Random Thoughts I've Had As of Late

Before I jump in, I must make a confession. I am listening to Sufjan Steven's Christmas album right now...and I've already had a few peppermint mochas this year. Which brings me to...

1. I have this war waging within me: do I start to celebrate Christmas before Thanksgiving, or do I wait until afterward? Clearly, I haven't exactly waited this year. But, in my defense, I'm not going all out yet. My house has absolutely no Christmas decorations up yet, and I am not listening to non-stop Christmas music, just the occasional album. And these things only started this week. Isn't it interesting how we can justify things in our own minds?

2. Only by the grace of God could a group of students go to Mexico and experience a car accident, a tire blowout, a truck's glass shattered, multiple canopies completely mangled by high winds, 20 (yes, 20) people throwing up their guts all night and all day long, and an arrest at the border, and still call it a successful trip. Fortunately, my family's group didn't experience nearly as many obstacles as the UA and ASU Navs did. We just lost a kitchen canopy. It's a pretty surreal thing to look out the window of your camper and see your kitchen flying away. Here I am in the kitchen BEFORE things ran amok.

3. I have been in San Diego for 3 1/2 months. In some ways it feels like I've been here ages longer than that. In others, I still feel like the new girl. And I find another war waging within me: why do I feel like it's a betrayal of my life in Tucson (particularly the relationships) to settle into a life in San Diego?

4. I decided to start reading Matthew in my times with God, because I wanted to take my focus back to Jesus and His life. So, starting at the beginning, I have been reading Matthew's account of Jesus' birth. (Sidenote: This doesn't help with the whole waiting until after Thanksgiving to start celebrating Christmas.) It is, of course, a very familiar story. But it's interesting that television specials and Christmas classics leave out some key elements. I mean, we all think of the "silent night" somewhere "away in a manger", and we have some picture of an angelic looking Mary holding her baby wrapped in swaddling clothes with equally peaceful animals looking on. We forget the part where Herod sends the Magi to spy on Jesus (which they don't do), and the part where Joseph and Mary have to flee to Egypt (with a newborn and not the most convenient modes of transportation), and the part where a furious Herod gives orders to kill all the boys under the age of two in Bethlehem (yes, ALL of them), and the part where Joseph gets word in a dream to go back, but then gets word in another dream not to go to Judea, but to Nazareth instead (because Judea is still dangerous, even after the death of Herod). I wonder if Joseph went to bed each night dreading the next message he'd get in his dreams. Anyway, beyond the fact that Jesus was born to a virgin (which, you have to admit, is spectacular in and of itself), His entrance into this world was anything but peaceful. The first few years of His life were riddled with danger and hardship. And I sit here in the comfort of America, where my physical needs are met and the most danger I encounter is driving on California freeways, and I relegate this tale to a "familiar story". It is NOT a familiar story. It is a SPECTACULAR story which serves as a fitting beginning to an EXTRAORDINARY life lived, followed by a REMARKABLE death and an INCONCEIVABLE resurrection. How is it that I so easily lose sight of that?

Well, I guess that's enough random thoughts for now. Who knows what I'll think about next?