November 28 – “Top-half-gap”

Well, I suppose the Christmas season is now officially upon us.  Our Christmas tree is up.  The first on-last off ornament has found its place next to the tree’s trunk.  That would be a simple nail, to remind us that the reason Jesus came as a baby on Christmas was so that he could live a perfect life, then die on a “tree,” and finally rise from the dead.  Lights adorn the tree, strung carefully, branch by branch by good ol’ Uncle Nathan and his young assistants Cailyn and Josiah and Micah.  The bottom half of that bush is beautifully decorated (That’s  as far up as the kids could reach when they did the ornaments on Saturday).  Boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations are piled up in our kitchen, waiting for Chris to wade through them one by one and slowly incorporate a piece here and a piece there into the festive landscape.  Somewhere in there we will find plenty of other ornaments to fill in the “top-half-gap,” and the star for the top of the tree is bound to show up sooner or later.  Our plastic Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus are seated in their spot on the front lawn, waiting for Outside Decoration Day to come so they can receive power to their respective light bulbs. 

Over on another front, April was extremely excited to receive an early gift.  There is now a new blow-up yard decoration at their house.  After receiving a picture of it, we drove by last night to see for ourselves.  It’s a fire truck apparently delivering gifts.  And it might be a good thing that it is available.  Nathan was up on the roof trying to track down the source of a problem with their lights up there.  They had a large gap that decided to blink out on them, and worse still, the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh up there had lost their lights as well.  You could see old St. Nick, but not his preferred mode of transportation.  Nathan was moving slowly (his back pain was flaring up), but he was determined to track down the offending light.

And at the church, our Hanging of the Greens fellowship saw a great turnout to get the worship center decorated for the holidays.  For sustenance we had everything from leftover pizza, to ham and cheese sandwiches, to chips and dips, to summer sausage, crackers and cheese.  Robert and Jim did a great job getting the icicle lights and greenery hung around the top of the room.  Lauren and Cathy and Charlette set up and decorated the tree and hung wreaths.  Jennifer untangled lights (ah, the most coveted Christmas chore).  Bryan found some festive music on the computer, and Phil regaled us with tales of his last fishing trip before returning to Oklahoma.  We even found the missing Moravian (Hernhutt) Star ornament, nestled carefully away with the rest of the decorations.  In the midst of the operation, Cathy had a suggestion.  We moved the toys we have been collecting for our December ministry project.  They now rest under the Christmas tree until we take them over to Galveston Urban Ministries.  How incredibly appropriate.  Great idea, Cathy.  Chris and Lauren used the opportunity to box up and store away the decorations from Fall Festival, and we even had three broom going to sweep away the first round of artificial greenery sheddings (is that even a word?).  I still can’t figure out how those artificial trees can shed so much and still look the same year to year.  Miracle of modern technology, I guess.  Thanks to everyone who played a part in Hanging of the Greens 2016.  Now we can focus on the reason for the season … Jesus.

Ephesians 4:4-6 says, “There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Father, thank you for family.  The blood of me kind and the Blood of You kind.  Amen.