Cynthia is working hard to fully engage in Michigan life. She is trying to restart her tutoring business. She hangs with the Northville newcomers group, does Jazzercise, helps with English as a second language, goes to our health club frequently, and is going semi-pro in mah jongg (she won $3 this week). She is signed up for many things. Restarting in a new place requires work.

She follows me around the world, leaves the comfort of her home in Arizona for me, and finds and creates good wherever she goes….and this good is all focused on people. None are considered strangers to Cynthia. My great friend and love. What a blessing she is to me.

Luke, Evan, Jeff, Doug, Stan, Ryan and I went to Argentina in March. It is a trip I have wanted to take for many years. Jeff  and Doug, who are pastors, ended up publicly speaking at some of the spots we visited. A highlight for me was when my son, Luke and my son-in-law, Evan spoke to the high school students in Villa Pehuenia in Patagonia. I am very proud of my sons. See my last post, “We Went” for pictures and a recap.

We miss our family and friends in the south but we are heading to Texas over Thanksgiving for full immersion in family. We plan to see just about everyone in our extended family. Can’t wait.

We have two new grandchildren, the elegant Hadley Joy Prothro born to Evan and Julie on 7/3/2011:

Hadley reaching for her great grandfather

and the mighty Ezekiel Ryan Taylor born to Luke and Meg on 2/7/2011…and Colin is now 4 1/2 yrs old. These little ones make us melt…Meanwhile, Julie and Meg, their mommies, seem to just handle this child-raising stuff intuitively while staying bright-spirited and beautiful.

Right to Left: Ezekiel, Luke and Colin

Grace is a pithy word, exploding with meaning and depth.I have been thinking about a phrase describing grace used by Eugene Peterson in his Bible version, “The Message”: “…..this aggressive forgiveness we call grace.” Aggressive Forgiveness. What does that look like? I’m sure I don’t really grasp it, but here is a start.

God orchestrates one grand invasion of aggressive forgiveness on earth. He does not wait for us to determine a solution to our impossible dilemma. He does not wait for us to make the first move. His great mercy and love compels Him to initiate.

Leading the charge is a little baby with blood to shed. A sky full of angels announce His arrival to shepherds in a field: “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.” About 33 years later the mission was completed. Now God says, “would you like to be forgiven? I have it all worked out”.

Some accept His provision of forgiveness. Some refuse. Some don’t acknowledge Him or His existence. He leaves His offer open to them.

Aggressive Forgiveness indeed…but there is much more to grace. So I defer the rest of this pondering about grace to you. Grace to you.

It's cold

Cynthia and I give thanks to God and wish you a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

While I have been scraping ice and snow from my vehicle and living out of a suitcase, Cynthia has been fulfilling her commitment to her tutoring students in Arizona who love her. Can you blame them? Aside from a couple of 10-day trips to visit me in Michigan, she has been in Scottsdale throwing stuff away we should have thrown away years ago, or giving stuff away we don’t need…all in preparation to move. We have a lot; more than we need…Again, testament to the goodness of God in our lives.

Joe, Cynthia, Evan, Julie, Luke, Colin and Meg - Christmas 2010

Meanwhile, Luke, Meg and Colin continue to be a delight to watch…..one happy young family who wait with excitement for another little Taylor boy. ETA is February!

Julie, Evan and their dog, Molly, continue to lead busy and fun, people-focused lives. They are living in Austin but they were with us in Arizona during Christmas  in Scottsdale. While in Arizona, they told us they are expecting a little Prothro in July!

Luke, Evan and I have flights booked to go to Argentina in March along with a few friends. Stay tuned to this blog for more on that…

So, another Christmas has passed. As stressful as this season can be, I am still glad for a time when I can say Merry Christmas to people I don’t know very well and they don’t think me weird. A lot of people seem to be OK with the notion of peace and goodwill toward men.

“Hallowed be Thy name” is the first request in the prayer Jesus gave His disciples (i.e. “May all creation hallow Your name starting with me”). Essentially, it is a prayer that God will help us get it …that is, realize and honor Who He really is. It is a good prayer for Christmas or anytime because, if you are like me, you regularly underestimate Him.

Love from Cynthia and Joe

By Maicon of Brasil…note the bend….

Cristiano Ronaldo against North Korea….note the juggling act…

Mark and his lovely daughter Carly shown below. This picture was taken at an event at a sportsbar today to promote having the World Cup in the USA. Television guys interviewed Mark. On second thought, I guess I am vicariously famous.

It is a team with many stars. The question is will Diego Maradona help or hurt them as their coach? Coaching is very different from playing. Many say he was the best soccer player ever. In a documentary recently I saw Pele, the great Brazilian player say he thought Pele (note: he was speaking in the third person) was better than Maradona. Maradona on the same program said, “My mother says I am the best”.

The World Cup is rich in stories about Argentina:

• In 1978 Argentina hosted the World Cup. It is a time difficult for many Argentinians to discuss because of the military dictatorship that ruled the country and the “Dirty War” that took place and los desaparecidos (the disappeared ones). Some say there was extra pressure put on the team to win. Some say Argentina got into the final over Brazil because their high scoring defeat of Peru was fixed. Some say the Argentinian-born goalkeeper of Peru (yes, Peru) helped Argentina win. Whether the Peru game was tainted or not, Argentina was good enough to go on to win the final over The Netherlands.
• In 1986, Maradona’s famous “Hand of God” goal against England was actually an illegal hand ball that was ruled a legal header (and goal) by the officials. His second goal where he dribbled from midfield past five defenders and scored was voted “Goal of the Century” on the FIFA website. Argentina went on to win their second World Cup final that year against West Germany.
• In 1990, Argentina defeated Brazil 1-0 with a goal from Claudio Caniggia after a pass from Maradona. A Brazilian player named Branco accused the Argentina training staff of giving him a bottle of water laced with tranquillizers while they were tending to an injured player. This came years after Maradona revealed the news on an Argentine television show. The Argentinian Football Federation denied that the “holy water” incident ever took place. Although Argentina did not win the World Cup that year, some say beating arch rival Brazil was almost as satisfying.

That’s all history. Now there are fresh horses including Lionel Messi…and some of his fellow players may be more dangerous than he is…we’ll see.

I can’t wait to watch.

On a brighter note, I found a Christmas present today from my daughter, Julie.

I like this because it is red and it has long sleeves. Granted, one might assume I am a Detroit Redwings fan, but in reality I know nothing about them and I don’t follow hockey. Even though I don’t like the idea of wearing corporate logos unless I am being paid to do so, I am completely OK if this helps Detroit in its economic recovery. This could be the beginning. You’re welcome, Detroit. You can thank Julie. (Click on “The Prothros” to the right to see how Julie is also helping the Colorado economy in her December 29 post. She’s got an eye for this stuff.)

Here’s how it might apply to restaurants or gifts:

Restaurants: You go to one of your previous favorite expensive restaurants. Maybe with wine it costs $100/ person. (I know “expensive” is relative but go with me on this…). For that you get a nice wine, great food, great service, great atmosphere etc. For that you pay $100. PVG = 55 An average score for a great meal and experience, but you paid for it to be that great. Remember, the idea is relative enjoyment in the eyes of the one grading. By contrast, you go to a little dive restaurant and have chips and chile con queso…. I mean life-changing, killer, chili con queso. You fight over it with those at the table. You get more. You snarf it all down again. Less than $10 easy. PVG = 90 Way more delight than expected. You keep thinking about that queso…for weeks…

I have to work on this grading system leaving room for something else out there…something nirvana-like that I have yet to experience. I also need to get some R&D help from my kids and their spouses who know what I’m shooting for here. I just don’t have enough gray matter to raise the concept of PVG to the clarity it deserves.

Gifts: Let me say I had two 90-plus, PVG moments yesterday. My son, Luke, gave me a set of these:

I first experienced napkins with buttonholes when I got upgraded on airlines to first class in the early 90s. On occasion since then I have commented in passing to my son and others about how much I liked those napkins. Small things. High enjoyment. High PVG. The airlines don’t have these on domestic flights anymore. Well, enter Luke, my son. After conducting a search for these napkins, he decides instead to make them for me. So, he teaches himself how to sew buttonholes. By the way, he welds, does carpentry, does big church productions, fixes all my tech issues (easily I might add). He has this renaissance man air about him. So, he teaches himself how to sew and makes me these napkins for Christmas. No logos. No plans to make this a business. Just for me. Big PVG.

Then, Meg, Luke’s bride, gives me dulce de leche she made. Meg, knowing how ubiquitous this stuff is in Argentina, knew how much I missed it. It is rather obscure in the states. A kind of divine nectar. She put it in its own little jar complete with a little spoon. A delight. If I find a picture I will post it later. Again, Big PVG

Somehow I need to figure in to the formula the cost to the giver or provider (in time, money, thought, hassle, etc.) because that kicks the PVG up dramatically. Kind of the idea of the widow who gave two mites (all she had) in the temple as recorded in the Bible story. This seemingly small, obscure act was the one that turned the head of Jesus. It was a delightfully high PVG moment for Jesus. Consequently, it is memorialized for all to read in 2009, a couple of thousand years later.

So give me some help here with the formula.  In the meantime, high PVG moments to you.

Most of the blogs relate to our 10 weeks in Argentina. I left Marsh on July 31 of this year and since we had a little time, we decided to go to Argentina. Now we are back in Scottsdale and I’m looking for a way to re-enter the workforce. I continue to hope that however I re-enter the workforce we will be able to spend more time in Argentina.

Here’s the recap:

• Cynthia’s tutoring and working at Macy’s and mentoring young women…when she’s not hangin with me…(See “My Girl” post).
• Luke, Meg and Colin are the fun little family experiencing some rich years of life. There are great pictures of them on Julie’s blog (Click link to “The Prothros” to the right and go to December 7 “Brother and Company”. Julie’s blog will also get you to Meg’s blog. Meg is quite the writer.)
• Julie and Evan (and Molly our grand-dog) are living the dream in funkadelic Austin, Texas surrounded by the core of Texas culture (see post “To other places starting with A”).

Another cool thing: My dad and I went to Ireland and Northern Ireland back in May with the excuse of tracing our heritage. Doing that with my dad was on my bucket list. Loved it. My dad gets sweeter as each year passes. He is 84 and he is close to my heart. He even tried a Guinness to appease me (He doesn’t drink.)

Well, we really hope you have a great Christmas and that it sinks in a little deeper that this story of Jesus really happened and that He is unambiguously telling you and me to trust Him. This sweet little baby grew up and clearly said that no one can come to God but through Him (John 14:6).

Feliz Navidad