It's Here!

Wow.
It is that special time - Christmas Eve!
Everyone - even R. - is bedded down and I am listening to Christmas music and basking in the afterglow of this evening.

We attended a very special Christmas Eve service at church. A fresh, simple, no nonsense look at the old, old story. There was singing, reading ( I got a little over zealous with the responsive reading and "helped" the leader out by continuing to read after the "ALL" portion was completed), Advent candles and a brief challenge to recognize Christ, the light of the world - and then to be light ourselves as we go out into the world.

Our Christmas eve dinner with some of R.'s family was again warm - yet simple.

We topped the evening off with our own family's Advent Candle - lighting the Christ Candle.

Everyone seemed to be on their best behavior - maybe it's like the old poem from one of the Childcraft books that said -"jist for Christmas - I'm as good as I can be".  Ab and Mom read the Christmas story from Luke's gospel (it's okay that we heard it earlier tonight).  And AA regaled us with what has become the annual reading of Ogden Nash's Christmas poem, "Jabez Dawes".

Christmas tends to leave me sort of wistful as I realize that our children are growing up; but there are some definite advantages.  I see Christmas holding a deeper meaning with them and it makes me so proud; they are excited but not that wild kind of uncontrollable excited.

I've really been moved by the entire evening. 

What a wonderful thing God did, when He came down to be with us. ..
...came down to be like us.
...came down to show us the way...
... came down to die - for us ...
and rise again ... because He could!

Merry Christmas!