Re-entry Drama and Humor--Post 3

When I was in High School, Christmas day fell on a Sunday.  I was quite indignant that my little Baptist Church was not having services, because it was Christmas.  The pastor's argument that church staff (that was him) didn't want to work on Christmas day any more than anyone else just didn't make sense.  Umm...your job is to promote...Christmas... and everything it represents. But, alas, there were to be no services.  I became even more indignant when I discovered that none of the local Baptist Churches, Church of Christ churches or Catholic churches were having services either.  But my teen angst was eased when the Methodist church announced that it would, indeed, have services.  My mother, reluctantly, agreed to take her huffy teen to the service. It was one of those most special church moments for me, since local people from all the denominations were there to celebrate the birth of OUR savior.  It made sense. It was good.  It was joy-filled. And I walked away from that moment thinking that if there was ever a day for the church to be open it was Christmas.  Yet it was the only Christmas morning in my growing up years that I ever celebrated AT church.

Our first Christmas in England, Christmas day was on a Tuesday.  Imagine my surprise to learn that my Baptist church in England was having Christmas morning services.  On a Tuesday! My cynical self expected there to be a handful of people. Instead, the church was crowded.  We happily sang, "Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning," which is the third verse of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful." In this church, the third verse is only sung on Christmas morning.  It was a great tradition. All the kids brought toys they had received that morning and the pastor demonstrated how they worked, complete with riding a unicycle down the aisle. It was a happy, joyous occassion. We wished our church family 'Happy Christmas' and then families returned to their homes to continue their individual traditions.

After that, when folks would ask us if we were 'going home' [i.e. to the States] for Christmas, we would answer that we could not imagine not being with our church family at Christmas, so no we would not be traveling. Christmas morning at church was a part of our tradition in each of the four churches we were in while in Europe. It was a given. We would be there for Christmas.  We would sing our joy of Christmas' arrival, we would hug our friends and then we would have our family traditions for the rest of the day. Sixteen Christmas mornings at church.

Then we returned to the United States in September, so we were in the States for Christmas.  And there was so much I loved about Christmas.  It was the first Christmas in our marriage that we were 'home' for Christmas. We loved watching the niece and nephew open gifts. We reveled in the laughter and the food and the traditions. We, as an extended family, went to Christmas Eve candlelight services, and they were beautiful. But Christmas morning, something was missing. I was sad that I did not have a church service to go and sing with fellow believers to welcome the Christ child. NONE of the evangelical or mainline churches in our city had advertised services. Many had Christmas Eve services, but none Christmas morning.  There was one Catholic church down the road from us that held an early mass.  That was all. And it made me sad. And it made me miss my European brothers and sisters who seem to remember the reason for Christmas is more than commercialism and a day off. 

And I'm recording this because I don't want to forget how amazing worship on Christmas morning can be.

Happy Easter

Christ is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

What I Might Have Written

What might I have written if I had written this year?

I might have written about first Independence Day celebrations


 


and seeing amazing architecture

and eating amazing food.

Maybe I would have written about birthdays:

or Christmas presents and Christmas lights

Or a first-ever girls-only trip to Poland

I could have shown you Fairy Tale German Castles:

and German Cathedrals:

and English Cathedrals:

I might have written about school celebrations


I could have written about rediscovering favourite places

I might have even written about the bitter-sweetness of saying good-byes and making yet another international move. Or the elation of returning to a place we have previously loved.


I might have written many things.  But, alas, I did not.  If I had, you would have seen a little of the joy, the sadness, the laughter and even the tears.  Mostly you would have seen this chaotic thing that I call life and (maybe) caught a glimpse of the One who helps me navigate the chaos.  I've missed you.  I hope to be here more.  There are thoughts bouncing around this head that need a place to be voiced.  There are things to record for the pure joy of remembering.  There are others to recount so that lessons are not lost.  Looking forward to a year of new beginnings and re-starts of old passions.

Happy Year's End My Friends.  May 2014 Bring Us Together More.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2012

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:10-11

May your Christmas be filled with the awe of the star, the joy of the presence of the king and the wonder of a child!

Blessings to you and your Family

Happy Birthday

One day


One Year

Turn around twice and....

Now You are Six!!

Happy Birthday Flower!!!


(in all accuracy, this picture is her blowing out the candle at Christmas...I don't have her birthday pics loaded yet).

How We Do Christmas--Spiritual Emphasis

I would have thought that this edition of "How We Christmas" would have been the easiest to write, but I'm actually finding it the most difficult. I cannot separate Christmas from the spiritual so everything I've already written about in these posts always come back to the fact that we do this because this is the day we celebrate Jesus' coming to the world to save us. The gifts we give are in celebration (we do give the girls three gifts each--reminiscent of the three gifts from the Magi). The candles and decorations are about light and festivity. The creche points to the birth. It is all about the spiritual.

Nevertheless, there are a couple of things that we do that I have not written about already. One is how we celebrated last Sunday evening. Our church has a lovely Carols by Candlelight service each year. The sanctuary is darkened, the candles are lit, the church members who play brass and wind instruments join with the "big" organ to play the Christmas carols in all their glory, members representing all ages come and read the Christmas story in between each carol. It is such a peaceful reminder of the reason we are celebrating. There are refreshements of mince pies and coffee to follow, but we often slip out whilst it is still dark. That allows me, at least, to continue to ponder the wonder of the story that has been told in the darkness.

I've already mentioned that we do a Jesse Tree and Advent Calendar each year. This year the girls have coloured the amazing ornaments offered at my friend V's site, The Paper Dali. It is so much fun to hear them each year reciting the lineage of Jesus. I know that we are planting seeds for the future and I pray that they grow roots that will last deep into their adult Christmases.

We will re-read the Christmas story again and again during December. We remind ourselves that it is Jesus' birth story that is important this time of year. Our dessert Christmas day will be a cake and "happy birthday Jesus" will be sang as we cut it. We will open gifts first thing Christmas morning, but then we will pause and go to church and sing the last verse of "O Come All Ye Faithful" (the other verses are sung throughout December but the last verse only on Christmas morning), light the Christmas candle and rejoice that today the Saviour has come! And, if I'm smart, I'll sit back and watch a little and, like Mary, I will ponder this time in my heart knowing not what the new year holds but understanding I won't pass this way again.

It is all about Jesus for us at Christmas. The wrapping and the presents and the food and the music are all nice, but Christmas would happen without them. But Christmas does not happen without Jesus. That's why we do Christmas the way we do.

All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord

I pray you all have the Merriest and Safest of Seasons. If you are with family and friends, love on them and enjoy them. If you are on your own this Christmas I pray that you feel the love of the Father that is lavished on you this season. I'll be mostly away from the computer until after New Year as I enjoy my Dad and his wife's visit.

Please visit Lisa at The Preacher's Wife to read more "How We Christmas" posts.

How We Do Christmas 2009: The Decorating Edition

Again, I'm late to Lisa's party. A bad inflammation of my sciatic nerve has Christmas decorating (and blogging about it) slightly delayed. But here is how I decorate for Christmas.

The Tree:
I grew up with "real" trees, German grew up with "aluminum" trees. Before we met he bought a "fake" tree that looks fairly real. I allow him to keep his tree if he allows me to decorate it rather haphazardly. I like to call it lovingly eclectic!


Many of my ornaments are cross stitched by friends over the years.


Each year I stitch an ornament for each of the girls that illustrate something from that year. When they leave home, I'll give them each a collection of ornaments that tell the date and place Christmas was celebrated and will be a little history of their lives. Here are this year's ornaments. Jewel started piano lessons this year and Flower learned to ride her bike without stabilisers.

Each year my brother-in-law sends me a special ornament, often blown glass since he knows I love it. This year I believe the girls are old enough that my glass ornaments are back on the tree.


Some of our ornaments are just quirky reminders of things about our life.


This little angel was made out of a doily by a friend. I love it!



The Piano Top:
My Nativity scene and my Menorrah were purchased in Bethlehem when we were blessed with an opportunity to walk where Jesus walked. I love the juxtaposition of the old and the promised.

The piano also plays host to my Willow Tree angels at this time of year.

The Snow Things:
Since we were married at Thanksgiving time, several of our wedding gifts were Christmas decorations so that we could decorate our first home together. This little church with carolers is one of my treasured wedding gifts.



I love snowmen as long as I don't have to deal with snow! This little hat box snowman is dearly loved by me. He is surrounded by other snow related decorations.



The Nutcrackers:
Germany holds a special place in our hearts. Here is my little collection of nutcrackers bought in Germany, Austria and at German Christmas markets.



The Mantle:
I noticed as I was loading this picture that one of the stockings has fallen. *sigh* The official reason that there are six stockings hanging (as told with a straight face to my children) is that I love a mantle full of stockings. The real reason is my Dad and his lovely wife are spending Christmas with us! And the girls don't know! It will be their Christmas Eve surprise. These poinsettias are usually on my staircase, but I was looking for something different this year. I love how the mantle turned out.



Santa:
We actually have two focus points of Santa, but I forgot to take the second picture. This little Santa was made by a lovely friend here in the UK. The sleigh was made by our neighbours in Alabama. I love how they look together. My second focus point is our front door that has a hand-tied rug of St. Nicholas that was bought in Myra, Turkey, the home of St. Nick. We try to keep the focus on St. Nicholas the real person and not Santa Claus the fairy tale.



Not pictured is my Jesse Tree that is sadly not very decorated this year since I'm having trouble sitting up for periods of time. The girls have kept up with their advent calendar and we have talked about the Jesse Tree each day even if we have not made the ornaments. My dining room is not pictured but it is decorated with poinsettias. I have not put up my Coca-Cola ornaments this year, but they usually adorn the window of the dining room. The front door welcomes you with a poinsettia wreath (guess what my favourite flower is this time of year?) and the stairwell is laced with gold ribbons that the Christmas cards where Christmas cards are being hung.

There you have it, a tour of my place at Christmas. To see how others are ddecorating this year, please visit Lisa at The Preacher's Wife.