Christmas traditions

Ah! Christmas week is upon us!
On this Monday of Christmas week Nintendo gave to me… 10 gba downloads to my ds for free! Zelda minish cap and warioware inc are among the downloads! So happy! Glad I bought the console before the price drop!

This afternoon, I went for a bit of last minute Christmas shopping. I was shocked to see that the sales have already begun! Believe me, there are some real bargains to be had!

Today, we took my future brother in law to the airport. He will return later in the week. As we dined together this afternoon, I got to thinking about the holiday traditions that we have. There are the obvious ones like trees, Christmas crackers, decorations and carol services, and then there are other things!

We enjoy Christmas food. We usually go for a hotpot at a local restaurant a few times in December and we frequent Starbucks during the ‘red cup’ period. We eat fancy foods like game, and feast on veg-a-plenty!

We burn the advent candle each day. We open the advent calendars. We do concerts and go to extra church services. We meet friends. We have a laugh.

We watch Christmas films as they appear on tv. (the latest of these being Elf) We listen to Christmas music obsessively for one month! As a family, we usually go to the theatre just before Christmas. That happened tonight – we saw Alan bennett’s stage adaptation of wind in the willows. It was good! It sure beats a pantomime!

On December 23rd, me and my sister developed a tradition of sorts. Every year for the past few years, at around 23:30, the Christmas episode of ‘Father Ted’ has been broadcast on tv. We have watched this each time it’s been on. Now, we consider the priests in the lingerie section as part of the Christmas countdown.

On christmas eve, we usually go to midnight mass together and then return home for a glühwein/ glass of port/ glass of whiskey before going to bed and waking up on Christmas day.

It’s funny thinking about traditions that we have and how they develop. But we also need to look past the traditions and remember just what we are celebrating…

To quote a picture I once saw: JESUS IS THE RIZZLE FOR THE SIZZLE

Pondering over gingerbread latte

Today I went out to Starbucks and enjoyed the umpteenth gingerbread latte of the season. It is my winter usual; my winter tipple. I was sitting in there pondering on things.

The first thing that I pondered was this: why was there a spanner in the bathroom next to my toothbrush? For what purpose was it there? The mystery spanner baffled me as I brushed my teeth this morning. It baffled me again thinking of it in the coffee house. To be quite honest, it’s baffling me right now. One eyebrow is raised.

The second thing that I pondered on was this: why do we call letters that are sent to many people at Christmas ’round robins’? Why not ‘parallelogram pigeons’ or ‘circular chaffinches’? And forget about the square seagulls. FORGET ABOUT IT! It is birdy favouritism through and through.

Then I thought to world travel. I am blessed to have traveled to so many amazing places! God has created so many beautiful things and places on this earth, and it’s nice to discover them first hand; to gaze upon foreign shores and to soak oneself in an alternate culture. Thank you God! Today, I had the pleasure of playing ‘need for speed: the run’ .It is a drive from one side of America to the other, going through places I have visited. Seeing these places in their rendered glory, it makes me want to revisit these places. I am grateful to God that He has blessed me with world travel and so many wonderful places to visit!

Yesterday I saw a reindeer. Correction, I saw 2. They were really cute. I thank God for the animals; how wonderful and intricately designed they are. I also thank Him for my family and friends. And that He sent His son for me, despite all that I’ve done. Thank you Jesus for saving me.

Today’s date is 10th of December, 2011. It is fifteen days to Christmas. The advent candle is sufficiently melted, and a small chocolate snowman awaited me in the torso of captain America this morning. Cold winds chill the land. Winter holidays start next week. The weeks are getting busier as choir performances and band rehearsals become more frequent. Holiday work is being set and although things are getting busier, the country is winding down for Christmas. I think back to last year. Things seemed much easier then. Perhaps I was young and foolish. I thank God that He’s got me through another year.

That pre-emptive festive feeling!

a tasty chocolate treat as part of a ho-ho-(w)holesome diet!

Its bearing down on us. And fast. Dare I mention it already? Oh… umm…. I THINK I DARE! I DARE SAY Christmas is creeping in! SHOCK HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They’ve already started playing christmas songs on the music channels on TV. The adverts are now christmas themed. Restaurants are putting out ‘book now for christmas’ signs. Yep, its coming…

I know what you’re (probably) thinking… ‘Why are you talking about this? Its not even been halloween yet!’ No it hasn’t. Prepare for a small rant about halloween. People see it as a ‘holiday’. WHY? It is not a holy day (where the word holiday derives from) and you don’t get the day off. Also, it encourages children to engage in semi- criminal activities which are seen as ‘socially acceptable’ for the day. Any other day it would be a crime. (I will elaborate on this later in the month). I personally don’t like halloween. You probably guessed that. I don’t celebrate it. I don’t see why other people do. To paraphrase Nicki Minaj in that song ‘Where them girls at?’: “I don’t endorse that. p-p-p-pause that. a-a-a-abort that.” Its true, I don’t endorse halloween.

I bet you’re also thinking ‘it hasn’t even been bonfire night yet!’ I do like bonfire night. With the fireworks and big fires and tasty treats and whatnot. When I was in primary school, we used to each get a baked potato with butter free from the canteen staff on bonfire night (day). It was delicious. I looked forward to that potato every year. Don’t judge me! As I neared the end of my primary school career, the baked potato was reduced to half a baked potato. Perhaps it was a sort of potato prophecy about the recession that would be to come. Perhaps there wasn’t much money in the school budget for taters. Or perhaps, the canteen staff secretly gorged themselves on spuds and then realised there weren’t enough left for the kids. ahh… Memories. To quote a line from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney “ah the days of my youth like the scent of fresh lemon”. What the what does that even mean? How can you smell a period of time?

So, regardless of the waffle up there ^ I am in fact going to talk about the fact that christmas is coming. Today, I went to Starbucks. For those who know me, this is not out of character at all. I got an email saying that they were giving away free iTunes downloads starting today. I wanted the freebie. As I was purchasing a mocha ( AKA ‘the ususal’), I noticed a sign. It read “The red cups are coming, 17th October.” Is it sad that I was excited inside? I don’t care. I was! To me it meant that the countdown to christmas had officially begun. To me it meant 2 days to sweet sweet Gingerbread Latte goodness (AKA ‘the winter usual’). Theres something about a Starbucks gingerbread latte. It is divine. Heavenly. Its like theres a party in my mouth and everyones invited. As a drink, I love it.

tru dat.

Last year, I took one of these gingerbread lattes into a study session. A good friend o’ mine wrote this on it ^. haha. Starbucks also do this chocolate log cake thing thats really nice with the drink too. On the left in this picture, you can see the wrapper from that. :3 Yum yum. Schmecker Lecker.

So yeah, the red cups are part of my countdown to christmas. Do you want the full countdown? Ok. Here goes.

The stickandgooniverse Countdown to Christmas

1. Christmas themed Sofa adverts on TV. Some appearances of christmas music in public places. “book now for christmas” signs on restaurants.
2. The supermarkets stock up on mince pies which go out of date in october. Despite this, you still feel the urge to buy them. (At this point, I like to pre-emptively purchase and wrap my Christmas presents for other people. People will say I’m mad, but who’s laughing come Christmas eve and they haven’t got everything sorted? ME THATS WHO! MUAHAHAHAH!)
3. The introduction of the Starbucks red cup adverts.
4. The Starbucks Christmas drinks appear in stores.
5. Halloween/ bonfire night pass and it becomes ‘acceptable’ to play christmas music in stores. Band starts practicing christmas carols for the carol service in December. (this can fluctuate from starting practice in sept, to starting practice in dec.)
6. Holiday sweaters appear in the shops.
7. Now feeling it is the right time to obsessively play / listen to christmas music.
8. Rum truffles appear in the shops, along with candy canes and those chocolate coins.
9. the nationwide desire to have a white christmas. Instead, we make do with drizzle and ice. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of an ice cream van can be heard… Who on earth buys ice cream in december?
10. Christmas themed films appear in the cinemas
11. Advent begins
12. European Christmas Markets travel into the country
13. The coca cola advert. Holidays are coming!
14. Term ends
15. Lying around in a holiday sweater and mittens drinking gingerbread lattes and eating roast chestnuts whilst watching ‘Wallace and Gromit’ or something like that.
16. Hitting the shops like nobody’s business. Not necessarily buying anything. Perhaps pre-ordering a turkey.
17. Carol Concerts
18. Family gatherings
19. Christmas Eve Midnight mass…
20. CHRISTMAS DAY!

I love Christmas. Not only is it a great time to hang out with loved ones and have a slap up feast whilst pulling crackers and wearing silly paper hats, It also reminds us of when Jesus came to earth in the form of a baby. And He is the greatest gift of all.

POOF!

The other day I was sat in a Starbucks, sipping on a mocha, and I was thinking about things. A lot of my friends think that I’m a bit of a Starbucks fanatic – I used to be in there every week. But that was mostly due to the following reasons:

1. I had an ample supply of Starbucks cards
2. There are no large sit in Tim Horton’s in England (to my knowledge), there were definitely not any in town!
3. I love coffee. Moreover, I love Starbucks coffee. That anniversary blend was fabulous.
4. Its a nice environment to sit in (especially when its raining outside). It has class.
5. There were times when I had to wait for a lift

Its true though, I do enjoy a good Starbucks. And in the particular Starbucks I was sat in, this was on the wall ^. After sampling the delectable hot beverage I was holding, I decided to sample the decor, so to speak. Taking my eyes off the chocolatey delight in the cup, I looked up to see this little story thingading on the wall. Its a nice decorative feature, and is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Even the calligraphy and styles of lettering are nice. Upon reading it, I saw that it was a story of two people talking in a cafe. Perhaps it was an old Starbucks employee story, or perhaps it was a gigantic hint at what the staff wanted the customers to do. Whatever it was, seemed to be working. People were talking, and people were also looking at it. In short, they recognised it’s existence. As with most things I come across in life, this got me thinking.

Up until I turned 18, I seemed to be invisible to a lot of people. Sadly, I saw this most at church. Other people’s opinions were worth 2 of mine, and if I wanted to start something new, like a youth worship band, I was looked down on like I didn’t know anything. I would like to point out here that I did know a thing or two – I’d studied classics! (If you want to read some funny classical literature, find Herodotus’ writings on Egypt or barbarians. Both never fail to please.) In a lot of people’s eyes, I was just a ‘kid’ (someone actually said that to me once), and I might as well not have been there, because I certainly wasn’t treated with the equality that my peers had (yes, thats right – some of them were the same age as me, but their opinions mattered more than mine for some reason). I didn’t understand this, and so I thought ‘shove it’. If I was going to do something that would make a difference, I would have to start elsewhere. So, I went to SOUL SURVIVOR. I treated it as my church. I got baptised in the Holy Spirit there. I attended as many Soul Survivor events as I could. I also discovered WORSHIP CENTRAL, and so tried to get down to as many of their events as I could. Some Sundays, I even travelled all the way up to Abundant Life Church, Bradford, just desperate to hear God’s word! I tried to get as much church as I could, because I wanted God to speak to me. I wanted to know how I could make a difference, and so I asked God.

To cut a long story short, God showed up and showed me how I could make a difference. I was already a part of the worship band at my church at that time, but I was a timid little backing singer who stood rigid all the way through the worship set list. Heck, I stood so rigid that sometimes my legs hurt from not having moved in half an hour! God helped me loosen up, and He provided a future for me – He provided me with a specific career path, and a means of getting there! I’m thankful for this. I kept being the studious guy I always was, and kept marching forward, with my eyes on the prize.

I continued as I always had, and tried to always keep God in the number 1 spot. Then I turned 18, and overnight it was suddenly like *POOF!* I had appeared into the world. I was suddenly worth talking to! My opinion started to matter. The youth worship band I had tried to set up years before was now up and running, and they (mostly) wanted me to be a part of it. They even wanted me to start a bible study group! And I was still continuing as normal. Nothing had changed but their attitudes towards me. Everything happens for a reason though, and it was all in God’s timing. Although I cannot see the big picture or grand scheme of my life, I must keep putting my faith in God, because I know He will open things up at the right time. He always provides for me and helps me out. ALWAYS. Thats a lot of time!

One day I got a phone call asking me if I wanted to be Jesus. I was like ‘whaaaaaaaa?’ and then ‘how sacrilegious!’. The person phoning me was inquiring if I would like to play a part in a PLAY or PLAY LIKE SKIT on stage. Personally, I think he should’ve led with that. It would have saved on major confusion.

I thought it was funny, that although I had remained the same person, people judge you on age and do not see you as mature enough to talk to until you were 18. And i’m not trying to be funny or anything, but I was mature enough to talk to waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before then.  Why is it that people are so judgemental? Why are they so quick to pass judgement without getting to know a guy? Or is it just people from where I’m from that are like that? Anyways, it was like one minute I wasn’t there and then POOF, I’d turned 18 and appeared into the world! It was like people were thinking “he’s there, but don’t tell anyone! Maybe if we can’t see him, he can’t see us!”

Today, I was reading my bible when I spotted another kind of POOF! moment:

Matthew 17

New International Version (NIV)

Matthew 17

The Transfiguration

¹ After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. ³ Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” ⁸ When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

¹⁰ The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹ Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. ¹² But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

I read this and I was like whaaaaaa? What was all that about? (I will tenuously link it to my anecdote above).

Jesus led a few of his disciples up a high mountain and then started shining. Yep thats right, Jesus was shining! Particularly shiny things at the time included His face and His clothes. And then POOF! Moses and Elijah appeared, talking with Jesus. At this point, Moses was long dead and Elijah had been taken up to heaven. So this POOF moment was a bit more special than me turning 18. This was a heavenly conversation with a somewhat shiny Jesus. At this, Peter wants to build altars to the three of them, because its such a holy and special moment. But, God interrupts him and says “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”. The disciples are now pretty scared and fall facedown to the ground. Then Jesus tells them not to be worried. Its all a bit confusing.

Jesus has just taken them up a mountain, started shining and then started talking with some people who had gone to heaven a looooong time ago. Then, God appears in a cloud and declares that Jesus is His son, in whom He is well pleased. God has just divinely revealed His son to the disciples – and then something even more confusing happens. Jesus tells them not to tell anyone what they have seen until He has been raised from the dead. WHAT THE WHAT? Then they have a little talk about John the baptist, and seem to then just continue as normal.

So, as promised, the tenuous link: I kept going as normal and then when I turned 18, God provided me with opportunity and provided a way for me to proceed. Perhaps this was because there were things I couldn’t do until I was 18, or perhaps God was teaching me something for later in life through the experience. Whatever the reason, It was in God’s time and it must have carried a heavenly purpose.

In this passage, the disciples and Jesus are keeping on going as normal, when Jesus full on reveals to them that He is the son of God, and shows them something confusing but wonderful. Again, this was for a purpose and was in God’s timing. And the fact that the disciples were not to tell anyone until after Jesus had raised up from the dead was also for a purpose and was in God’s timing.

Sometimes, we get all hung up on the timing of things because we can’t see the bigger picture. The POOF moments in life can surprise, scare or excite us. But, as I would like to stress here, its not up to us, and its not for us to worry about.

God always prepares a way for us. He uses things we never thought possible to take us down paths we would never have dreamt of to lead us to places where we can make a gigantic impact for Him. He uses the POOF moments to teach us things and to open doors for us, although it may not be apparent to us at the time. God always has a plan – we just have to put our faith in Him and trust in His way. POOF.