Christmas DAy One was splendid. It turned out we only had 16 present instead of the 19 we were ready for. Members of the company represented 3 countries, 4 generations but all 1 "forever family" in Christ. The menu included baked ham with sweet & sour apricot sauce, fried chicken, broiled Parmesan potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, rolls, lime whip, pumpkin pie, Napoleon torte, Christmas cookies, lemonade, tea and coffee.
We had great conversation over dinner and coffee; then music; then more conversation. It was a sweet, precious time.
Next up was a Christmas evening visit to my Mom. She was sitting up and feeling much better than in recent days which was terrific. We cleaned up her room a bit, gave her some of her presents, and had a wonderful time of talking, joking, and sharing memories.
The day concluded with a late supper at home and a Christmas movie. I then sent Claire to bed while I worked on my sermon for the next day. It was a most memorable and marvelous Christmas Day One.
Christmas Day Two was spent at church and over at Mom's. Christmas Day Three started off early with sidewalk counseling at the Bellevue abortion clinic -- terribly cold, sad duty. Christmas Day Four saw blogging, Vital Signs end-of-year bookwork, work on the 6th edition of "When Swing Was King" and the next in our series of Christmas dinner parties. This one was fairly simple -- just 6 guests. But the conversation was rich and delightful.
And today? We've got a pretty normal work schedule with a visit to Mom's thrown in -- and a special "Santa run" set for tonight where we'll take the party (complete with goodies and a couple of friends) to an older saint who doesn't get around too much anymore. It'll be nice to visit with her again.
So Christmas continues.
And, in case you missed them, here's a couple of Christmas-oriented downloads we've offered in the last few days:
* "The Magic Lantern Christmas"
* "Christmas of the Talking Animals"
