This is not Gaylene. I have been asked to take over for her tonight while she continues to work on her paper for school.

How easy is it to get swept up in the rush of the season? This has been one of our busier weeks of the past month. There have been rehearsals for the Cantata. Gaylene has finished the test for her Theology class and is on the last part of her “My Belief” paper (thus the second-string writer tonight). Geni finished her semester finals and is home. Monday night was Cantata rehearsal, Tuesday night was the Lamar HS Holiday Choir Concert, Wednesday I was honored to be asked to be cantor at the Advent Taize service, Thursday evening choir practice, last night was the Lamar Madrigal Dinner Theater. This morning was the final rehearsal for the Christmas Cantata for me, while Gaylene continued to work on her paper. This evening we had been invited to an open house at the Hurta’s. So many events to prepare us for the season. All we have to do is allow our hearts to join in the celebrations.

There are so many things going on this season, how do we keep the true nature of the season in front of us? How do you keep yourself centered on God and His Word? What do you recite to yourself in times of trouble or times of short tempered-ness? What prayer do you pray, what scripture do you recite, what thought do you hold to see Christ working around you when seemingly the rest of the world rushes around trying to find the best sale of the season?

Having been surrounded by music my whole life, scriptures that have been put into musical phrases from various choir anthems and other musical works come to my mind – “for unto us a child is born – unto us, a son is given”, Isaiah 9:6; or “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” Ps 51:10-12.

Gaylene told me today that, in her studies, she discovered that Martin Luther recited both the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed every morning before facing the events of his day. She has begun that practice in her own daily journey. My reunion card from “Walk to Emmaus” asks what morning devotion I use to begin my day. If we begin our days with the Word of the Lord, doesn’t it help set in our mind that we should respond to the events of the day in a spirit of love?

The questions I ask are for you to answer only to yourself. We walk the same journey, hopefully to the same end, yet we are probably at different stages of our spiritual development. What aids do you use to keep you on the path? What will you use to remind you what the “reason for the season” is?

Take joy in your journey, my friends. Keep Christ in your life. Always. Love, Gaylene, Bruce, Geni, and Travis.


When we come to the edge of the light we know, and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, of this we can be sure ... either God will provide something solid to stand on or ..... we will be taught to fly.