Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family! Well, it's 8:30am and we've been done opening gifts for two hours. After struggling to go to bed last night (alternately proclaiming "Santa's scary!" and "I want Santa to come into my room"), Myles woke up at 5:40am. We tried, in vain, to bring him into our bed to sleep a little longer, but by 5:50 we were on our way downstairs to see if Santa came. First clue: presents under the lit Christmas tree. Second clue: the food we put out for Santa last night was a mess of crumbles and wrappers. Even the carrots for the reindeer were gone! I think I've mentioned that in the spirit of the gifts Jesus received from the wise ones, Myles receives three gifts for Christmas. This year, a fourth was under the tree from Nana-Grandpa-Santa, plus a full stocking. While the annual Hess vehicle from Nana-Grandpa-Santa has been the favored one thus far, we're hoping the Skuut will gain some traction. It's a wooden balance bike, the idea being that after kids learn the art of pedaling and steering from a tricycle, a balance bike (with no pedals) teaches them balance. This particular bike company plants a tree for every bike purchased, so that sweetened the deal. Myles received a (gently used) Lightning McQueen helmet and matching knee and elbow pads.

Yesterday, my beloved husband deftly saved Christmas Eve in an unprecedented act of heroism. With our Christmas Eve service (a joint service with the church from whom we rent space) scheduled for 5:00PM, I received a call at 1:00 stating that the parking lot was impassable due to snow and ice. Snow plowers had been contacted, but all were busy. Co-pastor Sara drove out to the church and confirmed that there was no way folks could park in the parking lot as it was. Seth got out the phone book and the first company he called happened to be able to come out within an hour's time and plow, scrape and salt the parking lot. Seth brought our shovel and hacked away at the sheet of ice below the snow for an hour, and made it back in just enough time for me to get to the dress rehearsal for our service (did you know that we sometimes rehearse service?). The candle-light Christmas Eve service, after all the panic and frustration, was a bit like the Christmas story itself. Out of the impossible came the holy. In the wreckage of all our human stress, God was born anew. I read a story this week about a Christian community that decided one year to fill the church with cow manure and hay on Christmas Eve. The stench reminded everyone of the reality that Jesus was born into...Mary's pregnancy was a scandal, Jesus was born into a working class family, and when the time came for his birth, there was no room anywhere but amidst the stench and dirt of ordinary animals. The first to hear the news were poor shepherds. Our service felt a little bit like God coming to us in the midst of all our messes and frustrations. And it was truly a beautiful service. We had two soloists, one who sang on guitar and the other who did an unbelievable version of O Holy Night. We had four actors in the roles of Mary, Joseph, the Shepherd and the Innkeeper. The kids sang "Go Tell it on the Mountain" with hand motions and movement. The offering was dedicated to a local organization dedicated to ending the cycle of chronic homelessness. And we ended in candle-light, remembering that Jesus is the light among us, singing Silent Night together. It was a beautiful, wonder-filled night...made that much more magic by the excitement of toddlers hoping on Santa.

I hope your Christmas too is filled with the holy wonder of God's presence in the midst of all the ordinary stresses and frustrations of human life...