Joyeux Noël
Without an enemy there can be no war. I recently rewatched the movie Joyeux Noël (Christian Carion, 2005), which tells the story of a well-documented event that occurred... »
Personal Accounts
The request
It was my first Christmas in Taipei, Taiwan, when I heard the Christmas classic “Silent Night” sung in Chinese for the first time. It made a special impression, and I rem... »
Alone at Christmas?
Over the years, Christmas has taken on different meanings for me. When I was a young child, it meant a special family holiday, the Christmas story at Sunday school, walki... »
The right price
I grew up in Communist Romania, where there was a state ban on religion, so “finding Christmas” wasn’t easy. “Don’t use the word ‘Christmas’ at school or with people you... »
Simple joys
I was thinking about my mom on her birthday, and realized that there was something very special about my childhood—the times we spent together. More specifically, I was t... »
Do for one
Sometimes I feel paralyzed by all the suffering in the world. There’s simply no way I could make a dent in all the hunger, sickness, poverty, depression, oppression, lone... »
Where Jesus lives
“Who lives in a stable?” “Jesus lives in the stable!” At first I laughed at that answer my four-year-old sister gave during my impromptu lesson on animals and their habit... »
A positive praise post
I was inspired the other day when I read some personal accounts on a friend’s blog on the subject of praising God for His goodness in spite of daily problems and annoyanc... »
The gratitude journal
I can´t remember how to spell that word! How do I express this idea correctly? I can’t seem to get my thoughts onto the paper! I was seeing how rusty my writing was. I ha... »
Ephemeral beauty
A friend of mine mentioned how he often feels melancholy after experiencing something beautiful. I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. It wasn’t until I started to rec... »
Do I have to?
Occasionally I teach a Bible class at Sunday school for three- to five-year-olds. The group is very small, sometimes only four or five children. One of the girls, a frequ... »
The eyes of gratitude
As a child, I had a lazy eye and blurred vision, which made it necessary for me to wear glasses from the time I was seven years old. In order to keep my myopia from worse... »
The joyful heart
As followers of Jesus, “grateful” should be our default setting when we consider that Jesus died to redeem us from an eternity of being separated from God. This should pu... »