Dear Friends in Christ,

Update on Linda

     First, let me express my deepest appreciation to all of you for your loving concern for my wife, Linda, as she recently underwent surgery to relieve pressure on her spinal cord and replace four disks in her neck. (She did ask the surgeon if there were any chance he could make her any taller while he was working on her, being all of five feet tall at present! We'll check when she gets home, and give you an update...) She came through her surgery with flying colors and will now be on the mend for several weeks. Thank you for your continuing prayers.

We Decorate Together---We're a Team

     As you read this, we will have started our journey through Advent in preparation for our celebration of Christmas later this month. We've had some interesting discussion at our house about the tree. At first, because she will be restricted in what she will be able to do for a few weeks, she thought we'd just skip a tree this year. Yet the more she thought about the house not having beautiful reminders of the birth of our Savior, the more she feared she'd be depressed without them. So upstairs I went to retrieve the tree, and it's set up in the den. By the time you read this, she will have directed me how to decorate it, where to hang each ornament, and then we will have journeyed around the house placing other decorations out as well. I will not have minded at all, because you see, we're a team. We do these things together.

The Importance of Trusting the Team

     One of the things I was reminded of during her surgery was how important it is to "trust the team." A surgeon and physician's assistant we had known only a few months, anesthesiologists we had known all of five minutes, nurses we met after the fact, administrators and care givers---all strangers to us. And in that short span of time we had to make a decision---Do we trust them with Linda's life? That's really what it comes down to, isn't it? We made that decision, and they have proven to be worthy of that trust.

Can Seekers Trust Our "Team?"

     It occurred to me that this is a lot like what folks who don't have a church home, and have never committed their lives to Christ, face as they wrestle with what God has to do with them; what Christmas has to do with them. We in the faith have to ask ourselves the question, "Do we evoke trust in them? Is the genuineness of our love for Christ---and for them---obvious in all we say and do, and in the way we do it?" You see, they're wrestling with the same questions, "Can I trust this message about the Christ whose birth they're celebrating? Can I trust these people---His people---with my life and with the lives of my loved ones?"

     In the Church, we are the body of Christ, His team, and the world needs to know they can trust what we say to be true. As we invite them to live within the circle of His love, we need to be certain they see that love in us. Especially during this wondrous season when God's love is so wonderfully proclaimed!

     Linda and I wish you a wonderful Christmas Season and a Happy New Year as well. May God bless you and your loved ones with Grace, Peace, Health, and Happiness.

Yours in the Love of Christ,

Bob

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