This week we would like to give you a chance to win a free title of your choosing from our “National Best Selling” book section. All you have to do is click this link, pick a book from the “National Best Selling Book” box, and leave a comment on this post between now and Tuesday, February 7 telling us which book you would select if you were to win. We will randomly select a winner which we will announce on Wednesday, February 8. Make sure to place your comment on this post and only one entry per person please.

Now for the winner…The winner of the Courageous Prize Pak Giveaway is…Monica (commenter #60)! Congratulations Monica!

This month we would like to give one of you a Courageous Prize Pak, including a DVD copy of Courageous and the book Courageous Living from pastor and Courageous executive producer Michael Catt.  To win our Courageous Prize Pak simply leave a comment on this post between now and Tuesday, January 24 telling us about the most courageous person you know. We will announce a winner on Wednesday, January 25. Only one comment per person please and remember to leave your comment on this post to register for the giveaway. Thanks!

It seemed like a good idea at the time. It was two weeks before Christmas, and we were busy making preparations for the Christmas pageant to be held in our yard. We planned to invite all our neighbors in the small Thai village where we lived. It wasn’t unusual to see an elephant walk down the street with his owner trolling along beside him, carrying bananas and other fruit. I had a brain wave when I saw him that day and thought it would be great to have a live elephant in our Christmas program. It was amazing how easy it was to haggle with the owner and settle on a price of only 1,000 baht ($33) for using his elephant on that day.
    The day dawned, brimming with anticipation and Cheryl, my wife, dressed in her Thai finery, walked out on the second floor balcony. The elephant had arrived, and with fear and trepidation she stepped off the balcony onto his back. With 40 other church members in tow, she was led into town and through the market, distributing invitations to the Christmas pageant. When she returned, I realized something was wrong. The elephant owner didn’t say anything, but he had that look. I inquired, “What’s the matter?”
    He informed that it was customary when renting an elephant that one was responsible to feed the elephant during that time. I had never rented an elephant before, so I immediately sent a friend to the market with a 1,000 baht note. He returned with two tubs of fruit for the elephant and no change for me. The elephant dove his trunk into the tubs and in about eight micro minutes emptied both.
    The owner looked at me expectantly, “Elephant hungry.” I reassured him, “I want your elephant to be full.” He and his friend convulsed in laughter, “Elephant never full.”
    I sent my friend back to the market for more food. This time he returned with two tubs of watermelons and other food bins. In nine micro minutes the elephant emptied it all, and the owner looked at me questioningly. I didn’t know what to do. In 45 minutes the elephant had just cleaned out $60 worth of food, and we still had another six hours to go.
    The owner noticed our row of banana trees beside the house and pointed helpfully at them.
I said, “Bananas, sure go ahead,” thinking it had to be cheaper than handing out money every few minutes.
    The man laughed, “No, the trees.”
    The elephant walked over to the first tree, wrapped his trunk around the tree trunk, ripping its roots from the ground. The man started cutting manhole-size pieces happily gulped down by the elephant.   
    At this point someone came up and announced, “Dr. Doug, we have a problem. After your wife’s escapade advertising the pageant, 400 to 500 people will be coming to watch it tonight.” This was a disaster. Our small yard could hold maybe 50 people in a tight squeeze, but not 400.
“How can we put 400 people in our yard?” I quizzed him.
    “Five hundred,” he corrected me. “Don’t worry, I know someone who can help. My friend has a truck and can get us the bleachers from the school football field.”
    The elephant continued his deforestation program and was on his 14th tree when I heard a beep, beep, beep. Above the fence a crane held a swaying bleacher as it precariously swung from side to side as the ten-ton truck carefully advanced down our narrow street. The truck fit perfectly into the gap where the banana trees had previously been. I congratulated myself that at least something went right, when the owner came up to me as the elephant had just devoured his 16th tree.
    “Elephant thirsty,” he told me.
    We did have a hose, so I took him to it and turned it on. The elephant started drinking. Becoming frustrated with the flow of the water, he wrapped his trunk around it and gave it a sharp yank. The hose tightened and pulled the faucet, then the pump, and finally the water tank right out of the ground. This didn’t help the water come any faster, and he gave another tug. With a groan, the pipes that ran up the side of our house came off, pulling retaining brackets, Spackle, and bricks with them.
    That evening, people started arriving. The bleachers filled, and then the yard, until there were at least 500 people packed in like sardines. The pageant began, and two other doctors arrived to join me as “wise men” riding the elephant. They took one look at the elephant and showed their wisdom by refusing to ride. I climbed on from the second story balcony and with my little box of “myrrh” slowly swayed on the elephant.
    As I approached the crowd I had serious reservations about the whole setup. The elephant started tiptoeing its way through the crowd, and my heart sank as I became diaphoretic. I had visions of the elephant being startled and running amok among the crowd. Since I knew what an out-of-control elephant could do (from The Lord of the Rings), I could just visualize the headlines tomorrow, “Baptist Elephant Tramples Tiny Buddhists.”
    “Oh, Lord,” I earnestly prayed, “Please watch over everyone here. I’m sorry I ever hired the elephant. Don’t let anyone get hurt.”
    Somehow the elephant got to the manger where Mary and Joseph were without squashing anyone, and there an amazing thing happened. He slowly and majestically bowed down before the manger. We had never practiced this. As I slid off and walked forward with my gift, I glanced sidelong at him in astonishment. In a country where elephants are revered, everyone was flabbergasted at the elephant’s spontaneous submission while sounds of “Oh” and “Ah” arose from the group.
    The audience listened attentively as a new believer got up and shared his testimony. Our neighbor, with whom we had shared many times before, came forward and made bold declaration that he wanted to become a Christian. He has since been a faithful follower. To God be all the glory for His use of the Christmas elephant.

(Thanks to The Hill Family for providing

I’m sitting at my desk with the twinkling lit Christmas tree behind me. It’s January 4th and today a friend wondered why I hadn’t taken our tree down yet. Several reasons came to mind but one resonated tonight –

In the fall of 2008, I happily purchased a Christmas tree from an expat who was moving back to the states from our city in Thailand. Our old tree had seen too many holidays and shed one too many artificial pine needles. It wasn’t sturdy any longer to hold our ornaments. Unfortunately when Christmas time arrived that year, I was so disappointed as I began to set up our “new” tree. The base had only three legs and couldn’t stand up. There were several broken branches that would not stay attached and there were big bare gaps. I borrowed a leg from our old tree to fit into the base of this new tree so it would prop up, but you didn’t dare touch it or it would begin to sway! I tried hanging the broken branches just right so they would stay but knew they couldn’t hold a single ornament. I was sobered that someone would even sell me a tree like that, let alone not tell me the truth. And I ached over wanting a beautiful tree. Thus the plan, make it through another Christmas and try to replace it again in the big school yard sale next year.

When spring of 2009 came, some family friends were moving back to the states and they sold their Christmas tree to us – I was excited and hopeful. Fall arrived and so did the school yard sale! We cleaned house and set off to sell our unwanted treasures including our disheartening old Christmas tree. Toward the last hour of the sale, my goods had dwindled to just a couple of boxes of stuff and my one lone Christmas tree box. One Thai man approached the box and my heart quickened hoping I could be rid of this disappointment. Knowing I couldn’t sell it for much at all, I quickly said to him, “20 Baht (equal to 80 cents) – As Is!”. He looked inside the box, shrugged his shoulders, handed me 20 baht and walked off with the tree. Yeah! I didn’t have to lug that “Charlie Brown” tree home! I was filled with anticipation about my “new” tree I had at home waiting for Christmas. I was so satisfied.

Thanksgiving passed and it was time for the new tree! My daughter, Cecilia, helped me pull the tree out of the box and we began the assembling process. I reached for the base and then quickly searched the box. It was missing a leg too! This tree couldn’t stand upright either! I fixed another leg for this tree and while standing it up, broken branches fell to the floor. In panic, I said to Cecilia, “ Daddy is NOT going to be happy! What is wrong with Christmas trees in Asia?! Are they all broken?!!”… Graham came home from work about 10 minutes later and I had the tree standing. He asked what was wrong with it. I quickly jumped, “Well the top is beautiful isn’t it? The top is definitely more beautiful than last year’s tree!” He surveyed the whole tree and looked at me, “Felicity, this is our old tree”. Confused, I replied, “No, it is not! The top is so much fuller”. “Felicity, this is our old tree…..” My heart began to sink and a pit formed in my stomach, “How?…..” .

Long and short of it – In the rush of the early morning trip to the yard sale, I had grabbed the wrong tree box…. I sold the wrong tree at the sale– the new tree- “As Is for 20 Baht!” and now I had our ailing, broken, holey, old Christmas tree once again staring at me! I sunk. The sweet anticipation of our night of decorating evaporated! I retreated to the kitchen and my ten year-old son followed saying, “Mom, maybe we just need to be content with what we have”. Graham quickly entered, “Evan, good thought but NOT NOW, just let mom cry.” And I did. Not a good night in the Hill household! The next few days unfolded and slowly the humor entered in. Graham quipped, “I can just see that Thai man setting up his Christmas tree he purchased from us and looking puzzled and wondering, “As Is?”….this beautiful Christmas tree, AS IS?” How could we not laugh. Kind of. The rest of the week we tried to joke about our “As Is Tree” that was now standing in our own living room.

Several days passed and I went out for a cup of coffee and a quiet time with the Lord. I was journaling about Advent, Christmas, and of course, my tree. My heart began to quietly clear and settle. I thought of the tree, I thought of me – I’m just like that tree! I reflected on my own unsteadiness, my own holes and broken places, and my own imperfections as I walk with and worship Him. I am not perfect and gracefully symmetrical, just like this tree! I can only come to Him “As Is”, humbly, needing Him, needing to receive Him, His touch, His grace. And I had to confess not only my discontentment with my imperfect Christmas tree, but my wanting to create a perfect Christmas. So often I live in the tension of the cultural sentimentality of Christmas versus the truth of the Christmas story. We all live in that tension to some degree, don’t we? At least I do! In the end of my time, my heart was calm and I was able to say I was thankful even for my imperfect Christmas tree. “Lord, I’m ok with this tree!” Let it be a reminder of my own heart and need of you! Later that day while checking out Christmas books from the school library, I came across a book entitled, “Why Christmas Trees aren’t Perfect” (by: Richard Schneider) and I just had to laugh! I’m amazed at how He relates with us at so many different levels – how personally He comes to us even in the simple things and how wonderfully cared for I feel in the midst of it. Thank you Jesus. It was a good day.

Well, The next morning I got up early to let our puppy out and through sleepy eyes, spotted a big box at the end of our driveway. As I walked closer, I couldn’t believe my eyes! There stood a Christmas tree box with a big sign revealing a typed out message for the Hill Family which ended with “Merry Christmas!” A Christmas Tree?!! A NEW Christmas tree?! “Dear Lord! Who did this”?! I half laughed, half cried in disbelief. Everyone in our house church denied giving it, or so I thought. Perhaps they or perhaps a delivery simply sent from Him. Amazing isn’t it?!… So, I’m sitting here with our new tree still up, lingering in our home and it is beautiful – just as He is. And me, I’m still “As Is” with my broken branches and holes but He is making me/us, His creation, beautiful as only He can.

Sending you Love,

The Hill family (names have been changed for security)

P.S. By the way, we did dispose of the old Christmas tree to prevent any future confusion!! :>

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Life is a gift.

There are few things that bother me like seeing someone who displays a sense of entitlement. Some people are convinced that the world owes them. Rather than feeling grateful when someone helps them or bestows a blessing on them, they simply expect it. All of us have seen this. It could be the person who blows past someone who is holding the door for them without acknowledging the gift with a “thank you”. It might be the person in line behind you at the grocery store with only one item. Since you have a cart full of groceries, you kindly allow the person to check-out in front of you. Instead of saying “thank you”, they simply move in front of you as if it were their “God-given” right. After all, they seem to think, wasn’t it your obligation to let them pass? Each of us have been around one of “those people”.

But, what if I am one of “those people“? How many times do we forget to be thankful for something because we have simply learned to expect it?   

During one of our cold spells last winter my water pipes froze. I bundled up and proceeded to push myself through the little opening into the crawl space under the house. As I began trying to thaw out the water lines, I became more uncomfortable with every passing minute. Suddenly, as I was working to remedy the situation, one of the pipes ruptured and began shooting out water and filling the crawl space with a mist so heavy that it became hard to see. In a split second I went from being a little annoyed and uncomfortable to being downright frustrated!

Now on the surface my frustration seems completely justified, but where does it come from? Doesn’t it come from my expectation that I should have running water inside my house? Doesn’t it come from my expectation that when I turn on a tap voila, I should be able to partake of all of the clean water that I desire? Have we grown so accustomed to hot showers and personal washing machines that we forget that indoor water is a gift? Beyond that, have we forgotten that water itself is a gift? According to water.org, “884 million people lack access to safe water supplies; approximately one in eight people”. Isn’t that staggering? Something that is so common to us, so ordinary, so expected is completely extraordinary to 1 in 8 people in the world!

It’s impossible to feel thankful and entitled at the same time. Only as we begin to see all of life as a gift can we truly be thankful for even the seemingly small things. We must remember that what seems insignificant and commonplace to us could be nothing short of a miracle to many others. And for that, let us be continually “overflowing with thanksgiving”!