It’s 11:20 on Christmas Eve and only a few of us are still awake at this house – the Santa-believers were in bed early after leaving carrots and oats for the reindeer along with cookies and milk for Santa. The guys assembled the mini-trampoline for the little girls and Len put out the Wii for Alex so we are good to go for the Christmas morning onslaught! Figure the kids will be entertained by Santa’s goodies until everyone else arrives and we get the day in full swing.
Tammy and Steve threw one heck of a gathering this afternoon with some great eats along with wine before we headed to church. Our family took up an entire pew for the beautiful service. I loved hearing the scripture – first from Isaiah foretelling the coming of the Messiah and then from Luke whose words are my favorite for telling the birth of Jesus. We had communion and then finished the service by singing “Silent Night” while holding high our candles as the lights in the church dimmed. I can still sing the first verse in German – something I learned from my Girl Scout leader when I was 10 and we were practicing to go caroling at the State Hospital.
Best of all was taking in the quiet of the evening, sitting next to Burl and looking down the pew at my daughters and granddaughters and knowing how very blessed I am. The calm will be broken at an early hour tomorrow so this creature is heading to bed. If I’m awake then Santa may not stop here!
