The other night John and I ran across a Christmas movie that neither one of us had ever seen: “The Polar Express.” For those of you who have seen it, I know that you are asking “how have you missed that fun Christmas movie?” For those who haven’t seen it, check it out, it is delightful!

The best thing about the movie was that it was an unexpected couple of hours for the two of us to discover something delightful. The time together was wonderful. My memory of that movie will always be of just the two of us in our trailer on a chilly December evening eating pumpkin pie and enjoying a sweet story. (Can you hear the bell?)

Holidays can be challenging because we expect too much. We want those we love to engage in meaningful conversations with us when they are trying to be good parents and wrangle their bored kids. We expect the meal to be perfect when we failed to schedule it around the time of the “big game.” We want the Christmas service at church to bring us heavenly peace when we haven’t even thought about our relationship with God.

We (I) have forgotten that growth takes time. Oh, there can be growth spurts – just ask that couple who recently discovered each other or the person who has just given their heart to the Lord and established a relationship with the King of kings. But, most growing things take time.

Little lesson – take the time for growth. We love a commercial for its great tag line: “Put down the doughnut and pick up the phone.” My advice today is: “Put down the phone and pick up the doughnut” IF that means you are going to spend time growing a relationship. You can hit the gym tomorrow.