December 24 – “Love amongst the Grinch-dom”

I went to the donut shop yesterday to order donuts for Seasiders to give away after our evening Christmas Eve service.  Sounds kind of funny to say Evening Christmas Eve, but with it being a Sunday we have two services today.  The donut shop folks recognized me and even remembered my order from last year.  Well, and the year before that.  And the year before that.  They even gave me a ten percent discount.  I do have to pick them up this morning, though.  The store closes at noon for the holiday, and I might not be able to get there in time.  I also need this afternoon to stick on the message from Seaside acknowledging the sacrifice they are making by working on the holiday and wishing them a Merry Christmas.

I also had to make an Office Depot run.  I didn’t have any more of the full-page label paper for the donut boxes.  Now that was an interesting trip.  There were only two people working in the entire store.  I stood in line for quite a while, but everyone seemed to be staying relatively calm and jovial.  The workers told me they had seen a few Grinches during their short-handed shift, but for the most part everyone had been understanding.  It was great to see some love amongst the Grinch-dom.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Chris worked hard on finishing up last-minute gifts.  A little sewing here, a little wiring there, and she was finally finished.  Well, not with everything.  She still had some baking stuff going on.  The house smelled angelic again as she made some more bread.  Oh and she also managed a little bit of divinity.  Jachin got the entire last batch for his birthday (well, except for the one he shared with me). 

When I wasn’t working on the sermon or making copies of the Christmas Eve bulletin, we watched some Hallmark movies.  Wait … or were they Lifetime?  I forget.  Then came The Wizard of Oz.  Yep. Watched it.  Again.  Well, there was a period of time when it was muted while we FaceTimed with Josh and his family as they decorated Christmas cookies for Santa.  And not just for Santa.  AnnaGrace was chomping on one already, and Luke was masterfully mixing a bite of an apple here and a sprinkle of sprinkles there.  The most impressive part of his performance was that he never touched the apple with his hands.  It rested on the table in front of him.  Come on … his hands were full with important stuff, like the aforementioned sprinkles … and icing.  Can’t forget the icing …

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says, “Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.

Father, thank you for Christmas cookies and divinity and the smell of bread cooking and donut shop friends and understanding office supplies shoppers.  Amen.