Mari Isaacson

What an incredible Christmas season my first Christmas in Alberta is proving to be.  Attending Handels Messiah or the Nutcracker have been on my “wish list” for years and in the last few weeks I have been to both! Then there were the concerts including a brass concert, going to Candy Cane lane to see all the Christmas lights, decorating 9 Christmas trees (no, not all mine!!), going to or having a few Christmas parties and more. My folks are already on their way here to spend Christmas with me, I am singing at my church on Christmas eve and plan to go to a German Christmas Concert on Christmas day. That is definitely more excitement than I have had in a long time.

As special as all these things are, they would mean absolutely nothing if the true meaning of Christmas was forgotten or even taken for granted.

Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us. Matthew 1,23

This year, more than any other I have pondered the fact that GOD Himself became man! The GOD of the Universe! The Creator. The Sustainer. The Almighty. The Holy One. The King of kings and Lord of lords! GOD! And He did it all for love!

The last clubs of the year at Mundare School I told the children a Christmas story from Austria. It was about a boy who discovered that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday and wanted to know why everyone else got the gifts instead of Jesus. Anyway, he thought of the best gift to give Jesus for His birthday… himself. Included in the story was also a mention of the cross and why Jesus had to die. The children had heard that many times before, but that day it hit a few of them in a way that they had never comprehended before.

After the story we played charades. The children were informed that each charade had something to do with Christmas. The kids did a great job acting and guessing. Well, the last charade was the cross. After that was guessed correctly, a girl raised her hand and asked, “what does the cross have to do with Christmas?”

“The cross has everything to do with Christmas. That was the reason why Jesus came. He came to die. His death was no surprise. It was His sole purpose for coming. He came to die for your sins and mine!”

Several children made startling comments but I will never forget the look on that young girl’s face… Astonishment. Understanding. It was priceless.

One pastor defined sin thus: sin sums up our need for Christ in the Cradle.

Phil 2, 5-11 says: Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God came…

God spoke…

God died…

GOD became man! Do we give Him the glory He deserves?

Christmas is just a few days away. Take some time out of the hustle and bustle to really dwell on the fact that God became man for you. What have you given Him for His birthday this year?

Blessings and Merry Christmas!

mari

This time of year, being Advent, always reminds me of Salzburg. Salzburg is my absolute favorite city in the whole world. Well, the part of the world I have had the privilege to visit or live in. Christmas time is a fantastic time to visit this special city all lit up and ready for the holidays. Tabea and I loved to take the train early in the morning so we would arrive at the outdoor Christmas market before the throngs of people arrived. By 11am the market would be so crowded that you could barely move, let alone see anything.

Thinking of Salzburg reminds me of an incident that took place in the early winter with another friend of mine.

It had been a relaxing lunch with a mixture of English and German being tossed about like a salad. It was good to be back in Salzburg again after almost a year away. After the enjoyable meal, a pit stop was necessary, so I went looking for the sign.

“Wo ist das WC?” I asked the Kellner after my search proved to be unsuccessful.

He started to give me directions in English, which I found rather odd since I had spoken in German.  Called his attention to it, he shook his head as if recovering from a trance. This was followed by an apology and directions leading up the stairs. Actually the WC, bathroom, was not hard to find once you knew where to look. I was indeed grateful. This information would surely be useful again sometime.

As I was coming out of the bathroom, two young girls also made their exit and headed towards the stairs. I followed. Coming to the top of the landing, I realized that these were not the stairs I had taken coming up to this floor. These stairs, furthermore, led to the outside. Thus my steps to the bathroom were retraced easily enough. If only the rest had been so easy. There I was, standing where I thought the stairs must be. Had to be. To my surprise and horror, the stairs had disappeared! I kid you not! Instead, I stood before three closed doors.  Very bare, very similar doors. The strange thing was I hadn’t come through a door on my way to the bathroom. This was definitely a dilemma.

Voices were coming from behind one of the doors, but I didn’t have the courage at that moment to get close enough to discover behind which door the voices were coming. Furthermore, every ounce of nerve failed me for I did not trust opening a strange door that lead to who knows where, or to whom, even if my life depended upon it. What was I to do? Marietta was waiting for me downstairs. By now she would be wondering where I had disappeared. I pondered. I decided. I took the stairs leading to the outside. It was a safer decision. Going back into the restaurant would be no problem.

The stairs led down to an alley between the Getreidegasse and the next street over. No problem. Through the window I could see Marietta waiting for me so I rushed to the end of the alley and onto the street. At least that was the plan. I didn’t make it to the street.

Smack! Bang! An explosion erupted! My body was plastered all over the glass door that materialized out of thin air. Stuck to the window like a bug on a moving car, plastered for all the tourists to see, I couldn’t more. I was in shock.

After the shock began to wear off and my body started to register pain, lots of pain, I peeled myself away from the glass. Comprehension was still very fuzzy. What happened? Why? When realization started to hit I was very grateful for two things: One, the glass I ran into was still totally in tact in spite of the impact. Two, my glasses, though smashed up against the see-through wall, were also still in one piece. The whole thing could have been disastrous. Taking a deep breath I walked through the door and onto the street, ignoring the stares of onlookers who had witnessed the mishap.

Thinking about it, it was rather humorous. The expressions of passer Byers alone was pretty comical. I am sure they would have said the same for me. By the time I reached the restaurant door, I was so overcome with laughter I could hardly walk. Thus the explanation was not easy in coming. Marietta wanted to know what was so funny and why I had been outside. After my story, her laughter could not be contained. In that state we went our way.

This reminds me of the verse in Psalm 91, 4 “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.” Shield and buckler. Defensive armor. It must have had some type of defensive armor protecting me that day. Better than that, I had God with me and He is stronger than any situation I might run into… literally and figuratively. It is good to know that He is able to protect me in any situation I might face. I couldn’t be in better hands when I take my refuge in Him. Thank you, Jesus!