Happy New Year!

It's the first day of the Chinese New Year!

We're hoping that this is the year we bring our little one or ones home from China.  And to be perfectly honest, I'm hoping that it's our calendar year and not the Chinese calendar year.  :)

Here's some info on Chinese New Year:

• China's New Year starts based on the lunar calendar - at the New Moon when the moon is completely dark.  Their calendar year is also based on the tilt of the Earth - a tropical calendar - which is similar to the concept that we know and understand.  The Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in China because it is the biggest and longest.  
• The Chinese New Year is a 15-day celebration!  It starts on the first day of the first lunar month (today) and goes until the 15th day (February 24th) where it's finished off with the Lantern Festival.
• The story behind the tradition is that Buddha asked the animals to meet him on the new year and 12 came.  So he gave each animal its own year.  The belief is that people born during each animal's year have that animal's personality.
• This is China's 4711th year!  Whoa!  

As many people are aware, the culture is steeped in astrology, mythology, and horoscopes.  Many people have put their faith in Buddha - thinking that he ordered their lives for them based on the stars and signs in the heavens.  It's a fine line to walk in celebrating a holiday that celebrates beliefs that we do not have.  So, my salutation is one that just scratches the surface - one that understands that as the country celebrates with lots of gift giving and food and festivals and fire works, what many of them cannot do is celebrate the One who created them - the One who put the stars in the sky.  I cannot even begin to express our desire to share the love of our Creator with our little one who is waiting for us most likely in a room full of other cribs or walkers filled with other little ones.

The other thought that I hope my wishes of a Happy New Year bring to you is one that turns your curiosity to the God who put the stars in the sky...  The Artist who drew the pictures there to begin with and set the seasons in cycle and the planets and moons and solar systems in motion.  I kind of always thought that it's better to just leave well enough alone when it comes to the study of stars.  But they have always piqued my curiosity.  For Christmas one year, my parents gave Phil and me a DVD called The Star of Bethlehem .  It was INCREDIBLE!  It taught me that it is okay to study the stars, to realize that even Scripture says that there are "signs in the stars" but that there is a difference between seeing the signs in the stars and believing that it is the stars that determine our lives.  (Luke 21:25)

Here's a little snipit from the The Star of Bethlehem website:

It’s an astronomical mystery. A strange star is claimed to have appeared at the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. This site is an investigation of the story found in the Biblical Gospel of Matthew, a story often called the ‘Star of Bethlehem.’ It brings the words of Roman and Jewish historians alongside the visions of ancient prophets. It mixes “modern” mathematicians with murderous turmoil in the Roman imperial court. It combines all these with astronomical facts which no one disputes. And it concludes that the star was a real event.

Here's another little part:

Part 1: Setting the Stage
JOHANNES KEPLER paved the way for rediscovery of the Star. He puzzled out the math which drives the heavens. He even used his formulae to search for the Star we seek. But unlike we, Kepler had no computer. With software incorporating Kepler’s equations, we can animate ancient skies over the Mid East with great precision. When we do that, the sky comes alive…
THE BIBLE blasts worship of the stars. It even declares the death penalty for star-abuse! So, by seeking the Star of Bethlehem, are we doing something the Bible itself forbids? Actually, the Bible encourages attention to the stars, but only attention of a very specific type…
NEARLY EVERYTHING in the sky has been proposed as the Star of Bethlehem at one time or another. Why? Because investigators often grant surprisingly little regard to clues found in the Bible. But, a close reading of the Book of Matthew uncovers nine specific features of the Star. These qualifications become primary tools in our investigation…
THE NINE CHARACTERISTICS of the Star eliminate most celestial objects as candidates.They just don’t measure up. We quickly see what the Star cannot have been. These ancient clues narrow our search dramatically and yield an hypothesis we can test…

I would encourage you and your family to get your hands on The Star of Bethlehem this Chinese New Year.  Watch it together as a family movie night and then pass it on to a coworker or friend or family member.  You will stand amazed anew at how Sovereign and Creative and Loving and Glorious our Creator is.  As people all over the world are celebrating mythology, astrology, fortunes, and trying to rid themselves of bad luck, I hope each of us will better understand this month - the month when we celebrate love in the form of Valentines - that true Love came to us with a Starry birth announcement from His Father.

Will the zodiac and the year of the snake will make an impact on the course of my life this year?  No.  Will the Star of Bethlehem continue to amaze me this year and make me look forward to sharing Jesus with my little one soon?  Yes.