Chaos. And then there was... a baby

"When they [the shepherds] had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." -Luke 2:17-19

Christmas is awesome. Period. No discussion there.

I mean, how can it not be?

This is the story of a deity who created a world of unbelievable things: things that twinkle and wink at you in the night sky; things that grow out of the ground, look beautiful, then wither away, only to come back again and again; things that bay, oink, growl, and tweet; things that pounce on you and lick your face when you walk in the door; things called humans, who were made in his very image; and a thing called love, which is greater even than the amazing things called hope, joy, and peace. Scratch that, this deity is the very definition of love, which is in and of itself unbelievable.

This is the story of a deity who loved what he created so much that he could not bear to see it plunge into darkness of its own accord. He loved it so much that he decided to take this world's iniquities upon his own back, not so that he would fall under their weight, but so that he could triumph over them in a glorious embrace of reconciliation.

This is the story of a deity who came down not to condemn, or slander, or meddle, but to love and bring hope, joy, and peace.

This is the story of God who so loved the world that he sent his only Son Jesus, a great light shining in the darkness.

And like the rest of us, he was a baby -

a little bundle of joy who took that euphemism and multiplied it ten times over because unlike the rest of us he was also the very definition of love itself.

How much more awesome could you possibly want?

And while we celebrate with food, friends, parties, and the general spreading of joy, don't forget to take a moment like Mary did to treasure these things up and ponder them (kinda like taking that last piece of German chocolate cake and savoring it by yourself in some coat closet, but better and with zero guilt). Why? Because that little baby, who yawned a cute little baby yawn before shutting its little baby eyes real tight to fall asleep that first Christmas night, was born for you.

Merry Christmas!

Some photos of the crazy things we do!

This is a special photo dump for events over the past few months!

Jenna got baptized at Blue Route Vineyard Church! (10/9)

The annual Freshman Raid! We kidnap 2014 and have our way with them play sardines and the Foot Game with them in Bond Hall. (10/21)

Spencer dressed up in a King Crab suit. (10/21)

And we danced! (10/29)

Happy birthday, Octo-November babies! (Liz, Hana, Tiffany, and Steven!) (10/29)

The annual Freshman Banquet! (11/20) More people came than are shown in this photo, promise. In fact, more freshmen came than members of any other class! Yeah 2014!

Several intense rounds of Mafia followed. SCF youth group went on a road trip to Idaho, and people died each night along the way... (11/20)

The hilarity of White Elephant gift exchanges, at the annual Tri-Co Christmas Party! (12/3)

We're so weird! And awesome! Yeah Tri-Co IV! (12/3)

AND AND AND! Greg Albright ('10) got engaged to his longtime sweetheart Heather, this past Thursday at Rittenhouse Square! Click on the photo if you don't believe it- enlarged, you can see her ring! (12/2)