Bits and Pieces

Great Bend First United Methodist Church

The light comes through the glass and makes the scene glow.

Nativity set at Stafford UMC made by Dorothy Newell

It's Advent. At our church, we pull out the perfectly-white porcelain Nativity scene and light the candles.

Nativity set at Trinity UMC, Great Bend, KS

In another church, the glow of stained glass catches the light of gold threads running through the elaborate clothing that garbs Mary, Joseph and the angel.

Holy Cross Catholic Church, Hutchinson

In sanctuaries across the world, the winter light streams through stained glass windows, showing an idyllic, pristine scene. Mary glows. Joseph beams. Baby Jesus is bathed in the star's light.

But then I remember: Mary was likely 13 years old (or so). Maybe she wasn't so different from the girls in middle school choir, the ones I witness from the piano bench. Yes, the same ones who are are nice as pie one day and then moody and withdrawn the next. (Who am I kidding? You don't have to be 13 to be like that.)

Mary was a young, unwed mother. She was likely the talk of the town ... and not in a good way. She had just had her first baby, not in a well-appointed delivery room - but in a stable filled with smelly animals. She laid him in a manger filled with straw, not a crib with sheets that match a nursery theme. It wasn't all that pretty.

Jesus was born to a family that possessed little and worked hard to make ends meet.

How can we, in the midst of our culture's conspicuous consumption and demand for perfection, turn our focus on the Child who was born into poverty as a sign of hope and salvation for a broken world? While it may seem the world demands perfection, the Gospel message demands nothing from us. Rather, God invites us to gather around the manger just as we are: unfinished lists, burnt pies and all. No matter our imperfections, great or small, God invites us to peek into the manger and gaze at the real Christmas message: That Christ came for us all to be a beacon of hope for the hopeless and to bring peace. 

Rev. Amy Slater

Stafford UMC Newsletter, December 2012

If you look closely at those stained glass windows, it's not a solid piece of glass. It's made of bits and pieces, carefully fit together by master craftsmen, by true visionaries. 

Scott City UMC

We have our own Master Craftsman. He takes the broken bits and pieces of our very human lives and makes sense of them. He can take our disappointments and failures and can craft them into something new and beautiful.

So, when the list seems overwhelming ... and the oven timer dings at the same time the dryer bell sounds ... the packages don't have bows ... and there's too much to do in too little time:  Remember it's not about perfection. It's about grace. And, it's about listening for God's voice in our lives and obeying, like Mary and Joseph did so long ago.

Merry Christmas from our Kansas farm to you and your family!

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Gifts don't have to cost a lot of money to be meaningful. I enjoy giving gifts from the kitchen to family, friends, the mailman, the choir director ... the list goes on!

Snack mixes take bits and pieces of ingredients and make a tasty treat. They can be something that your gift recipient can use for unexpected guests or at their own family gatherings. Here are a few tried-and-true recipes that we enjoy at our house and I've also given as gifts. Click on the links for the recipes and ENJOY!

Immeasurable Snack Mix

Banana Cinnamon Snack Mix

Chocolate Coffee Toffee Snack Mix

Pumpkin Pie Crunch Mix