Christmas?...Here?...Already?

My oh my where has the time flown? It seems like Thanksgiving was just last week! Things around here have been super busy. The month started with Christmas at Concord 2008! I love production time! This year the production was about 2 army families. The husbands were deployed unexpectedly just in time for Christmas. While sharing the gospel with his lost friend, Captain Robert Foster laid down his life for his friend...just as Jesus did for each of us. "No Greater Love has no man that this. That he laid down his life for his friend". I played the part of a civilian secretary. I don't know what it is, but I just love the stage!
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The week after production we celebrated Christmas at Strong Rock (www.strongrockcamp.com) sidebar: I wish I knew all the neato blogging tools...like how to put in a link but only show the title of the link....It was great to see all of the amazing staff! We had a great time. I even won a My Little Pony with a bonus DVD while playing Dirty Santa! Come on, you know your jealous! You can check out pictures and more info on the website blog!
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This week was a little more normal...well, normal for Christmas. Last Thursday Jill and the kids came over for lunch for our Christmas celebration. I love watching my nieces and nephews open gifts. They get excited about the simplest things....like orbit bubble gum! You would have thought that it was made of gold! On Monday, Laura and her kids ate dinner with us at mom's. It was fun to watch her kids open gifts as well. The Strong Rock Camp sweatshirts were definitely a hit!
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Tomorrow will be our traditional Christmas Eve celebration! I LOVE Christmas Eve! After the candle light service at church we head over to mom's house to celebrate. When I say we I mean my family, and about 40 other people! I LOVE IT. We start the evening by having all the kids read the prophesies of Christ from Isaiah. We then pour sparkling cider and toast. After toasting I read the Christmas story from Luke out of my Great Great Grandmother's Bible. We then pray and sit down to a feast of homemade lasagna, salad, and mom's famous sour dough bread! YUMMY...After dinner we enjoy some of my famous banana pudding and then all the kids head outside to light sparklers and fireworks! The kids look forward to it all year! We even have some "Grand Finalise"! I can't wait!
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I know it will come as a shock to you both of you but I may not blog for a couple of weeks. We are driving down to St. Simons to spend time with family on Christmas Day and driving back on December 28th. I am then flying out to India...yes, the country...on the 29th! I'm super excited about the trip. First a little background....In 2002 I began teaching at Westminster Christian School. The parents of one of my students asked me if I would be interested in babysitting for a week while they went out of town. They were going to be taking Christmas gifts to children in India. I had just returned home from China and was super interested in their trip. I stayed with the kids (all 4 of them) and was excited to hear about all that God did through them! I wanted to go! Unfortunately, the trips were always at the beginning of December, and I had to teach so I couldn't go. Well, really, God just wasn't ready to use me there yet....Every year I would inquire about the trip, and the timing never worked....UNTIL.....This year! They decided to do the trip after Christmas! Perfect! I will be traveling with 18 others to India on December 29th. We will be delivering 2600 backpacks filled with blankets, bibles, toys, fruit, toothbrushes, etc! Most important we will be sharing with those there about what Christmas really means. Christmas is about God....think about that...God left perfection and came to earth. He didn't come to be served, or even worshiped. He came with one purpose. To carry the weight of the sins of the world. He bore them all on the cross and then died in our place. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life though Christ Jesus our Lord. Each of us has earn death. We deserve to live miserable lives, and die. God however, in is grace and mercy gave us the gift of Jesus. Jesus poured out his blood so that you and I could live...forever! I recently heard someone say "I can't trust in and worship a god that allows such pain and misery" Oh, but that is what we all deserve, however God chooses to bless us....all of us, believers or not! He allows to enjoy him! He allows us to come into his presence and soak in all that he is. Oh how I miss out sometimes because I get so busy with "life" that I miss out on the one that gives me each breath! My prayer is that you would remember the greatest gift of all. You don't deserve it, you can't earn it. Its free. GRACE. I am so excited about the trip but not the 15 hour plane ride. We will return on January 6th, and hopefully after a few days of sleeping I'll tell you all about it!