The stress of preparation can sour your joy for an event that you anticipated to be filled with excitement and fun. As a child, I couldn’t wait for the Christmas Season to roll around after the Thanksgiving Holiday. I could imagine having a white Christmas, with the freshly fallen snow as I listened to all the Christmas songs on the radio. I knew I wouldn’t get everything on my Christmas list, so I stacked it when all I wanted was a bicycle. Well, I never received a bike until after I got married.
The Christmas Season has been a very stressful time for me. Instead of pausing in life to reflect on God’s gift of redemption to humanity, we are running around decorating and buying things. We go to the storage area to move the boxes stored in the back to pull out the decorations and the artificial Christmas Tree. By the time we complete our to-do list, it’s time for a three-day vacation!
Online shopping has given us some relief from long lines and circling the parking spaces at the Malls. On the other hand, it has not freed us from the occasional things that come up during the week of the celebration. There we are, still looking for a parking space and waiting in long lines because, like other human beings, we forgot to get a few items.
With everything said and done, I do enjoy spending time with family and friends around the dinner table, playing games after dessert. I plan to put all the males under 60 on KP (Kitchen Patrol) after dinner to give the ladies a break before we play our family games.
On another note, our Villages Community Chapel Choir gives a delightful choral and narrative presentation of the Birth of Christ each year. It’s a very inspiring, uplifting, joyful, and well-attended experience for families and their guests. Sunday, December 21st, at 10 a.m., will feature our Annual Christmas Cantata. So, please mark your calendars and be present to join us as we celebrate God’s amazing grace in sending Jesus Christ, His Son, to redeem us.
As always, please join us in celebrating Life at the Villages Community Chapel in the Cribari Auditorium this Sunday at 10 a.m. to be encouraged by the Word of Life and enjoy coffee and cookies with friends. The chapel is a place where needs are met, faith is affirmed, and new friends are made. You can view our worship services on YouTube at www.villagescommunitychapel.vgcc.club