The abortion mill in Bellevue was closed this morning so Val, Ruth, Bill, Quint, Larry and I were given a wonderful Christmas present. We stayed on the street for 45 minutes to make sure the place wasn't open for abortions before heading out to get a cup of something hot. We talked of Christmas, literature, and various things relating to the Faith -- it was a nice start to Christmas week.Claire wasn't with us this morning. She is still struggling with a bad cough (bad enough to keep her up Saturday night and out of church Sunday morning) but yet she was busy too. The overdue LifeSharer letter (the monthly letter I write for Vital Signs Ministries) was given a final proofread early this morning and so she was out at 8 o'clock to get it printed and collated. As I blog a bit right now, she's upstairs folding and stuffing envelopes. I'll join her in a few minutes and we'll try to get it done by 5 o'clock. That's when the local branch of the Post Office closes.
But before that task can be finished, a couple of others are ahead. We have another Christmas dinner party tonight to prepare for (6 guests) and another presentation of "When Swing Was King" this afternoon at Skyline nursing home. Will we get it all done? Stay tuned tomorrow and I'll let you know.
But one more thing before I start licking stamps upstairs -- I wanted to make a short comment about yesterday when Christmas week really started. As I mentioned, Claire was sick so I drove to church by myself. I preached an unusual sermon yesterday, one that took a historical survey of Christmas. So although we started in Luke 2, I also told Christmas-themed stories about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Edith Schaeffer, George Washington, Clara Barton, William Booth, and the great Welsh preacher Christmas Evans. I also shared a couple of personal memories: one about a Christmas in my childhood and another about the Christmas I met Claire. I finished up with some comments about Christmas II -- the great day when Jesus returns to earth.
But after church is what most stirred me. I went over to Mom's. She had been up for breakfast and lunch so she was dressed but she had crawled back into bed. She was terribly sleepy but I held her hand and talked anyway as she dozed, responded occasionally and dozed again. However, she was wide awake when members of Faith Bible Church showed up to sing Christmas carols in the halls there at the nursing home -- and right there in her room! She absolutely loved it. The gang sang several songs for her and sounded great doing so. We were both touched. This is such an incredible group of people!
So my thanks to you all for coming and giving Mom (and me!) such a terrific present. You'll never know how much that meant to us.
