BLOGMAS DAY 21 -- IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE!

Hello, friends!  The above passage from Luke has been the theme of my Christmas this year.  Yesterday morning in church my Sunday School class (and the Youth Group) lit the fourth Advent candle, recited this scripture and then sang Silent Night.  These are kids who have come from an unchurched background, who just recently heard about Jesus (and not using His name as a curse) and in just a few months have come so far in their understanding of who He is and what He did for us.  I am excited to spend the next few months with them going over the life of Christ in our class.  And this passage was also the theme for my lesson yesterday -- the shepherds who found Jesus.

For Fellowship Time Joe and I brought a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake and we all sang Happy Birthday before eating it.  Joe and I have done this for years together but sharing it with the church was special.  Several people stopped me after church to tell me just how special that was to them.  One man told me he had never thought of it that way and what we did was awesome!

After church we stopped at Shoprite and got lunch.  I had fried chicken legs and potato salad and Joe had a hoagie.  I have been very bad in my diet and I'm sure my weight has gone up.  It is very hard to do a diet during this time of year because everyone is shoving goodies at you, so I am going to go with the flow and start anew the beginning of the year.  I have a doctor's appointment on January 19th and want to have lost at least another two pounds by then.

I am still working on my cleaning, baking, wrapping, etc.  I don't think I have ever been this far behind before.  My main problem is how much pain I am in this year.  If you are not experiencing the pain, you don't understand just how hard it is to function.  People who look at you don't see the pain so don't know just how badly you feel.  So I press on and hope to get as much done as possible.

Last night Joe and I brought our friend Donna to the Christmas Candlelight Service at church.  It is the first one we have been to with Pastor Ralph.  Usually we are at my sister's house on Christmas Eve and go to her church.  But this year she is working both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  On top of that, our service was moved from Christmas Eve to last night.  It was a beautiful service.  Too bad more people didn't show up.  They really missed out.  I took a few pictures for our church's website, but I'm going to share them here as well.  It was hard to take good shots because everything was dark.

The church was pretty with all the candlelight.  There were candles in the windows also, but the shot I took of that was completely black except for a little white dot.

There was lots of singing led by Pastor.

Since it was too dark to read a hymnal, the words were projected for us.

Rusty lit the Advent Candles and the Christ Candle.

Debbie read the scripture.

The manger leads to the cross.  Something we should all focus on.  Jesus was born to die.

Pastor gave a beautiful message so full of meaning.

The true meaning of Christmas is Christ.  He will be there even if I don't get all the cleaning, baking and wrapping done.

After the service Joe and I took Donna, Debbie and Rusty to see Greeby Street.  They always have the greatest light show.  Joe and I go several times during the season, but I knew these three living so far from it would never see it on their own.  It was a wonderful thing to do for them.  They were amazed and loved it.  I want to get back there one more time before the lights come down and get pictures.  I have driven down the street three times now, but you really need to walk it to get the good shots.

Here is one picture from a few years ago.  It's even bigger and better now.


If I want to get things done, I must end this now and get on with my day.  I hope all of you have enjoyed Blogmas 2018.  I am taking tomorrow off to spend with my family but will be back the day after with lots more pictures to share.

Joe and I wish each and every one of you a wonderful Christmas!  Thank you for your friendship, caring and love.

Kathy