We had 6 amazing hours in the car today as a family. Really. Amazing. We were on our way to Palestine (Illinois...a land flowing with Chicken and Noodles)to visit family, and the girls requested that we listen to the new Andrew Peterson CD (see the last post).

As we listened, we would stop the cd and explain the stories about the passover, about Moses and the exodus, about how the Isrealites wanted a King, about the genealogy and who those people were, about pregnancy outside of marriage...and as I sat there, I felt like a Hebrew parent....re-telling the stories, answering questions, explaining customs and history and context....

On the way back home, someone asked for the CD again and we did the whole thing over again...
"tell the story about Joseph and the coat again..."
"why aren't we Hebrews? or Jews?"
"Was the Joseph with the brothers the same as Mary and Joseph?"

To a parent (or a roommate, or a co-worker, or a friend), those moments are priceless...when we have a captive, curious audience and an open door to share the history and significance of God's Story. I'm so grateful for how God orchestrates those moments, and also very aware that things like music and movies (if you haven't seen The Nativity Story, you should!) can help open up those conversations.

Be purposeful this Christmas season....talk about the stories with your friends and family...talk about the sermon at church, disuss that Christmas movie, buy the Andrew Peterson CD....tonight I couldn't help dreaming about my girls passing the same stories on as they drive in the car with their families one day...