Author: Michelle Suarez

Christmas Thoughts

Sometimes I think we’ve become far too used to Christmas.  Of course, it sneaks up on us every year, and most of us spend the month playing catch up.  But I think we’ve become too accustomed to Christmas……we don’t stop and take in the awe of what really happened.

God, the Creator of everything, the Sustainer of everything, the One who literally makes the world go round, humbled Himself enough to come hang out with His creation.  In fact, He gave up His deity to become like us.  As much as I try to act as if all people are exactly the same, the truth is that there are some people I wouldn’t want to be like, nor would I want to be around for very long.  I always think of these people at Christmas.  I imagine myself as those people, because I’m sure that’s a bit like what Jesus must have done when He came to be like ME, when He came to spend time with ME.

God WITH us, Emmanuel, gave up everything to show us the way to live.  He had already given us a list of rules and things to do and not do.  But we couldn’t follow those rules.  Instead of writing us off (which I would have done if I were in His place), He came to SHOW us exactly what we needed to do.

But He didn’t just come to show us HOW to live.  No, He came to GIVE us life.  Because without Him, we’re not actually living, we’re just existing.  And that wasn’t what He created us to do.  He created us to LIVE, and to live abundant and full lives.

God loved us enough to give up everything, including His only Son, so that He could have a relationship with us.  I love my friends, but I can’t imagine giving up that much to continue my relationship with them.

This Christmas, take some time to awe and revel in the fact that God came to be with us.  That Jesus loves us enough to give His life for us.  That He was born to die for us.  That He did all of that willingly.

Going from This to That

Two conversations happened yesterday that were not very earth-shattering, but got me to thinking.

In the first, I was talking to a group of middle school kids at the after school program we are currently beta-testing. We were talking about phobias.  I don’t remember how the converstation started, but I ended up asking what their phobias were.  One kid piped up saying he had “poor-a-phobia: the fear of being poor.”  Keep in mind this is the exact demographic we’re aiming at and reaching through this after school program.  I lead the conversation around to how to avoid being poor – getting a college degree that will enable you to get a good paying job, and learning money management skills.  We talked for a while about money management and what that meant since this was a new subject for them.

Later that night, my oldest daughter told me about a friend who just found out she’s pregnant.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t much of a surprise to me because I remember having a converstation with Sam about this particular friend and declaring that if things didn’t change, she would end up pregnant before graduation.  I’m not happy about being right.

So, the question is:  How do we go from “poor-a-phobic” teen pregnancy to college grads with good money management skills?  How do we teach kids the skills necessary to get them from this to that?  Or better yet, how do we get kids to see the importance of the skills that lead to college readiness and successful adult lives?  I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of seeing kids with so much potential take a detour down a road that leads to hardship and heartache.  Let’s work on this together…..maybe even by doing something, rather than just talking about it.