« ‘Twas the Very First Christmas: The Night Before Christmas Parody | Main | Do We Know What It Means to “Fear the Lord”? »
Awesome Extended Christmas Weekend
By Marc | December 29, 2008
Today is my first workday since last Tuesday, which means I have had a glorious 5-day weekend. I must say it’s a little hard to get back into the swing of going back to work, but I’ll try to muddle through (somehow).
Wednesday, Christmas Eve, was a little hectic. I spent most of the day catching up on my Christmas shopping both with the boys and without, while Julie was at home finishing up some baking and homemade stuff. We barely got time to shower and dress for Christmas Eve service.
Speaking of the service, it was AMAZING! Listening to and singing Christmas carols a cappella is great in itself, but there were a few I’ve never heard before (one from the twelfth century) that really made it more special.
The message was “Light of the World”. In most of it, all the lights were out except for a spotlight on the pastor. Then, that light went out while he talked about how we try to light our own path by ourselves, using matches. “I’ve got my work and that’s my light” or “This relationship is my light” or “self-help programs” or “money” or any number of things. Each time he lit a match to bring out each one of the self-made lights, they soon went out, almost immediately. Then, when speaking of the only light that lasts, Jesus, the shepherds of the church and their wives lit candles from a single candle burning, then lit those onto the candles each of us were holding.
After that, two violinists started to play “Silent Night”, at first slowly and simply, then with more emotion, and soon we were all singing it. That was how it ended. I’ve only been to a few Christmas Eve services, but it was, by far, one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been witness to. I think it would take a lot for a Christmas service to outdo it.
After the boys went to bed, I worked on the drawings for the Julie’s Christmas poem, while Julie finished up some ornaments, and “waited for Santa”.
Thursday, Christmas Day, we all got up and opened presents. Afterwards, I worked on a drawing I was giving as a gift while Julie did some cooking for Christmas dinner and the boys played with their new toys.
Christmas dinner was a lot of fun. We went to the home of some friends, along with another of their friends, and my sister and her family. It almost seemed like a strange mismatch of people, but everyone had a blast and it worked out very well.
Friday, we didn’t get around too quickly. We were leaving to go to my mom’s in western Nebraska for the weekend. I initially wanted to get out before noon, but it turned into around 4pm by the time we left town. Since my sister had to work on Christmas Eve and on Friday, and I didn’t know if I would have to work that day until a few weeks ago, we all decided to meet up at Mom’s for the weekend. Also, we were so busy, we didn’t get our boarder called in time, so the dogs had to come with us. Once we got going, the trip went pretty smoothly and it warmed up a lot, so there was no risk of icy or snowy roads.
Saturday was great, if not a little cold. Mom, my sister and her family, my brother, and my family had a fun time. Julie got us a little hooked on Sudoku and I had to take breaks from it before it completely took over. I had resisted the urge to play for a long time and tried a few easy puzzles. My sister and her husband had never before played either, so they fell into the trap. Mom does the puzzles occasionally, so she was immune to the wiles of the number game. My brother spent the day in front of the television watching his brand-new season 2 of The Incredible Hulk
Sunday, Mom prepared a Christmas dinner, complete with turkey, dressing, mashed taters and gravy, green been casserole, watergate salad, and rolls.
Amazingly, the dogs were very well behaved while at Mom’s house. One usually gets nervous and pees herself when over-excited. The other likes to be our personal security alarm and escape the house when given the chance. They were both pretty good and didn’t do their usual strange things.
The stay at Mom’s was a lot of fun, but as much fun as it was, it was so much better to get back home to our own beds and our own house.
I hope everyone out there had an enjoyable Christmastime also.
Topics: Holidays | No Comments »
