Christmas #4

Another 397 joined us to welcome the Babe of  Bethlehem...

WOW- everything again was excellent and meaningful and personal and wow!

My favorite moment was the reading from Isaiah by a 6th grader!  She nailed it.

Bless you Calvary musicians, ushers, greeters, Live Nativity characters, communion stewards, choirs of all sizes and ages... staff!

1327 adored HIM!

AMEN!

(Going home to take off my shoes!)

Merry Christmas and good night.

Christmas Blog #3

Phenomenal worship experience!  Music, lights, strings, voices, people, old friends, new friends, family and WOW!  The best CHRISTMAS Service Ever!!

538- over a hundred more than last year!

WHOOPEE!

Cried, not because of my allergies and the amazing poinsettias, but because my heart was so very, very full.

Christmas Blog- #2

It is the noisiest and busiest service!  We had 402 and it felt like... thousands!

Lovely holy family with the cutest little angel.  And baby Jesus did not even cry.  Bonus.

Super terrific music by the Attwoods in the narathex!

Amazing Holy Family plus Angels and Shepherds!  Here is a photo from earlier this evening...

Christmas Eve Pre-Blog

My annual tradition of blogging throughout the long night of Christmas joy begins!  I have already been here for over an hour doing some behind the scenes stuff!

I am very excited about our worship services tonight!  They will be lovely!  Guest musicians are joining us.  A Live Nativity will be presented outside, even with a donkey!  Caroling music will greet folks before and after our first two worship services!

I am ready to puddle up with tears and the night has not even begun.  Just feeling very full of the Holy Spirit and the Joy of what Jesus' birth means!

Before I dash off to prepare Holy Communion for the 5pm service- be joyful because Our HOPE HAS COME!

See you in worship!

Family Christmas- What's in a Name?

Saturday evening the Lowe family gathered around these lovely tables for the festivities of Christmas!  we had a delightful time telling stories, eating great food, laughing over our gifts and antics of our pets. The only problem- er hiccup- with our tradition is that no one in the family has the last name Lowe anymore!

Yep.

That sort of thing is bound to happen with two generations of girls.  We had Lawlers, Grays, Monhollens, and Knights.  But no Lowes.  Two sisters, my mother and my aunt, each had one daughter.  Hence, it was a gathering of the Lowe family without any namesakes.  (Don't worry there are plenty to carry on the family name from other cousins!)

Our names may be a patchwork quilt now, but our love, generosity, and joy in Christmas remain steadfast!

Nativity Without the Mother of God

One of my favorite collections are my various Nativity scenes and sets. Two different nations from Africa, three from Latin America, and various artisans from Europe and the US are represented in my collection. They are each precious and unique.

The children's set you see above is the newest addition to my collection.  My mother-in-law gave it to me last year for Christmas.  So a few weeks ago, we first opened the box. To our surprise a key member of the Nativity is missing.  She is no where to be found.

There is no Mary, the Mother of God!

Instead, we have a Nativity scene with twin shepherds!  :)  Oops. Mind you this set was made in China. Makers knew that there needed to be 10 figurines in the box.  Not very particular on which ten figures though.

Mary has gone missing.  Perhaps the crying kid was too much for her.  Or the extra shepherd is the stand-in babysitter.

It is hard, if not impossible, to have a Nativity without Mary.  She models for us obedience and trust in God's amazing plan. She continues in her plans to marry Joseph and create a family together.  Mary must birth Jesus after all!  Ultimately, she will nurture his young faith and witness to him our Awesome God even as she watches her son die for the world's freedom from sin, stupid, and death.

My missing Mary has been a reminder of Mary's significance within God's plan.  Maybe even a reminder of how without each one of us... God's work is incomplete.

Each one of us matters.

When Your Former Confirmands Have Babies!

You know you are getting older when previous students of yours start their own families.  Again, I was dramatically reminded of where I am in life's cycle when one of my former confirmation students from my largest class ever- the Class of 2006- had his first born son yesterday.

Wow!  Have I been in ministry that long now?

Yes.  Yes, I have.

What a Difference a Year Makes!

During Advent of last year I was deep in the throws of supportive care giving to two ailing parents.  What a difference a year makes!  This may seem an odd way to mark the holidays, but it is an indication of life's changing seasons nonetheless.

A year ago in the midst of holiday baking my red foam cooler would be packed with meals and goodies to deliver to my in-laws while Lee Ann was in treatment for her brain cancer.  Alas, in June she received her ultimate healing in heaven.

During December of 2012 my father was recovering from a bad fall at a rehabilitation facility.  His holidays were not as he had hoped they would be.  But after the first of the year he returned home to his apartment. We are grateful for all who offered him compassionate care during his recovery.

Now, I wonder how we will remember this holy season a year from now?  Hmmm....

Christmas Decor'

I am the type of holiday decorator that appreciates coordinated fashion and color, but has always had a homegrown Christmas.  Homemade Christmas decor is like greeting old friends within the ornament box from your child's preschool days.  Everything on our tree is beautifully mismatched, but meaningful and significant.

This year we did something radically different. Our friends stayed in their boxes.

Last summer after Eric's mother died he brought home from his parent's house an SUV filled with Christmas ornaments. Lee Ann thoroughly enjoyed decorating her Christmas tree each year. She had hundreds if not thousands of ornaments!  I am not exaggerating.  Boxes upon boxes of gold, red, silver, white and pink glass ornaments are all at my house now!

She had a pink and white tree.  She did a red tree.  There was a gold tree.  And even a silver tree.  Each year was a different coordinated fashion of holiday shimmer and shine.  No wonder she left up her tree well into February each year.

This year in celebration of her first Christmas in heaven we decorated our tree with about 75% of her red and gold glass ornaments, most of her red berries, lots of her specialty ribbon, and her unique golden angel. Needless to say the task took hours...  but as you case see we are showcase ready!

Merry Christmas, Mom!

Thanksgiving Anew

The gathering at our table for Thanksgiving this year may have been smaller in number, but the sense of gratitude was enormous!  With the sun streaming through the sliding glass doors and our plates heaping with warm, tasty comfort foods, we made a wonderful family memory.

The table was laid with a set of my mother in law's dishes along with crystal glasses she gave me for my birthday.  Pretty as a picture!  In fact here is a photo... you can see a loaf of my infamous chocolate zuccihini bread in the background (by the bottle of wine).  Yum!

This year at our lovely Thanksgiving table we played a new Thanksgiving 'game'.  From A to Z each family member had to name something they were grateful for that began with that letter. 26 times 3 equals a lot of gratitude!!  We laughed and reminisced.  And then as we moved deeper into the alphabet each of us would think of a better item for a previous letter.  It was a hoot!

After we rolled away from the table our daughter smoked us in a game of monopoly by the fireplace.

A great day!  Simply a great day to be alive; be together;and be filled with thanks.