Chris Brooks, and I’m accepting the challenge.

Basically, when you complain constantly, you rewire your brain toward negativity and open yourself up to a whole host of physical ailments. But when you choose the opposite– gratitude– it brings joy and healing.

Our natural inclination, or our default setting, is to grumble and complain when things go awry. But God calls us to a better way, a more satisfying way.

Are you with me on this? No complaining or grumbling until at least next Tuesday at 10:15 pm.

If you or I mess up, all is not lost. Just give yourself a little grace and start again. Maybe this little test will lead to a change of habit that leads to a change of attitude. Maybe it will help people see where real joys can be found.

I’m game. Are you?

“What is coming upon the world is the Light of the World. It is Christ. That is the comfort of it. The challenge of it is that it has not come yet. Only the hope for it has come, only the longing for it. In the meantime we are in the dark, and the dark, God knows, is also in us. We watch and wait for a holiness to heal us and hallow us, to liberate us from the dark. Advent is like the hush in a theater just before the curtain rises. It is like the hazy ring around the winter moon that means the coming of snow which will turn the night to silver. Soon. But for the time being, our time, darkness is where we are” (Frederick Buechner, The Hungering Dark).

Advent officially starts in 6 days (according to Google– yes, I googled that). 

I’ve come to appreciate the season of Advent more lately than I ever had before. It’s a season of waiting with hope, with expectation, with certainty.

We wait with hope because it is God in Jesus whom we wait for.

We wait with expectation because of all the promises fulfilled, knowing God is always true to His word.

We wait with certainty because we know that as Jesus came to us before, so will He come again one day. The manner of His coming will be different as night is to day, but it will be the same longed-for Messiah who is coming.

So we wait.

I’m thankful most of all today for how the gospel is for everyone.

In the Book of Revelation, John describes a scene where people from every race, ethnicity, people group, language, and skin color gather together at the throne of God.

I’m glad that Jesus isn’t just for people who look and act like me. That amount of sameness would get incredible boring really fast. Thank God (literally) for diversity.

It’s sad that right now that 11 am on Sunday is still the most segregated hour in America. Church should look like a sneak preview of heaven, and the heaven I understand is much more diverse than that.

Thankfully, I see signs that things are changing. I love how the blood of Jesus not only brings us to God but also brings us together. We all share the same color blood and the blood of Jesus unites us.

I heard one pastor say that racism isn’t so much a skin issue as it is a sin issue. That’s at the root of any kind of discrimination or stereotyping.

Thankfully, Jesus at the cross defeated racism as well as every other kind of sin. One day, He will restore what sin has stolen and make all things right.

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder” (G.K. Chesterton).

Attitude is everything. Thanksgiving and gratitude turn what I have into enough, while consumerism, competition, and complaining turn what I have into “never enough.”

Thanksgiving is a day on the calendar where we take off from work, eat a whole lot, and generally give thanks for the four f’s — faith, family, food, and football.

Thanksgiving is also a daily choice where we choose gratitude over grumbling, focusing on what we have versus what we don’t or what we wish we had or what we could have had.

True thanksgiving begins with the proposition that God is enough. God in and of Himself, plus nothing else, is enough.

The fall started when we thought we could find any kind of satisfaction and/or contentment outside of God and His gifts. That’s where it all started to go wrong.

Thanksgiving says that God and His gifts are sufficient for satisfaction and contentment.

For today, I choose to give thanks and be grateful. God willing, I will do the same tomorrow.

I read somewhere about how we as a culture can easily switch from being thankful one day to being completely crazed shopaholic consumers the next.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for buying stuff. I sure buy enough stuff.

I just hope we don’t have short memories when it comes to gratitude.

There are a lot of people in the world who would love to have what you have, who are praying for the very things you and I take for granted.

The best way to not get caught up in the rat race of keeping up with the proverbial Joneses and amassing huge debt is gratitude. To say, “What I have is enough,” is just about the most radical, counter-cultural statement you can make these days.

But remember that compared to the majority of the world, you are wealthy. If you had more than one square meal today, a solid roof over your head, more clothes than the ones you’re wearing, and access to clean water, you are rich.

Think about that the next time you get the urge to complain or compare. We as working Americans may feel like the 99%, but globally speaking, we’re much closer to the 1%. So many go without even the most basic necessities while we gripe about not having enough toys or perks.

Remember who it all belongs to anyway. When you die, all you take with you is the love you shared with family and friends, the hope you shared in helping others find their way to Jesus, and the legacy of what you’ve given away in terms of time, talents, and treasures.

“And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before” (C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle)

On this date 55 years ago, we lost John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley (author of Brave New World). While most of the world only remembers the first Jack (as in Kennedy), many like me point to the second Jack (as Lewis preferred to be called) as greatly influential in their growing in both faith and imagination. Narnia lives on.

I certainly can point to Mr. Lewis in the growth of my faith and imagination with books like Mere Christianity and God in the Dock for my faith, and The Chronicles of Narnia and ‘Til We Have Faces for my imagination (and a bit of faith, too).

I still say that Narnia helped me in my understanding of and longing for Heaven. I can’t say that it will be like Lewis described it in every detail, but I’m sure that it will be the true start and the real beginning of the story.

So than you, C. S. “Jack” Lewis, for your dedication to defending the faith and inspiring the imagination of millions. Your labors have not been in vain.

First of all, I’m having difficulty processing the fact that Thanksgiving Day is 48 hours away. It should still be October.

Secondly, I’ve been having some serious nostalgic moments lately, specifically around all things Thanksgiving.

Growing up, we always had Thanksgiving at our house. The house would be jam packed with family members and probably enough food to feed Custer’s army.

I loved how people from my Dad’s side of the family interacted with those from my Mom’s side, which blew my tiny child mind. I always saw the two sides as existing in two different worlds, so it was almost like witnessing Luke Skywalker having a conversation with Scotty from Star Trek fame.

I recall how the grownups sat at the dining room table, while us kids got the folding table also known as kiddie table. I yearned for the day when I’d be big enough to sit with at the big table, but I’m pretty sure I know now which one was more fun.

It’s been a while since all the family has done Thanksgiving together. I kinda miss it. I miss everyone being together and sharing a meal.

Maybe Heaven will be a bit like a big family Thanksgiving dinner with Jesus as the host. I still think I’ll want to sit at the kiddie table.