Christmas Eve

So today is Christmas Eve. Is it any different than any other evening? Tonight was a special evening. In some ways it was tough this year. My sister just got married, and it definitely felt like someone was missing. My family invited some of the students from the Bible School my parents are involved with. I felt like I had a whole bunch of new brothers and sisters. I actually helped my mom cook the dinner (no turkey this year-oh well) this year. To be honest by the time supper came I wasn't really hungry, I had been snacking all day in the kitchen. woops.

We watched "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," and I think what stood out to me most was not just all the commercialism which is so evident during Christmas season, but the courage and strength of one little girl- to love and to accept those no one else could. That's what I wanna be like.

I also received a letter from Campus Crusade for Christ today about work they have been doing in Sudan, a country that has been through much including civil war. Campus Crusade has shown the Jesus film to over 2.8 million people in Sudan. What hit me most though was how some of the workers were sharing Jesus with some of the rebel fighters, "the enemy". They even showed the Jesus film on a sheet in front of what they later found out had been Osama bin Laden's house. These workers know they may be tortured or even killed, but some of the rebels have come to Jesus. In one story, a worker was kidnapped and tortured over a 2 week period and then released. Usually people are held for at least months, a miracle in itself that it was such a short period. When released, he actually had a strong desire to go back to these very same people. To me that is when you know God is really in you. When you are no longer afraid of suffering and where the Love of God is stronger and hey even more "violent" than fear and terror.

I pray that the Love of God would be in me stronger and stronger each day and would draw even God's "enemies" to Him. He is Love pure and simple.