The "W" in Christmas Last December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas. My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise. So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row- center stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love." The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down - totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W". The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W". Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: "C H R I S T W A S L O V E" And, I believe, (NO! I KNOW!) He still is. Author unknown
Heaven came down - David Crowder Band (The lime CD) - YouTube
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Today we had the party at the Retirement Home! It, thankfully, seemed to go very well and everyone told us that they had a very good time! "thanks God, that was our goal!" We started out with a WELCOME.. then jumped right into one game.. Then we sang four songs (sing a long) and stopped long enough for Abigail, and Abby to give out cute little elves to just a random male and female there.. (they loved it) Then we jumped back in and sang another two (sing a long) songs TERRY LEAD ALL THE SONGS, THANKFULLY... "THANKS TERRY, I SURE APPRECIATE YOUR HELP" Then the Two Abigails sang... "I WANT A HIPPOPOTAMUS FOR CHRISTMAS" sooo cute.. (EVERYONE CLAPPED FOR THEM) Norman must have told some of his co-workers because they came up and peeked in at them (*.*) "thanks girls, we all loved it" then we sang one more sing a long song (all Christmas carols of course) CHRISTMAS DIRTY BINGO followed.. LEISA CALLED OUT THE WORDS.., THANKS! WE APPRECIATE IT! they all really liked it and thankfully everyone got a gift or more.. The two Abigails ran the gifts around to the people there.. (thanks again girls) .... During the game.. one lady won the "instant winner" gift which was a plush snowman.. THEN we sang two more sing a long songs "SILENT NIGHT, AND AWAY IN A MANGER"
THEN WE HAD REFRESHMENTS.. THE GIRLS GAVE OUT CHRISTMAS CARDS AND PASSED AROUND SOME INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS STORIES THAT WE WANTED TO SHARE.. "SANTA'S PRAYER" ... THE LEGEND OF THE CANDY CANE...MY CHRISTMAS DREAM...THE LEGEND OF ROBIN REDBREAST... AND JUST A LITTLE DONKEY ... I HOPE THEY ENJOY THEM! ... THEN WE ALSO DREW TWO NAMES FROM A STOCKING AND GAVE OUT THE LAST TWO GIFTS .. DURING REFRESHMENTS.. MANY LIKED THE PUNCH AND THE VARIETY OF COOKIES AND CANDIES AS WELL AS THE PUNCH, THANKFULLY.. NORMAN AND NATHAN CARRIED THE COOKIES AND CANDY AROUND ON THEIR TRAYS TO OFFER MORE TO EACH PERSON (many took more LOL) "THANKS NATHAN AND NORMAN" THEN, AT THIS TIME, WE THANKED EACH OF THEM FOR COMING AND WHEN THEY LEFT, WE CLEANED THE ROOM BACK UP! ... "PRAYING HERE THAT SOMEHOW EACH OF THEM WERE TOUCHED AND THEY FELT GOD'S PRESENCE THERE"
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AGAIN, I'D LIKE TO THANK TERRY AND HER FRIEND DEBBIE.. LEISA, ABIGAIL M. AND ABIGAIL K. / NATHAN/ AND NORMAN FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP... AND THANK GOD FOR BEING THERE WITH US. OUR PRAYER WAS THAT THEY WOULD TRULY ENJOY THEIR TIME TODAY! .. 
AND AS USUAL AND ALWAYS, PRAYING FOR YOU AND YOURS.. SPECIAL "UNSPOKEN PRAYER REQUEST" FOR ONE OF LEISA'S FRIENDS... GOD BLESS EACH OF YOU AND DRAW US ALL CLOSER TO HIM AND HIS GUIDANCE AND MERCIES
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