Out of the Wilderness

I thought today would be the best day of the year to call on my dad for a guest post. He and my mom have been followers of Jesus for many years, so on the day we celebrate Jesus’s birthday, here is a quick read courtesy of my dad…

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As I reflect back on this Christmas season, I think we remember the holiday part, not the Holy Day part.  Think about it…we are all excited about extra time off from work, going on the tour of lights, visiting relatives and friends, hosting Christmas parties, exchanging gifts.  We begin to focus on Santa Claus, our Christmas tree decorations, colored lights, tinsel, wrapping paper, etc., all of which are good things, however we never want to lose focus of the main thing at Christmas…whose birthday we are celebrating.

In the Gospel of Matthew, the first chapter verse 23 – “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Christmas really means “Immanuel”… God with us. Do you see the Deity of Christ?  From the very beginning someone special, the Son of God! 

I find the most startling thing about the Christian faith is that when God chose to let us know who He is and what He is like, He sent His Son in the form of a servant!  From the very humble beginning of Jesus in a manger… to the triumphant rising of Jesus from the grave, God has given us this gift of life.   

It is this gift of life I would like for all of us to celebrate today!

Fred Wilder, Ben’s Dad

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Merry Christmas!

-Out of the Wilderness

Oh, I wish I didn’t have Covid on Christmas.

I guess I’ve been bad and that’s why Santa did this.

He could have put coal in my stocking, or brought bacon scented body spray.

But instead he brought the ‘Rona in his big red sleigh.

Presents under the tree, I hear laughing in an uproar,

I watch through a window, like a mannequin at the store.

Why did he bring toys and happiness to everyone else,

He could’ve at least brought me Schweppes since he knows how bad I felt.

Why not just make me listen to Mariah Carey, or Justin Bieber songs?

Ok I take that back, that’s just cruel and wrong.

Make me untangle lights, or clean up behind his deer,

Work in retail Christmas Eve, or hold my breath till snow appears.

Watch Frozen a thousand times or Frozen 2 once,

Almost anything’s better than a holiday virus punch.

On second thought, it could be worse,

At least he didn’t make me work as Biden’s nurse.

Rudolph and me, the outcasts of the day,

But if there’s any silver lining, this is what I would say,

In the bag of peppers I reached a little deeper,

And sprinkled Santa’s milk and cookies with Carolina reapers.

Merry Christmas.

-Out of the Wilderness

For the second year in a row, I’m not in a fantasy league because of a decision I made last year. I thought Covid would keep the full season from happening so I didn’t join a league. I just knew that my luck would go like this: I have a dominant fantasy team destined for the championship, then the NFL would cancel the season and ruin my excitement. So I preemptively beat them to the punch!

I also counted on the fact that I would rejoin my fantasy league for the 2021 season but no one in the league dropped out, so there was no room for me. Grrrrrrrr! That was a let-down.

With that said, though, I haven’t needed fantasy football to enjoy the NFL season. There have been so many good games, whether it was a surprising upset, a few teams missing 5 field goals in the same week, the Bucs getting shutout last week, and the Titans doing well even without Derrick Henry.

The playoffs will be fun to watch, I’m just sure of it. So who’s your team? What have you enjoyed this season?

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

For the past few days I’ve been trying to convey to one of my nieces what it is I like about her personality. Unfortunately, I seem to be using adjectives that pretty much require me to add “…but in a good way,” afterwards.

She has caught on to it, noting that if I have to add “but in a good way,” it’s not a compliment. Kind of like when someone says, “no offense…” then they proceed to say something offensive.

Being the awesome uncle that I am, of course now whatever I say to her I include, “but in a good way,” because I take my role as annoying uncle very seriously.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness