It’s been awhile since we had a program designed just for our kids at church. But on Christmas Eve we abandoned our traditional candlelight service in lieu of allowing our kids to remind us of the meaning of Christmas. They came dressed in costume, so the Delaplaine was filled with sheep, wise men, Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, shepherds, singers, and readers. There were also grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, friends, etc… Sara T. reminded them that they were not there to be cute, but to bring glory to God but telling the Christmas story (and they did a wonderful job!) The funniest event of the night was when Callie T.(who was dressed as an angel) sat in the box/manger and was stuck right there in front of everyone.

The program was filled with a lot of flash photography! I believe that room could have been seen from the moon, because of the flashes (yes I was one of them). It showed me that sometimes we just need a time to celebrate the gift of children and what they teach us about the Lord. Usually we think of how we can show them spiritual truths, but they understand more than we often give them credit for.

The following is a portion of an e-mail that Sara T. sent out to the children and I couldn’t agree more with her comments:

“Hi guys! This is Miss Sara. I just wanted to say that I thought you all did a wonderful job on Monday. You all looked great and sounded great too! And you behaved beautifully! I am so proud of all of your hard work. And I know that on that night, God was looking down on all of you and smiling because of the beautiful worship you gave him and the wonderful blessing you were to everyone who was there. Thank you so much for being a part of our Christmas Eve service!”

Whewwww. . . its’ over. We started the day at the top of the stairs of our home, asking a series of questions (what is Christmas about? “Jesus” – typical pk’s response, — and what’s the best gift? – “Jesus.”) They know the right answers, and they are showing signs of living those answers out.

Then they ran downstairs, and it started. You know what I’m talking about. The craziness! Christmas day was a whirlwind of wrapping paper and bows. Well, ok not a day, but at least a good 20 minutes.

The day settled down to me opening and assembling various children’s gifts and making sure that no tiny parts went into the trash piles. Why do they have to put those twisty ties on everything?

The boys favorite gift this year was a star wars jedi light saber that cost us around $8 (when will we learn that the best is not always the most expensive?) Hannah-Grace’s favorite gift was a Barbie princess island doll. I have started a tradition (last year) of giving her a dress up outfit, so I found a Barbie princess island dress that was her size. She wore it all day, and we had to fight her to take it off for bed. We also found a Barbie princess island dvd – so she is set. The grandparents went crazy with gifts, but I won’t complain too much. I believe that if I were to ask them, they would say that that’s what grandparents do – especially since we live so far away.

We called and were called by various family members around the country, and over all it was a wonderful day spent together.

Merry Christmas!

Sometimes people ask me, “Drew, do you ever miss Alabama?” and images such as this pop into my mind, and I think, “You know, sometimes I do.” In suburbia most houses look alike, most people dress alike, and even those “angsty teens” who are so individualistic look amazingly similar. But in Alabama, believe it or not these type of “displays” are not so infrequent as to draw anything other than a second look. Can you imagine the outcry of this Santa ride in some of Frederick’s suburbs? So, yes, there are some things that I sometimes miss about Alabama, like the sound of automotive chains rustling in the breeze, the smell of wedding cake at a wedding of too close of relatives, and the outright creativity that is shown everywhere. We call it “folk art.” Who in suburbia would have thought, “you know I have a car, and it is Christmas, why not make the car a little festive?”

Merry Christmas

PS- Dad, thanks for the picture of your new “display” in our yard.

Mark 4:37-41 “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” ³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. ⁴⁰He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” ⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!“

Today it was supposed to be a icy, cold, very bad day.

We face decisions every day. We choose what to eat, what to wear, and even more impacting things like whether or not to have a worship service. There are temporal things to consider like the exertion that goes into setting everything up and breaking it down. We tell ourselves that we are doing it for the Lord, but let’s face it, it’s hard work. There have been two occasions when I decided to have church on an inclement weather day, and the only people that showed were those setting up the service. That’s a morale kick in the pants.

If few people show, then it looks like we are a smaller church than we are to guests. (Yes, perception is important). There is a much smaller offering than normal, and if we cancel then there is none at all. There is the danger of accidents if you don’t and there is a missed opportunity to share the gospel if we do. I used to think that there might be a person, who would have come, and their life may have been changed forever – but we canceled instead.

When making these decisions I have decided to let God be God. If Daybreak were a church located in remote Alaska then snow and icy weather would be a way of life. Even in Maryland we are often not equipped to handle a storm. So, God controls the weather, He knows where we are, He knows what we need, and He is control. If He allows a storm to come, I believe He understands our need to not have a service.

I also believe that storms lead us back to asking the question of, “Why do we assemble anyway?” I mean, “Why have a church worship service?” Many times in life we go through the motions, even things that we have done our whole lives, but forget their purpose.

Obviously, gathering as the body of Christ is important (and commanded). I believe that I will soon do a sermon on this exact question, because storm or not there are those who find something far more insignificant than an ice storm to keep them away. I also become focused on lights, sound, media, chairs, etc…when my focus should be worshiping God instead. Sometimes storms help us to re-focus on what is truly important.

Today was Hannah-Grace’s last day of dance for this cycle. She will start dancing again beginning in January. Today was also the one and only day when the instructors would allow the parents to actually sit in the room and watch them dance. After several of the girls would suddenly bolt and ran back and forth, and back and forth to their parents, I understand the restriction.

In the next round of dance we will have our first recital – I’ll let you know how it goes. But for now Hannah-Grace loves to put on her pink tutu, pink dance shoes, pink dance outfit, pink Cinderella backpack, pink, pink, pink, …. (you get the idea). Her face lights up when it is time to go and to be only three she shows great potential. (I know all parents say that about their children, especially daddies about their little girls.) She wants to get married, and asks Jesus to bring her a special boy soon. I am in the background praying the exact opposite – Lord let it be many, many years from now. I want to hold on the pink ponies and dance lesson Saturdays as long as I can. In a house where the guys outnumber the girls (4-2), Hannah-Grace is all girl, and that’s ok with daddy.