Best of Our Christmas

Here are a few highlights from my Christmas:

• Watching my daughter master the art of toy train engineering in less than one hour!
• The look of wonder and awe when our toddler said, 'Look at all these presents...(hugs herself) for me!'
• Napping in the middle of Christmas morning's mess while my husband laughs and giggles with our daughter's trains.
• The wonderful music of our Christmas Eve services.
• Eating yummy Christmas morning breakfast pizza.
• Not being able to sleep at 1am after 4 worship services because I cannot wait for my daughter to see her presents.
• The fact that it took our daughter 2 hours and 45 minutes to open her presents because she kept stopping to play with her train, or play with the toy she just opened. (Clothes were ignored.)
• The gorgeous flowers my husband got me after I ruined the Christmas Eve turkey and had a fit of tears as a result.

I pray you had wonderful memories and moments this Christmas as well!

CHRISTmas Eve 5

We did it! We brought in Christmas- Calvary in Brownsburg style!

With 1015 people!

Thanks to all the amazing volunteers, musicians, staff and of course, the Holy Spirit for keeping us going!

Merry Christmas- officially!

CHRISTmas Eve 4.5

Oh- by the way- before he harps at me again.

I need to give credit where credit is due and thank Aaron for a line in my 5pm Children's Sermon. It was his idea to talk about the angel's scaring the shepherds so much that ..."they might have pee'd their pants (or robes or whatever)".

Yep- his idea!

CHRISTmas Eve 4

A habit could be formed from attending and worshipping at Christmas Eve worship services! (I actually think Calvary already has a few of those addicts- folks who are attending more than one service just for the thrill of it.)

It has been such fun watching our congregation greet and love on each other! College students are seeing friends they haven't seen in awhile. Our military personell are receiving hugs and salutes from folks who have been praying for them. And I have see several Calvary families that I haven't seen in a while... gosh that is great.

All that lovin' and greetin' has been a bonus this year- that and the awesome luminaries!

My slippers are on; ate a little power snack; Diet Coke is in hand; and my feet are up!

See you all at the 11pm service!

One more service to go and then, I think, we can officially declare it a Merry Christmas!

CHRISTmas Eve 3

WOW- the music at our 7pm service was enough to "throw you under your chair" to quote our esteemed youth director! Wow! That and the candle light was awesome. Not a seat or dry eye left in the place!

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Now we go and do it again!

CHRISTmas Eve 2

5:00pm service was loud, noisy, busy, and wonderfully young! I wonder what the average age was? 13? We had soooooooooooo many children and babies! I am not sure if anyone was actually able to hear the sermon.

I got choked up on the Luke 2:1-20 passage which I have read lots of times but, was especially poignant for me in that moment of reading.

Wow- is God good or what?!?!

Now, off to do the 7pm service! See you in a few!

CHRISTmas Eve 1

Forty eight minutes and counting before we begin our first of four worship services tonight! While this is Calvary's second Christmas in the new building, it is my first! Am I soooo excited! The sanctuary is gorgeous with the most beautiful poinsettias ever! (Notice I use lots of !'s when I get excited!)

Jesus' manager is filled with fresh straw. His table for Holy Communion is set. The luminaries are ready to be lit. The candles are prepared with fire extinguishers in close proximity. The praise band is warming up for the 5pm service. Brass and vocal choirs will be here before the 7pm service.

All we need is the Holy Family to arrive along with about 1,000 other worshippers! Oh- and hopefully, my boss will be here soon...because I have not prepared a sermon. (Hey, just as I wrote this he walked in- thank goodness! Whew.)

Now, I just need to decide which of the three children sermon ideas I want to use....

See you in a few...