When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts.. Matthew 2:10-11

Christmas 2024 has been a first for Rebekah and for me. Our first Christmas out of the country. Our first Christmas not leading worship at the church where Rebekah is currently serving (dating back over 42 years).

Our first Christmas – of course – in Poland. So here is a look at our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Both days were very good. Walking around this ancient medieval city, feeling the bite of the cold and the festivity in the air. Stopping for lunch at a little French Bistro just off the main square. Watching all the merchants shutter their stores at 2:00 no matter how many tourists still wanted to shop. Carrying bags of gifts over to Andrew and Alicia’s apartment. Enjoying the fruits of Alicia’s long day of cooking that evening. Lighting the traditional Christmas Pudding.

Reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” to Mr. T.. Walking home through the cold night so our (very) excited grandson could settle down for his long winter’s nap. Taking a detour to pass by some Christmas lights.

Waking up to a completely quiet apartment and walking the riverfront, then having time for a relaxed mug of coffee before bundling up and carrying more gifts to Andrew and Alicia’s place.

Opening stockings before brunch casserole and then watching the five-year-old open his gifts… but also saving a few moments of generosity for ourselves. Eating, playing, drinking coffee, playing, eating some more, sharing stories.

Mr. T. and I took on Rebekah and Alicia for a fierce soccer match in the apartment courtyard. Then we all went for a long walk so that the boy could ride his bike through one of the city’s expansive parks. There are so many trails and bike-paths and green spaces and pedestrian-friendly initiatives here.

And, yes, our grandson eventually became exhausted – as did we – and so we ate again and sampled a traditional English Christmas Cake and then made more coffee before, finally, Rebekah and I sauntered home to our Airbnb where I am writing these words.

Christmas Day: celebrating the holy moment when God broke in through time and space to initiate a project so ambitious, so unlikely, so overwhelmingly challenging, so fraught, so full to the brim with promise, and so saturated with light and love that it took a newborn infant to carry the message – such was the need for purity and humility and grace.

And God did it, God pulled it off; that is the stop-the-presses bold-faced headline newsworthiness of it!

The question, then – always – is, what are we going to do in response to a story like this? Today, two-thousands years in to the project, the question is still open.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). – Matthew 1:22-23

In love, and because love is the only way we can begin to understand or to tell this beautiful story – DEREK