Merry Christmas!

Are there really only a few days left in 2019?! It feels like yesterday I was hopping on a flight to Atlanta to launch on the World Race and yet, here we are.

The last couple weeks have been an adjustment for sure. The newness of getting home has begun to wear off, and as I’m now spending time with family and getting ready to move south next week, the reality that the Race is over has a new feel to it.

The small things still get me, like waking up in the morning in a room by myself or the fact that I somehow had more privacy/quiet time on the Race (big family). Even sitting around the table playing Catan with my brothers has a different feel now that we’re all, at least legally, adults. This isn’t to say that I dislike being home. Catching up with friends and family has been so special; it’s just not the life I’m used to.

And yet, that’s ok.

As this Christmas season rolls on, I’m remembering that Jesus never said following Him would be easy, just that it would be worth it. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for Joseph and Mary to pick up and move several times. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for Jesus to live roughly 30 years till He was ready to start His ministry (especially with all the probable gossip behind His back about His virgin birth). And, I know it wasn’t easy for Him to give up everything for a torturous death. Yet, they did those things and the results were glorious!

Back to the present now. Some days are easy, while others all I want is to get back on the field, to the life that I became used to, to my squad who’ve become closer than family, and yet, this perspective on God’s plan helps to push me through and gives me the needed encouragement to keep going when I don’t want to. It’s not always easy, but as I’m increasingly learning, it’s definitely worth it.

So, this Christmas, I’m thankful for the incredible year I’ve had and also for the pain in it. The pain that reminds me of how much I love others. The pain that reminds me why I need a savior. The pain that reminds me why we celebrate Christmas and needed it in the first place.

For some, this season is full of joy and laughter, while to others, it’s full of pain and remembrance, and still others, a mixture. Yet, regardless of where we are at, I praise God for loving us enough to willingly submit Himself, as a Father and as a Son, to pain through the gift of Jesus for us. All the glory to Him!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 

who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 

For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. -2 Corinthians 1:3-5

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

God Bless!

-Ben

Also, I surprised my sister when I got home a week early. Enjoy!

Just a small-town Minnesota boy following Jesus in a big world. Make sure to subscribe and follow along with this crazy adventure! God Bless!