Brio Girl 2008

Brio magazine is produced by Focus on the Family for teenage girls. In the latest issue (January, 2008) that showed up in our mailbox yesterday (addressed to Bekah in case you were worried or wondering…) the front cover has a large photo of the 2008 Brio Girl.

The young lady selected is Becky Marras, a senior from Medina, OH, who was on Operation Barnabas in 2006 and has been a regular attender at CE National’s Momentum youth conference. It’s really neat so see a young lady whom we know picked for this award and that she continues to live for Jesus.

Another neat thing is the way the full-page article starts about Becky. On page 35 it says,
“Last summer, 17-year old Becky spent six weeks on a missions trip in Los Angeles and Washington state. ‘It was totally hard-core missions, and it really directed my focus of where I want to serve Christ,’ this Highland High School student says.” There are also three good size photos of Becky. Very special that the whole article starts by talking about her ob experience and the continued impact it has had on her life.

I don’t usually buy Brio magazine, but I’m going to get a copy of this issue ;-). I looked on line and they don’t have the info up yet. They do have info about the 8 finalists, but hopefully they will get this issue’s info up soon.

I appreciate Becky's Operation Barnabas leaders who definitely made an impact on her life. And many thanks to all the ob leaders who have poured themselves into students lives who may not be as celebrated, but continue to make a difference for the kingdom.

The Holidays

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Maybe because it is pretty much void of the commercialization that has become attached to Christmas. I do love Christmas too though. Now granted, my wife does about 95% of the shopping for our family to give gifts to one another and then to friends, and co-workers, but then again, she is very good at it. This year I have even purchased a few gifts for the kids--probably because I can surf the net and don't have to go to a mall.

I think what I enjoy the most about the Christmas season is that actual story of the birth of the Christ-child. I know it wasn't snowing in Bethlehem and that there well may not have been three wisemen (we know there were at least two of them because they were wise "men" and not a wise"man" and we know that there were no women in the group--otherwise they would have made the guys stop for directions and would have gotten there earlier than the 6 months to 2 years that it actually took them...) The Christmas carols, the decorations, the lights.

But I am becoming more and more concerned that the actual Christmas story is becoming intentionally ignored more and more. I am not a scrooge (at least I don't think I am), but a case in point: We went to see the movie "Fred Clause". Pretty predictable , but pretty fun movie for the fam. But at the end I left dismayed. Why? They basically close the movie with the song "Silent Night". But when they come to the part to sing about the actual Christ child, they changed the words to adjust the focal point of the entire song. How disappointing.

So our family is getting ready for Christmas and we have a Christmas tree and all kinds of decor around the house. There are no exterior lights because I am from southern California and anything below 50 degrees is too cold to be outside doing any kind of work, but don't let that make you think we are not excited about Christmas. I am already looking forward to the morning of December 25 when our family will gather in the living room near the tree, read Luke 2:1-20, and then have prayer. It's a tradition that started with my parents and we have continued to this day.

And then the kids can open up the two small gifts I got them while Dana did 95% of the work and I'll feel good about all of it.

"Unto us, a child is born, unto us a Son is given."
"Christ the Savior is born."
"...and they called his name, 'Jesus'".
Merry Christmas.