Top 10 Posts of 2017

Another year is coming to a close.

This year has included eighty posts on this blog and those below were very unscientifically chosen as the top ten of the year:

Do You Kiss Your Wife With That Mouth?

You Must Lose Yourself

The Curse and Being Beastly

'Tis But a Scratch

Satan's a Rotten Pimp

Ashamed of Holiness

God is Good

Love That Requires Effort

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

The Wordless Word

Happy New Year!  Count your many blessings from 2017 today.

Christmas Letter 2017

We hope this letter finds you warm and well this Christmas season.  At our house we took a vote and unanimously picked 2017 as our favorite year yet.  We had many exciting changes and experiences over the last 12 months that are pleased to share.

The biggest change was that Joshua was born on Mothers’ Day.  It was a Mothers’ Day we’ll never forget, but we think we’ll just go out for dinner in 2018.  Joshua is 7-months-old this month and is growing and learning so fast.  Having a child, as many of you know, is perhaps the most challenging and rewarding things God brings us. 

In August we took an amazing vacation.  We went to Europe for 10 days with Christine’s parents, her brother and his girlfriend.  And yes, we took 3-month-old Joshua and he did great.  We stayed near Christine’s cousins in Vevey, Switzerland and also spent a few days in Dublin, Ireland.  Being in Switzerland was like waking up in a postcard every day.  It is breathtakingly beautiful with Lake Geneva and the Alps both right there.  Ireland was spectacular as well mostly because the people are so friendly and there is so much to see.  We also loved our stop in Dublin because Christine’s brother Michael proposed to his girlfriend Becca.  She said yes and Joshua is pretty proud of his uncle for securing him another world-class aunt. 

Speaking of world travels.  Matt’s sister Maggie and brother-in-law Tom traveled to Iowa from Australia in November.  It was so great to see them and for them to meet their new nephew, too.

Christine had a slight job change this year.  She went from working full-time at the Waverly Health Center to working PRN.  PRN basically means she only has to work one night a week though she can get more hours if she wants.  She loves it because it is like being a stay-at-home-mom and still a nurse at the same time.

Matt began his 8^th year at KWAY radio in April.  He is still hosting the morning show and doing sports play-by-play.  On top of that he’s currently in his 13^th school year working with the youth at church.

2017 also saw us gain a nephew and a niece.  It’s so thrilling to see the family growing with new kids and in-laws, though the in-law increase is ending once Michael and Becca get married.

This year was a banner year in the Ray house and we thank God for it.  We also thank Him for all of you who make our lives so much better than we deserve.  At this time we’re also reminded to thank God for sending us Christ to be Emmanuel.  Knowing that God is with us gives us the strength and courage to celebrate 2017 and look forward eagerly for what He has in store for us in 2018.

May you have a blessed Christmas season.

Merry Christmas from the Rays: Matt, Christine and Joshua.

The Wordless Word

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." John 1:14a


"Mary!  He's crying again and I have no idea why."

Joseph paced the floors trying to calm his son.  Mary had already tried to feed him and he wasn't having any of it.  So, Joseph paced and bounced and paced and pounced while attempting to sing a soothing lullaby over the increasingly loud sounds of his infant's cries.

"I can't wait until you can just tell me what you need, Son."

Joseph neared his wit's end when it happened.

"BURP!"

Silence.

"Jesus, was that it?  That's what you needed, little guy?"


The Apostle John calls Jesus the Word.  The Word who was from the beginning.  The Word who not only was with God, but the Word that was and always was and is and always will be God.

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made Himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
and became obedient to death...
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
and gave Him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:5-11

The humiliation of Jesus during His entire earthly life is incredible but let's just think about His infancy.  There are so many reasons to be captured by awe and wonder when we meditate on the birth of Jesus but tonight I'm struck by the fact that He humbled Himself so far as to be wordless.

Think about it.  The person of the Trinity that is called the Word was unable to tell Mary that He was hungry.  The One who spoke galaxies into being couldn't tell Joseph that He was bothersomely gassy.  Jesus, who sustains all things by His powerful word, couldn't communicate that He needed to be changed.  This is a lowering and a humiliation of supernatural proportions.  Jesus the Christ did all this to be Emmanuel, which means God with us.

There are many miracles to ponder during Advent and Christmas and I hope you do ponder many of them, but this is one I ponder as I pace and bounce my little baby boy.  That God so loved us that He would do that for us should make us lost in awe-filled worship of Him today.