Merry Christmas from Out of the Wilderness!

I was driving around town the other day and came across a holiday-inspired home and thought it would be the perfect picture to post on Christmas. So here it is:

Nothing says Merry Christmas like lights, music, and Charlie Brown. But let’s also remember the true “reason for the season,” the birth of Jesus. He did something he didn’t have to do because we can’t do something we need to do. And that something is make things right with God. He didn’t have to come down to earth for us, but he did. He didn’t have to start life as a baby, but he did. He didn’t have to face opposition, ridicule, and death, but he did.

He did it for you. He did it for me. So I ask you on this Christmas day, what will you do about it? What will I do about it? I always come back to one key thought regarding my faith in him. Where is his body? You might doubt everything about the Christian faith, the Bible, the church, pastors, people you know. But Jesus was a real man. He was born. He lived. He died. But where is his body?

Spoiler alert, you’ll never find it. Why? I believe it’s because it’s no longer in the grave he was laid in after his crucifixion. So that means everything. The entire story is a roller coaster, but one of the beautiful parts is when Jesus left Heaven to join mankind on the earth he created. This is Christmas, Charlie Brown.

Jesus did what he didn’t have to do.

So to sum up, if you’re going to put up lights and decorations, do it big! Also, Jesus.

Merry Christmas!

-Out of the Wilderness

SpaghettiOs with meatballs, and Chris Burke from Life Goes On

As a vegan, the meatballs in SpaghettiOs are a spaghettiNoNo but in a dream recently, I had eaten a whole bowl! I specifically remember as I scooped the last spoonful thinking, I just gave up years of not eating meat*… but did this bowl have meatballs or did I heat up the original SpagettiOs (no meatballs)?

These are the kinds of dreams I’m grateful to wake up from. But I do have fond memories of SpaghettiOs. Growing up, this was the Sunday night dinner for my siblings and I as we watched Life Goes On, a show on ABC starring Chris Burke as Corky Thatcher. He was the first Down Syndrome actor to star in a major TV series. Also, we really wanted my sister (who also has Down Syndrome) to date him. So far, they have yet to meet… but maybe one day soon?

Chris, if you’re reading this… let me know if you want me to set you up with an awesome woman 🙂

OK, I’m done playing cupid… for now. I still remember bits and pieces of Life Goes On, and speaking of bits and pieces… SpaghettiOs. My dream had me feeling let down, except when I woke up I was relieved. Do you ever have dreams like that? The ones that are scary or frightening but nice to wake up from? This leads to another question…. would you rather have a good dream only to wake up and be disappointed, or wake up from a bad dream?

I would say SpaghettiOs are a great memory, but a bad dream because I haven’t had meat consistently for years. It all started back when a friend challenged me to cut meat out for a month. More on that here and here. In the last year or so, I’ve added fish back but only a couple of times a year when it’s fresh fish caught by my dad in Florida. I figured if Jesus ate fish, so will I.

Wow, this post is all over the map and I left you with a spiritual awakening about Jesus and fish. I really only had plans to talk about SpaghettiOs. Remember the ones with sliced hot dogs instead of meatballs? Those were interesting.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

Lil Xan is a real person, really

First off, I realize I’m showing my age now by JUST finding out who Lil Xan is. All I can say about that is… I wish I never found out about him. The first images I saw were disturbing and it’s not just because of his tattooed face.

I’m trying hard not to judge because obviously I don’t know him, but if I had to sum him up in one sentence it would be this: Lil Xan is what happens when you make all the wrong choices.

Gee wiz, that sounded judgey, didn’t it?

Like that old Burger King commercial where the son said, “I wish I had never been broiled!” That’s kind of how I feel about stumbling onto this wrecked fellow. I was just watching YouTube and a video of Candace Owens popped up where she was reacting to a rude comment towards her from Noah Cyrus. I LOVE Candace. In the video, she was so well-spoken and I agree 100% with everything she said. Candace mentioned Noah having a bunch of tattoos so I looked up images of Noah. As it turns out, this is when I found out Noah dated Lil Xan for awhile. Even this was news to me. OK, yes, I’m not 20 yrs old so I don’t know everything about pop culture.

The tattooed pair were photographed together at various events, and images of him… I don’t want to say they startled me… I think disturbing is still the best word.

So now I have images of his face tattoos swirling around in my head and I can’t unsee them. Poor guy will live for the rest of his life with those. Imagine a little child looking up, “Grandpa Xan, tell me about the tattoos on your nose?” Grandpa Xan, “Well, little one, I was young and stupid once, so I got dots on my nose. Oh also, you can also see how stupid I was with this tattoo of snoring “ZZZ”s under my eye. Your grandpa was cool, huh?”

I guess I can’t help but make a grown-up judgement… if you’re thinking about a face tattoo, I’m not against them. But you better be 100 perXANt sure because getting them removed is more expensive and probably more painful. You know what, just don’t. Get a tattoo on your arm like everyone else. Also, don’t do drugs. Otherwise you’ll find yourself stuck in a life of which you XAN’t get out.

-Out of the Wilderness

Woman yelling at kids in car, and what it might mean

She was pumping gas on a cold winter day. The wind was somehow making its way past my coat, and I’m sure she was feeling the same intrusive bite. Then I noticed her lean into the passenger side window, peering back towards two toddlers buckled in. She said, “Shut up and DO NOT talk.”

I was startled, but gave her the benefit of the doubt. I don’t know where she came from or what happened before she stopped to refuel. I hoped it wasn’t as dramatic as it appeared.

But who does that? Who tells a young child to “shut up”? I went away from that encounter thinking, somewhat humorously, “Maybe I’m not such a bad person after all.” Was I just deflecting the gravity of the situation by keeping it light, at least in my mind? I don’t know. I am not judging the woman. Like I said, I don’t know what her full situation was. Certainly there is/was more to the story.

I’ve certainly been upset enough to lash out, especially when I’m in my car dealing with other drivers. In fact, I’m reminded of a moment at a gas station when a woman was in her car talking on the phone, while all the stalls were taken and I was driving around unsuccessfully trying to get gas. When she got out, I let her know of my frustration, and I was wrong to do that.

I guess this instance recently can serve as a good reminder to take a breath. Relax. It’s all gonna be O.K. I hope you are having an extra abundance of patience this holiday season. Don’t let other people determine your mood… and I’ll try doing the same.

-Out of the Wilderness

Coke’s Holiday North Pole Commercial: The Actor, Wind Farms, and More!

Coca-Cola might have the best holiday commercial this season with the letter delivery to Santa. Get your tissues ready and take a look at the long version…

From Coke’s website, “Oscar-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi directed the spot in partnership with Wieden+Kennedy London.” Also, this:

The actor playing the dad is Cohen Holloway and you can find him on Twitter here.

In this ad, the dad is shown working on an offshore wind farm. More about New Zealand’s work with wind can be found here. He leaves the wind farm rig and bounds around the world in search of Santa. Thankfully, he finds him (or, is found by Santa, really), and the ad ends happily.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness