Holiday happenings

Back to reality today. But I had a nice time this past week.

Saturday night Jane and I took the kids and their significant others to Takaoka of Japan - one of those restaurants where they cook your food on your table. It was good, and I ate almost my entire meal with chopsticks. That's a first for me.

Sunday morning we were actually able to have our worship gathering - and the weather was pretty nice. There was no sermon because we used that time to decorate our church Christmas tree. Everyone was supposed to bring an ornament, come up and share why it was special to them or why they chose it, and then hang it on the tree. The significance of each of us bringing an ornament and decorating the tree *together* is to show that God has a place for each of us in His church. It's not about committee's or paid staff, it's about everyone pitching in and being a part. I think it went well. There were even a few people who forgot their ornaments, but they came up and talked anyway. I was glad.

We left right after the service and drove back home to Illinois. I made good time - 5 hours and 10 minutes. The roads weren't bad until about 20 miles from home when we ran into some blowing snow, but the wind was blowing like crazy the whole way. I couldn't let go of the steering wheel at all. After dropping our stuff off at my parents we headed out to Jane's brother's house and did Christmas with three of her brothers families, their kids, and grandkids. It was a houseful, but it was nice having almost everyone together. I believe this was the first Christmas gathering for all of them since their mother passed away. It helped having lots of new babies and little kids running around, but wasn't quite the same. Jane was very popular with the kiddles with her new camera. :)

Christmas Eve we hung around my parents house. My sister and her boys were supposed to have been there Sunday, then they weren't going to come at all, then right after lunch Christmas Eve they called and said they were on their way (from Minneapolis). I was glad they finally decided to come - though they didn't arrive until 9:30 pm, so we didn't open presents until after 10. It was still a good time.

We attended our old church on Christmas Eve. There were probably over 200 people there. It's in a different building than when we were there, and we don't know many of the people. But there's still something nice about being "home" on Christmas Eve. We did see many old friends, sang carols, lit candles. I don't think I could ever pastor a church like this, but I sure do enjoy just participating sometimes.

We left to come back to Indiana on Christmas morning. It was sunny and in the 40's, so it didn't look much like Christmas, but it was a beautiful day for a drive. Almost all the gas stations and fast food places were open for the first part of the trip, but about halfway we noticed most of the fast food places were closed. Good thing we ate in Gillman, IL. I had chicken nuggets and fries for Christmas dinner.

All in all this was one of the least stressful Christmases I can remember in awhile. The weather was good, there wasn't a lot of commotion, no one was sick... it was just a nice time. It made a big difference too that Carrie's boyfriend stayed at our house and kept Bogey. He's a nice dog and all, but he adds a whole new dimension to traveling. Now it's time to wrap up this year. I don't feel to much like doin' anything today for some reason though.

Peace.