After
a long, long … long day of preparation, last night we hosted the 2016 version
of Seaside’s All-Church White Elephant Party here at our house. Somehow we managed to squeeze almost 30
people in for fabulous food and rip-roaring fun.
We
started out with the good stuff.
Food. Well, that and the
Thoroughly Random Christmas trivia challenge.
Everyone took up their pencils and worked together to try to get through
this year’s version. The questions were
considerably easier than in years past.
Or so I thought. The struggles
were paramount, especially on the Visual Carol section. Sadly, those songs were exact duplicates from
last year’s challenge. Corey remembered
them. Well, he remembered some of them. Well, he knew that he really liked one of
them, but he couldn’t remember which one.
Or why.
Around
7:30 we launched into the evening’s festivities. Jim and Dale brought their guitars and woke
us all up with their rousing renditions of Rudolph (with a special vocal appearance by a certain white-bearded jolly guy),
Jingle Bell Rock, and Jingle Bell traditional.
The we walked through the answers to the trivia challenge. Sad.
So sad. I may have to reprise many
of the same questions next year just to get some correct answers. Who is the mysterious Professor Hinkle,
anyway?
Having
worked through the difficult part of the evening, it was time for the event we
all had been waiting for (but didn’t know it) … The Reindeer Games. A brand new addition to the gathering this
year, we were greatly entertained, under the direction of Games Master Comet,
by the antics of several aspiring reindeer hopefuls, all wearing reindeer
antlers, of course. First was Rudolph’s
Red Nose. In this one pour three
contestants had to seek out and remove only the red and brown M&M’s from
one bowl to another using only suction and a straw. Eric won that one “by a red nose” over the
two Cory’s (well, one Cory and one Corey). Next came the Marshmallow Munch. Three
different contestants had to eat a bag of marshmallows, make and drink a packet
of hot chocolate through a straw. This
one was a tight match all the way. Jim’s
methodical approach made him the early favorite. Ed chose to mix the chocolate and
marshmallows and try to eat them without the water. That really didn’t work out well for
him. Dark horse Zach came through in the
end for the victory, though. The final game
was called Jingle All the Way. The
younger generation put forth a challenge on this one as two students, Alyssa
and Austin, faced off against Seaside Events Coordinator Lauren. The task?
Each was given four boxes filled with jingles (bells), They had to arrange
the jingles into order from most jingle to least jingle without opening the
boxes. They could, however, shake
them. After a rapid fire series of
rattles, all three were ready to be judged in less than ten seconds. Fastest completion time in the history of the
games, I might add. Of course this was
the first ever competition, so I guess a more appropriate way of saying that
would be, they set the bar high for future generations of wannabe reindeer. And who came away with the victory? Something to be said for “experience,” I
guess. Lauren came out the clear
winner. Each contestant enjoyed a
special prize selected just for their event.
Finally
we were ready for the white elephant exchange.
In an abrupt departure from years past, however, we started the event
with everyone holding onto a package. Then
I read a series of statements (i.e. You
have dressed your pet up in Christmas clothes). If the statement was true of you, you had to
stand, open your gift, and then trade it with someone else who was also
standing. As the game continued, every
time a statement referred to you, you stood again and joined in the
trading. By the end of the game everyone
had owned and traded at least six or seven different gifts. It was a little chaotic, but the perfect way
to handle a game like that with such a large crowd.
So
the Reindeer Games officially ended. But
were they really done? Oh, I don’t think
so. See, Ed - the same Ed who forced
himself to eat cocoa-covered marshmallows earlier – had never heard of Bertie
Botts’ Every Flavor Jelly Beans. And it
just so happened that I keep a stash of those delectable goodies on hand. The real final event of the Reindeer Games
was on. A small crowd cheered him on as
he tried flavor after flavor, mastering grass clippings and ear wax with little
difficulty. But the real test was just
ahead. Finally one of those
innocent-looking yellowish colored beans fell into his hand. And he somewhat cautiously popped it into his
mouth. And the truly terrible taste
sensation began. His face
contorted. He chewed slower. He confessed later that he threw up in his
mouth just a little bit. But he got it
down. Ed was officially inducted into the
jelly bean hall of fame. He downed and
kept down a rotten egg flavored jelly bean.
Being the imminently helpful pastor that I am, I handed him another bean
to help get the taste out of his mouth. For
future reference, black pepper doesn’t work particularly well in conjunction
with a rotten egg. At least not in Ed’s mouth. Or his stomach, as we found out later in the
evening when we found him sprawled out on the couch. I offered him one more for the road, but that
didn’t go over well at all. That’s OK,
Ed. Hold on to your glory. You accomplished something worthwhile last
night. Just remember, Jim spit his
rotten egg into his cup of coke and threw the whole thing into the
garbage. But not you. Oh, no.
You did it. You are a Post-Reindeer
Games Games winner. Can I have your
autograph?
Ephesians
6:10 says, “Finally, be strong in the
Lord and in his mighty power.”
Father,
thank you for fun amidst friends who trust each other enough to be just a little
bit silly. Amen.
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