cookies

by

There’s a Scrooge In Every One Of Us

Christmas is the time for giving, generosity, and kindness … except when our inner Scrooge comes out.

Generally most people are a little nicer at Christmas time. People will go out of their way to help others or just be nice in some way.

The other day I came out of an arena and saw I had a really low tire. As I started driving, I was torn: do I try to make it home or do I find a gas station on the way and pump it up? 

It was cold out so I wanted to get home and pump it up in my garage. But I pulled over, got out, looked at the tire again, and realized right away I needed to find a gas station fast.

I pulled into the first gas station I came to but there was a sign on the air compressor: “Sorry. Out of order”. 

I got out of my car to see if there was some kind of compressed air I could buy in the store. 

Before I got into the store, however, a worker came out and told me they didn’t have anything, but that he would hook up the air inside. He then proceeded to fill my tire for me; I just stood and watched him. 

I thanked him profusely and drove home. 

Maybe he would have done that for me at any time of the year, but I think there is some kind of “niceness code” at Christmas time that we live by.

However, I also think there is still a little bit of Scrooge in all of us at Christmas as well. It comes out at the most inappropriate times.   

My wife, Lily, always bakes cookies at Christmas and this year was no exception. About two weeks before Christmas she started pounding out all of the family’s favourite cookies. 

I happened to come into the kitchen when a couple of batches were cooling and I casually said, “It doesn’t look like there is enough cookies.” 

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say because I got a terse reply of, “There is only two of us”.

In my head I was thinking, true, but the whole family will be here at Christmas so that’s technically six of us. It seemed like we didn’t have enough was all I was saying. 

Two days later I’m being scolded rather hostilely for eating all the cookies. … Seems like now Lily is realizing she didn’t make enough. 

But I’m taking the brunt for the cookie shortfall.

The next thing I know is three quarters of the cookies are gone … apparently to the freezer … so I won’t eat them all before the family arrives. 

Lily does a lovely, kind thing in baking cookies but then she hides them from me so I can’t eat them. 

Scrooge.

If it was just Lily, I wouldn’t think much of it. But I remember my mother would bake cookies and then hide them from me and my brother. She had a little Scrooge in her as well. 

I would just like to eat the lovely cookies that were baked. Can’t someone be generous enough to let me at them?

Humbug.

Here’s the thing: We celebrate Christmas because it is when God sent His only Son to us. God didn’t pull a Scrooge; He went all in with Jesus. And Christmas is just half the story because God later had his Son die on a cross to pay for our sins and save us. Then by raising Him from the dead this Son offers us forgiveness and a relationship with God. There is no Scrooge there! 

Merry Christmas!

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you tend to be a little like Scrooge at Christmas time? Leave your comments and questions below. 

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one to your email inbox. 

by

We Started A New Tradition … Maybe

We all have Christmas traditions. We look forward to them; they bring out the warmth of the season.

FullSizeRender 2

When we lived in Edmonton we had a tradition on Christmas Eve of going out for dinner after our Christmas Eve service. We would go to the Chateau Lacombe Hotel.

It had a revolving restaurant which overlooked the river valley in Edmonton. It was high enough to give a great view of the whole city, especially at night during the Christmas season – the sight was spectacular with all the lights!

Lily and I would always get Chateaubriand for two. It was perfect with live music and a constantly changing panoramic view out the window.

That was our Christmas tradition … well, it was until we moved to Kingston.

Kingston doesn’t have a hotel with a revolving restaurant. In fact, it doesn’t have a restaurant that is open on Christmas Eve, period.

We needed a new tradition for Christmas Eve and that is when we started having a fondue after our Christmas Eve service.

We had some memorable family times together around the table, cooking up big screwers of meat in oil that was at the point of spontaneous combustion.

There was the time that Lily set the table on fire – that was awesome and memorable! … You then keep the tradition just to see if that will happen again!

Fond memories. But like many traditions, that tradition came to an end. Karlie was not able to be with us for the first time this Christmas Eve. She was not able to arrive until about midnight, just shortly before Santa Claus was about to do the present thing and get to bed him and herself.

We needed a new tradition. It would be just Lil, our son Mike and me. We were going to be up waiting for Karlie; we needed something to do.

So I got the bright idea that we should all make our favourite cookies together and have some hot wings to nibble on while we did it.

Everyone was willing to give it a shot (and Karlie wished she had been here to see the whole event).

Lily had laid out bowls and ingredients for each type of cookie Mike and I were going to make. Then she did what she does best.

She hovered, and would say things like, “No, don’t do that. No, that’s not how you do it” …  we had to send her out of the room.

That didn’t stop her from calling instructions from another room like “No, don’t mix that in yet”.

But somehow, through all the distraction, all the mess and debris that kept being flung out of the mixing bowls, we created two kinds of masterly-crafted cookies that melted succulently in our mouths.

The wings weren’t bad either. Lil really chipped in with the clean up, partly because she couldn’t handle the mess we had generated.

Who knows? Maybe it will become a tradition … or maybe not if Lily has her way.

Here’s the thing: Routines can be like traditions and when it comes to making time for God each day, having great traditions or routines make that time more memorable. They make that time something you look forward to. So as you plan how you will spend your time with God in the new year, think of some traditions or routines you can set in place. You will be amazed at the memories you will make with God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your favourite Christmas tradition?