When I was growing up in Greensboro, NC as an only child our family Christmas tree was decorated primarily with garland, lights and round glass ornaments. At some point my Dad purchased a new set of ornaments that were larger than the ones we usually had on the tree. They quickly became known as the Big Balls (and this was years before the TV show Wipeout). I loved them. Dad loved them. Mom was never a fan. As the years passed, new ornaments were added. Glass balls were broken and replaced. But the Big Balls lived on. And every year the argument continued- were the Big Balls too tacky for our tree?
After moving to Florida in 1995 my folks downsized their tree and a number of the ornaments they had traditionally used were left in the box each Christmas. Marilyn, Will and I would always spend Thanksgiving at their home and help them decorate the tree, and then guys made sure that the Big Balls tradition continued- now with Marilyn also fighting them tooth and nail.
In 2006 my Dad passed away, and for the next several years Mom didn't put up a tree because she was spending Christmas at our house. All of her ornaments sat unused. Then in 2011 she brought a box of classic ornaments to us, and much to my surprise a few of the Big Balls had survived. She and Marilyn refused to allow them on our tree, which is dominated by Hallmark ornaments and Disney collectibles. Will and I complained, but to no avail. And so the Big Balls waited.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving weekend, 2012. I am fresh off of toe surgery, sitting in my recliner and removing ornaments from boxes as Mom put hooks in them and Marilyn and Will place them on our tree. I come across the box containing the Big Balls, and Will decides to take charge. Before anyone can react, Will has placed them on the tree. It is a major victory for us...and for my Dad, who was no doubt smiling down on us. And after a bit of battling, they remained on the tree that entire season.
But this story has an epilogue. On Christmas morning of that year I was given a new ornament for the Jones family tree. It's an ever BIGGER ball, which is pictured here hanging in a place of honor on the 2014 version of our tree. It joins the remaining vintage big balls as a great reminder that Christmas is full family traditions- and not all of them make sense to anyone else. In fact, those are often the very best ones!
I hope that all of you cherish your traditions during this festive season and celebrate the birth of the Christ-child with warm memories and loving family. From the Jones family, we wish you an early Merry Christmas! And Big Balls...
Now that Thanksgiving is over (and all of those "Black Friday" commercials have mercifully ceased) I can get into the spirit of the Christmas season! I am a serious Christmas lover in every way. I love the music, I love the shopping, I love Santa, and of course, I love Jesus! One of the things that helps gt the Jones family in the holiday spirit each year is our collection of Christmas movies and specials on DVD and blu ray. So today I thought I would share with you my list of "must-see" Christmas movies and specials. Ready? Here we go:
- Four Christmases-There is nothing so funny as other people's families at the holidays...
- Jingle All the Way- A Christmas movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger- what could be cooler that than? Includes the classic Arnold line, "Put that cookie down!" Awesome!
- The Lighting of the Tree at Rockefeller Center- The show is really pretty hit and miss, but it's a Jones family tradition to watch!
- Christmas With the Kranks- One of the those rare movies that I liked better than the book it was based on, John Grisham's Skipping Christmas. Tim Allen is the king of Christmas movies. Free Frosty, Free Frosty!!!
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- The classic original! It's a great story with great music and Yukon Cornelius and The Bumble- what else could you ask for!
- Home Alone 2: Lost in New York-I like this sequel even better than the original (which for some reason we do not own. This must change.). Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as the "Sticky Bandits" are my favorite part of both movies.
- The Nightmare Before Christmas- Tim Burton's classic look at what happens when you try to "do" Christmas without "getting Christmas. Yay, Sandy Claws!
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas- The animated version with Boris Karloff narrating is amazing, but we also like Jim Carrey's live action Grinch as well.
- Elf- We're just walking around the house saying today saying, "Buddy the Elf- what's your favorite color?" There is also a great message about believing when those around you do not...
- The Santa Claus- I actually liked all three of these, but the first one is still my favorite. You gotta' love the elves!
- Saturday Night Live Christmas- There are actually 2 of these specials now, but we own the older one of DVD and watch it every year. So many great skits, including the all-time classics A Dysfunctional Family Christmas, Schweddy Balls & The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Christmas. "On Herschel, on Moshe, on Schlomo!!!"
- Scrooged- Bill Murray is great, Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present just cracks me up, and the story is timeless. A very underrated movie.
- Christmas Vacation- I feel a certain connection with Clark W. Griswald. We both manage to screw up most everything, but we mean well! And the lights- ohhh the lights!
- It's A Wonderful Life- Well, DUH!!!
- The Toy That Saved Christmas- The first and best of the Veggietale Christmas stories. The Veggie's learn the true meaning of Christmas from Buzzsaw Louie. And after a sledding accident Bob the Tomato gets to utter these great lines: "Mousetrap. I wanted to play Mousetrap. You roll your dice, you move your mice- nobody gets hurt!"
- A Charlie Brown Christmas- More people have heard the Christmas story as told in the Gospel of Luke from Linus than from any other single media source in history. Think about that...
- A Muppet Christmas Carol- Easily number one for all of my family. The music is awesome, the story is terrific, and it has Muppets. What else do you want? We own the VHS, the DVD, and the CD of the music. "After all there's only one more sleep 'til Christmas..." And BTW- we're seeing the new Muppet Movie this afternoon! I can't wait!
So there's my list. I know many of you would include A Christmas Story but I don't share your love of that one. What else would you add? Let me hear from you. Enjoy your favorites, but don't let the reason for the season slip away from you. Listen to Linus- the little dude with the blanket knows what he is talking about!
Because of Jesus,
There are two competing ideas that many corporations and organizations in this great nation of ours are struggling with these days. There are many people who are uncomfortable with change, and fight it at every turn. They choose to look to the "good old days" to determine how we should go forward. This works well for some groups. But others are all about not only embracing change, but creating it. They believe that the newer an idea or product, the better. And this also is a very successful plan for many.
My mother hates change. She hates when the grocery store changes where they keep the brand of coffee she buys. She hates when restaurants change their menus. She hates when people move and she has to break in new neighbors. And she hated change at Walt Disney World so much that she quite buying her annual pass after 15 years of having one every year. They kept changing her beloved Epcot, and she just couldn't take it anymore. And that is not even getting into what they did to Main Street at the Magic Kingdom. She despises change. And she is not alone. There is large portion of the population who tend to think all change is bad. And contrary to popular belief, these folks are not all senior citizens. People fight change.
Then there is this. On my favorite television show How I Met Your Mother, Barney Stinson once put forth the hypothesis that "new is always better!" And many of us certainly buy into that. Just look at the lines to purchase a new I-Phone anytime there is an upgrade. It is not significantly different than the previous model- but since it is new it must be better! Every new book gives us new ways to be a better leader, husband, mother or Christian- and we believe them all! After all, these things are new. And new is always better!
The problem with these hypotheses is that nothing is that absolute. Change is inevitable, and we know that. Does anyone really long for the days of the rotary dial phone or dirt roads? But when the changes impact us personally, we draw back. We might even panic. As Garth from Wayne's World once said, "We fear change." It is so true. And that leads to a constant battle between living in a world that is rapidly changing and holding onto the things we feel are important to us. We must all learn to deal with change and with things that are new. But that does not mean that new is always better. The 2012 Olympic planning committee didn't go to Sir Paul McCartney and ask him to play something off of his latest album at the Opening Ceremonies. They wanted Hey Jude! No one prefers The Office without Steve Carell to the show with him. The latest $2000 sneakers will never be better than my classic Chuck Taylors. Or as Ted Mosby replied in HIMYM when Barney made his statement about new always being better, "You don't go to a Guns'N'Roses concert and yell 'play Chinese Democracy!' You want Sweet Child O Mine!" New can be great. New can make our world a better place. But new is not always better.
So what got me thinking about all of this? It seems to me that that Church of Jesus Christ is impacted by both of the ideas. In fact, the church may be the one organization fighting both of these battles at once. We are, by our very being, tied to history and tradition. We are, by our very mission, trying to connect and relate to the world we live so that everyone might know Jesus. The conflict between these two things is constant. and it often plays out like this. I want young people to come to church (they're new) but I am unwilling to give up my worship time, chosen seat or preferred style of music (that's too much change) so they might feel more at home. I want the pastor to engage those who didn't grow up in the church (new people) but I hate it when we don't say the Apostle's Creed and the Lord's Prayer every week (big changes). These struggles lead to people feeling left out or unheard. In many congregations they have led to splits over music and worship styles. I grew up Quaker, so I know what it is like to see change as the enemy (Q: How many Quakers does it take to change a light bulb? A: CHANGE! Who said anything about CHANGE!!!). I also served in a church that that not only embraced change, they were constantly creating it. New was always better. Never mind history or tradition. And it bit them in the butt in the long run...
The bottom line is we cannot worship tradition, and we must not worship change. We worship only one God, only one Savior. We must open our hearts and our minds to see things the way Jesus sees them. Some old traditions are worth preserving. Some new ideas are valuable and worth adding. Remember, Jesus is the one who came to make everything old new again. If we seek to keep our message consistent and Christ-centered, but are willing to change the manner in which is it delivered, then we are on the right track. It is not about how we worship. It is about WHO we worship and how much he loves us. And praise Jesus, that is never changing.
Because of Jesus,
My son Will (after listening to me make up a song during a commercial on TV) remarked the other day that "no one in our family is normal- and that's a good thing." Nowhere is the unusual nature of our family more clear than on Christmas Eve. Here's a quick look at Christmas Eve with the Jones family...
- I have to go shopping. For as long as I can remember it has been a personal tradition for me to go out and purchase at least one present on Christmas Eve. It used to be I had to go to the mall; now I buy very little at the mall, so I just go to Walgreen's or Big Lots or whatever- but I have to get something for Christmas on Christmas Eve. It's a moral imperative...
- The family (including my Mom) heads out to the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at Van Dyke Church. It has been many different churches over the years (and I was usually working at those churches), and each church has given us special memories. Whether it was Marilyn Burris singing O Holy Night at New Garden Friends, the candlelight circle at Springfield Friends, the marathon of 4 (and occasionally 5) services at FUMC-Kissimmee or any of the other special places we have called home, a Christmas Eve worship service has long been a part of our family tradition. It's just not Christmas without proclaiming Jesus is LORD!
- Then we head home for a traditional Christmas Eve meal- Hot Dogs! Yes, hot dogs! Since we began doing it at my Grandmother Dot's house when I was a little boy for the purpose of ease of preparation, hot dogs have become our meal of choice on Christmas Eve. But we are natives of North Carolina, and so we are not talking about a wiener and a bun here. A REAL hot dog has chili, slaw, onions, mustard and ketchup. This is a Carolina Dog, and there is nothing that compares- and I've tried Chicago Dogs and everything else! My mouth is already watering...
- Will gets to open one present (of her choosing) from his Gigi (grandmother). She has tried to kill this tradition as he got older and has fewer (but more expensive) gifts to open. He has kept it very much alive!
- The family part of our evening wraps up with a viewing of The Muppet Christmas Carol. It is our absolute favorite, and always our last activity before bedtime on Christmas Eve. What better way to remember "there's only one more sleep 'til Christmas..."
- And finally, after Will and his grandmother are off to bed, Marilyn will wrap presents. Somehow, even though we only bought Will a few things this year, my lovely wife will manage to stay up until 1 AM wrapping. It's tradition!
So there you have it- a Jones family Christmas Eve. Try these traditions at your own risk. Better yet, create your own. It's one of the way we keep Christmas in our hearts all year. But no matter what you do, remember the reason we celebrate. Thank you , God, for the gift of your Son and all that means to each of us. And to all of you who are reading this simple blog, I wish you a blessed and merry Christmas. Joy to the world, the LORD is come!!!
Jesus- the only hope for me is you...and You alone!
Happy Palm Sunday everyone! Holy Week is a week full of highs and lows, a week that helps us to remember events that changed the world and changed our lives. Palm Sunday is a day that, to me, contains the full range of emotions. We read the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem, of the multitudes waving the palm branches and shouting "Hosanna!" and "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!" The Pharisees tell Jesus to quiet the crowd, and He rebukes them by saying that if His followers keep quiet, "even the stones will cry out." This is the Christ at His most popular. This is Jesus Christ, Superstar. And we celebrate in many of our churches by having the children wave palm branches as we sing songs of celebration. We, like the original Christ-followers, believe! And we shout out His name and would follow Him anywhere.
Yet we know what is coming. No matter how great our celebration is today, we know that this week holds stories of betrayal, denial and death. We know that these same people who shouted "Hosanna!" will in a few short days be screaming "Crucify Him!" We know that on Good Friday the world will turn very black, and all the hope of Palm Sunday will seem to be lost. And just when things seem to be darkest, we know there is the great light of the resurrection still to come. This is the advantage we have over those early disciples. We KNOW how it ends. We are a Resurrection People!
So today, the question is this: Will we live our lives like the early believers, shouting "Hosanna!" one day and denying Jesus the next? It is one thing to sin; we all sin. It is another thing to live our lives ashamed of the One who saves us from that sin. This week I encourage you to re-write the story of Holy Week in your lives. Let there be no denial or betrayal. Show the world that Jesus is alive, and that He is now and forever your LORD and Savior. Living for Jesus in the here and now is certainly something to scream "Hosanna!" about! I hope you all have a blessed day!
Tomorrow we return to tales of Floridays 1993 with another word we enjoyed screaming: Aruuuuuubaaaaa! See you then.
Because of Jesus,
One of the first and longest-running reality TV shows is The Real World (When it began, MTV still showed music videos...). Their famous tag line that has opened the show for many years is "7 people, picked to live in a house..." The idea is that these 7 people will live life together and discover how tough it can be. We had our own "real world" experiences many times over the years, but the ones that stick out in my mind are the Myrtle Beach trips in which up to 45 of us shared a house for a week. There are many interesting stories that will be told from these adventures, but today, I want to talk about food.
In 1988, on our first trip from Springfield Friends Meeting to the Betsy B, I thought it would be smart to load the house with snacks to feed all those hungry teens. I told each of the participants to bring a sweet or salty snack to share, thinking this would last a good part of our week. I bought lots of cereal for breakfast, thinking I might have to shop one more time after our arrival. I already knew a great deal about travelling with youth, but I had yet to learn much about living with them! The snacks I thought would last all week were gone by the second evening. I didn't understand that anything these kids could find, they WOULD eat! If it was in the house, it disappeared quickly. The cereal lasted through one morning. I didn't realize that guys like Jon Moran would break out the "Jethro Bowls" (mixing bowls, as used by Jetho Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies) and eat an entire box at one sitting. Needless to say, the food budget for that week was in terrible trouble...and I wound up buying enough water, soda and lemonade to stock a 7-11. Something had to change...
The following year we returned to the Betsy B, and I this time I had a plan. I would get up each morning before anyone else was stirring and go to the local store, which was a Kroger. I would buy all of the food and drink for THAT day. And when they ate it all, that was it- no more until the next day! I wound up buying lots of cereal and lots of snacks- Fudge Rounds, Opies (Oatmeal Creme Pies), Freeze Pops, chips and more. And I would up buying enormous amounts of Big K soda.
Big K was the Kroger brand, and it was cheap- around 49 cents for a two liter bottle. It came it pretty much every flavor imaginable, and most of them were pretty good. We liked the Lemon-Lime, Ginger Ale, Dr. K (Dr. Pepper rip-off), Root Beer, Cherry Lemon-Lime, Orange, Black Cherry and many others. One particular favorite was a bizarre little drink called Red Creme Soda. The only one we just could not stand was cola. I had to buy real Coke for the cola drinkers. Every morning I would visit the store and purchase 10-20 two liter bottles of Big K. And every day we would drink most of them. We would go through 80-100 bottles in a week. I became a legend in that store- every day the workers would gather to see how much I was buying FOR THAT DAY! It was amazing. People became fierce defenders of their favorite flavors. At one point on the Beach Break '89 video I have, Heather Beggs says to Russell Farlow "We love Big K, don't we Russell?" His response is classic. He lets out a very happy sigh, throws his head back and yells "UH-HUH!!!" He spoke for many of us.
Like so many things in student ministry, Big K was only special because of the people and the place. I never bought it to use in my home or anyplace else. It was simply part of the experience of our own little "Real World." Over the years it helped us survive some Black Thursdays, some relationship nightmares, and more than a few long nights on the porch singing. Big K was never all that good- but when we were sharing life together as one big "family of God," it was as good as it gets.
Because of Jesus,
I do not have a Twitter account, nor do I plan to start "tweeting" anytime soon. But there was a time long before Twitter when a different kind of tweeting was all the rage in my youth groups. I should warn you that the following tale is somewhat sexist (in the way that hormone driven teenage boys are almost always sexist!) although that was never the intent of our silliness. If you must have outrage, then please, enjoy it- along with a good laugh!
