For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Isaiah 9:6

Mini philosophizing moment: The agnostic Herbert Spencer said the finite cannot penetrate the infinite, but that doesn't mean the infinite cannot penetrate the finite. I got that idea from Paul Tripp. Credit where credit is due. In fact, it makes perfect sense that the infinite could and would penetrate the finite because the very nature of infinity (if infinity could have a nature) is without boundaries.

I go down so many rabbit trails when I'm excited about something. And I am really excited this Christmas about how the infinite did indeed penetrate the finite in the form of a human baby named Jesus, also known as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

And Emmanuel. Because God knew how hard it was for us to get to Him, and He is everything we need. So He came to us, and He stayed with us--forever. This God of infinite qualities, infinite worth, infinite value for our lives, became finite so we could really know Him and truly dwell with Him. We now have access to God the Father like Jesus does if we are in Christ.

Can anything be more miraculous than this: that Mighty God became subject to human life and death because He wanted us? Yes, baby Jesus was cute like any other baby, and He looks great in the nativity scene, but we forget He is still Supreme, Royal, Majesty, All-Powerful God. And our Christian bookstore-style Christmas cards list all the names of God wrapped up in that holy child, yet we forget there that He also became finite--a vulnerable human life.

This is why I sometimes burst out singing. I can't contain the miracle of Christmas. Who can comprehend a miracle? What better time to sing than at Christmas, when God became flesh? Merry Christmas doesn't cut it. Beautiful Christmas comes close. May I wish you a Miraculous Christmas?

I'm Faith. Nice to meet you virtually at some point, I hope. Gee, blogging is a funny thing. Anyway, I'm a real person, and Faith is my real name. I have a real family and a real husband and a real job. They're all amazing, and I am so grateful.

I'll go in semi-reverse order of importance, saving the best for last.

I work at The Potter's House, which is an urban, Christ-centered school in an academically and financially poor area of Grand Rapids. You will not believe some of the incredible testimonies of students who come out of that place. From families with little or no high school education to successful entrepreneurs and grad school professors, and from a background without Christ to passionate Jesus-followers and missionaries, what God has done and is doing at The Potter's House keeps me going to work every day rejoicing that He lets me be a part of it. And the best part of it is, I get to tell people these stories because I'm the writer. It's a fantastic job.



Here's my family: Dad, Mom, and Brother Micah. I don't actually call him Brother Micah, but he has lots of other nicknames, which he hears much more often than Micah. Poor guy. My Mom and Dad are wonderful, godly people who have loved God, each other, and my brother and I so faithfully. My brother has a black-belt in Hapkido (I always put that in to scare people), is a gifted music composer and arranger, is pursuing a career in physical therapy, and is an excellent, patient teacher of anything he happens to be teaching. Plus he's an all-around genius. I'm his big little sister, if you can't tell.

And here's my stunningly handsome, amazingly loving, phenomenally talented, and ridiculously smart husband: Randell. I just cannot believe what a good gift God gave me in him. We're newlyweds: September 20, 2014 in case you want to send us an anniversary card next year. God made Randell wait a long time and travel to a different country to find a wife, and God brought me through a couple rough patches and totally transformed my heart toward missions (yet another long story) before bringing Randell to me. We both like to sing and dance and act out a little bit, so we do those things together. Oh, and he's a better cook than me, but I'm improving. I bake better than he does, so we're even. I really like to talk, and Randell is an excellent listener - very encouraging. I'm a Euro-American mutt, and Randell is Chinese, but he was born and raised in the Philippines, which makes him super cool and gives him a sexy accent. I'm excited to see what our kids look like. I'm also trying to learn Tagalog before we have any so we can speak that in our home.

Magkita ulit tayo!

There is joy to be had, even in the midst of evil, chaos, and heartache. I know. It's mine.

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
Psalm 36:7-9

Let's unpack this richness line by line.

God's love is steadfast. It's not going to change based on your performance. His love is based on Christ's perfect, final performance of holiness and sacrifice for us. God can't stop loving Christ because He and the Father are one. And if you're in Christ, you're loved right along with Him, perfectly, unswervingly.

We can find peace, solace, comfort in God's unchanging love. Think of a mother bird wrapping her wing around her chick to shield him from the wind. It is a loving protection. It's warm, comfortable, and certain.

There's a feast. This is my favorite part. I tend to talk and write about this a lot, so tuck that away. God is King. King. Over. Everything. That means He has unlimited resources. We're not talking about the president of the wealthiest country on earth or King Tut or the billionaire philanthropist. We are looking at the moon, stars, galaxies, everything good money can buy, and everything good money can't buy, which happens to be much more valuable. And God is a lavish giver. He invites us to feast, and He thoroughly enjoys watching us delight in Him, His goodness, all that He gives us. In fact, when He sees us reveling in His goodness, He is glorified. It is like praise to Him. More on that to come. This keeps getting better.

God is the fountain of life. Remember all those explorers who spent the better part of their career/life searching for Agua de Vida? Most of them died or went crazy trying to find this alleged source of eternal youth. News flash: We're all going to die. (Unless Jesus comes first...) But we can live, really live, full of life, full of joy, and live after we die. God's life-giving nature is like a fountain because He is so full of life that He spills over and wants to infuse us with His everlasting life.

The last line is a funny one to me because it says "in your light" when His light is the only light. He is the light of the world. Anything good comes from Him. Anything evil is completely separate from Him. Come to the light, friends. This is the only place where you can truly see, and it is so good.

You can have this joy, but you can't test it out, poke your toe in the water to see if it's really as great as they say. It's all or nothing. All joy or no joy. Believe or don't. Trust or turn away. But please don't think that believing there is or might be a god is a safe place to stay. God Himself said you can either be for Him or against Him. There's no middle ground. So please, come to the Fountain of Life, the Giver, the Wellspring of Joy, the Lover, the Protector, Comforter, and Friend. There's nothing you have to do or straighten out or figure out first. Just come.

Tonight God told me to just start writing and quit worrying about what people think, or if they even read this. So if you're a person and you're reading this, I'm choosing to not worry about what you think. Still, I pray something I write at some point will make someone smile or motivate them to do something for Jesus or help them cope with a hard time. And if that never happens, I'll know I did what God told me to do.

Jesus is everything to me. I absolutely cannot live without Him, and I don't know how people do. If you think you're living without Jesus, I want to introduce you to the best life I've found, so please keep reading. Excuse me if I come across as crazy or obsessed or single-minded, but I am. He is the absolute best person I've ever met, and I hope you'll come to that conclusion, too.

In the end, pretty much everything I write is going to have something to do with Jesus. So keep reading if you want to know more. And please keep reading if you just love to read and think and talk about Jesus. Then comment or email me because I'd love to meet more sisters and brothers in a virtual, mediated way. Funny how the Internet is both so great and so awful that way.

Before I sign off for the evening, I want to share life-giving words with you from the Bible that have defined the way I choose to live for the rest of my life:

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
Psalm 36:7-9

I'll unpack this richness next time.

Good night!
Faith