Being Together
Jeremy asked the group at our midnight Christmas Eve Get Together "When have you really experienced Jesus at Christmas?"

At first, all we could really think of seemed to be at a Christmas Eve Service (which is exactly what we had cancelled in lieu of this very meeting!). Yet slowly we discovered an answer. I shared that earlier in the day I had felt an overwhelming desire to be with everyone (Apexers) on Christmas. Tom shared that Christmas had always been about loving those close to him. We began to discover that the way we most experience Christ at Christmas is through the love of being together.

This Christmas, though different than any other, was meaningful for me in that I was able to be together with so many people. My parents were with us all day on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Then Wedensday night, we were with 30 Apexers for the time mentioned above.

On Christmas Day, we shared brunch with 15 others. Later in the day we had a meal with the Nybergs, then went to a kids' movie with the Harshmans. It was togetherness. It was Christ lived out in the one anothers. All in all, it was a great way to spend Christmas.

This flows out of what I've been learning about church. It's all about practicing the one-anothers with other people on the journey. The second half of most of Paul's letters deal with being church. They have little to say about structure or program, but tons to say about how we live and act toward "one another." And, what I've learned recently, is that one-anothering happens when we make tons of time to get together, eat food together, and be together. I hope to do more and more of that in 2004.

Merry Christmas to All

Random Thoughts
Last night I went with Apex Staff & spouses to see Joe perform in Tina & Tony's wedding and for dessert at the Voodoo Lounge. It was our Christmas Party of sorts. It was simple, yet it bonded us closer. Time spent together, especially over food, is always time well spent. I feel less apologetic all the time for calling this "church."

My parents get here from Indy early tomorrow morning. They haven't been here since February, so there's a lot to show them (they haven't seen the house we're living in, the house we're building, "pregnant" Rebekah, the law school, the Christ Lutheran church building, etc.).

Yesterday at noon, I officially completed my first 10 hours of law school. I have made some new friends already (which was one of the reasons for doing this), I've learned a ton of law already (just enough to be dangerous), and I'm exhausted. It truly was much harder than I anticipated, and I did not aniticipate that it would be easy.

This week will be time with family. Next week will be a week of reflection about the law school decision and about what needs to be the focus for Apex in 2004.

Happy Christmas.