Peeling an orange

Back in high school, I remember riding to an away basketball game in a van with some teammates and my coach, who was also our science teacher. My cousin (and teammate) asked loudly from the back of the van, "What do you think about when you eat an orange?" I'm sure you can already tell my coach was very pleased with this question. Not! I mean this was game prep time, right? :-) However, everyone in the van could not help but burst out laughing.

She later explained her thought process. We had come straight from our science class and she was thinking about all the complexities and bewildering processes that go into the creation of an orange. My cousin apparently thought our science teacher/coach would think about this every time he ate an orange? ;-)

I have come to love this question. I mean, think about it.... God created the world! He created oranges, apples, tomatoes, cucumbers, trees, dogs, stars, water and us!....It's so complex but yet so simple. It took Him just a few sentences.

This Christmas is Tyler and my first married Christmas together. I kept thinking, "It'll be so fun to start all of our own traditions." But now we are in December and Tyler and I haven't put up any decorations or done any of the "normal" preparations for the special day. I have to admit, part of it has been that we save time and money by not doing all the extras. But it has also been freeing to not have to think about those things and instead just focus on the reason for the day.

 While in Israel, we sat in this sheep cave (with poop all around us, I might add) and read the Christmas story. Our leader told us that this is a stable. This is the type of place Mary and Joseph went to give birth to Jesus. You can even see the black soot on the top of the cave from the shepherds' fires lit during the night. The picture below shows a manger. This is where they put water for the sheep to drink and similar to where Jesus (the living water) was laid that night. Not a complex setting at all, however, quite the opposite.

Christmas decorations, gifts, and parties are not bad. However, when life seems crazy and complicated remember how simple it all really is. God created you and I. We are blessed. He gave us His only Son, Jesus. Jesus told us and showed us that we are to love. Love God and others today and always. It's not complex, it's simple. 

Take time to be amazed at how complex yet simple our God really is. Maybe go eat an orange? :-)