The Mystery of the Manger

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season also comes the respite of the kids' many Christmas programs and concerts. Alex started it off on Thursday night with a high school and band concert....what was so neat, is that in our PUBLIC school, most of the selections played were traditional Christian carols: "Away in a Manger", "What child is This?", etc. This happens time and time again in our school district. Just yesterday, the kids brought home a letter from the elementary school asking for prayers for a teacher who just lost her husband. Honestly, sometimes this public school district seems more like a private Christian school than did the private school we were sending our kids to in the cities! We love our school district!

Today, Jonny, Melissa, and Crispy participated in the children's Christmas program at our church. There were more than 200 kids in the show....it was quite an impressive turnout. These kids have been practicing every Sunday since September, with extra rehearsals last week (sometimes 3 hours long!)and the result was fabulous. Jonny and Crispy each had a small speaking part, and Melissa was part of a dance routine. It is such a great way to start the season's festivities and to keep the meaning of Christmas in perspective. Listening to the children sing about the gospels and reciting verses into the microphone was truly priceless. I sometimes felt as if we were in the middle of a Charlie Brown Christmas special with how sweet their voices sounded. Our church takes ministry very seriously and the gifted people who volunteer their time to make it happen dedicate countless hours to the cause. The result is always fantastic, accurate, worshipful, and moving. Even with the memorized songs of the Christmas program still floating in their heads, the kids are already so excited to start up practicing for the Easter program after the beginning of the new year. We love our church!

After the program, we had dinner and poker at our house with everyone who trudged all the way out in the cold. Thank you Grandma & Grandpa, Grandma & Lyle, Uncle Billy & Aunt Sharon, and Dave, Carly, & Ryan!! The kids were so excited to share their story with you....it meant so much to them to have you there. And we had such a fun night hanging out with everyone in the glow of the fireplace amongst the din of "Check, bet, or fold" and "All in!". We love our family!!!