I'm beginning to dislike December

Insane barely describes the past three weeks.

For starters, Amy and Michael were in a school play. It was a dinner theater. I signed up to help with clean-up two of the three nights. I was already busy with the extra rehearsals and finding last-minute costume pieces when I was informed I was the person in charge of the dinner. I found this out two days (yes, you read that correctly: TWO DAYS) before the performances. The Lord was gracious and kind to me because the manager of the local Steak and Shake offered to not only donate but also cook the hamburgers for the dinner. I can never thank Marie enough for even thinking to call and ask for the donation. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to cook nearly 100 hamburgers per night for three nights… it literally hurts to even think of it.

The day after the final play performance, Sean and Amy were singing at church for the Walk through Bethlehem. The church had set up several stations in the woods behind the building, each one depicting different aspects of the story of Jesus’ birth.

As Sean, Amy and the rest of the choir were getting ready to sing, Mom, Dad, Michael and I went on the walk. It was really cold. Really. Cold. And they had llamas in the roles of camels. We joked that they must have been reading from a different translation. (Christian humor. Don’t you love it?)

My Mom and I were joking as we walked from station to station, but Rebecca was paying very close attention. At the end, the narrator told the walkers that God sent Jesus to make a way for us to be forever friends with Him. She said a prayer that you could repeat after her; it was inviting God to be your forever friend. I have been in the church all my life, and thankfully, prayed that prayer when I was 13, so I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the narrator. I was way more concerned with keeping my feet warm. But Rebecca was listening and later that night she said she’d prayed with the lady who led our group. She whispered in my ear, “I asked God to be my forever friend.” It was a thrilling moment. I am still thrilled!

The next day was Sunday. Sean, Rebecca and Amy had to be at church at 7 am to sing at all three services. Sean was playing the piano for the whole service, not just the children’s choir. It was really good music and I know he enjoyed being able to play.

After the second service, Mom, Dad, Michael and I headed to the airport. Dad was flying back to Atlanta, but Mom was staying for the week to help me get ready for Sean’s office party. Oh, my, what an adventure. More to come on that.

But the next day was Rebecca’s Christmas Concert at school. The choir teacher dressed them as angles, which bothered Rebecca tremendously. Not the angel part; that she liked. She didn’t like having to wear gold choir robes. “Angels are white. They wear WHITE!” But she got to spray glitter in her hair, so that made up for a lot of the gold angst.

She had her own “solo." She said the words, “John 3:16” and a fellow classmate recited the verse. She was so excited about it!

After her performance, we headed home and got into full party-planning mode. I've never had a party for Sean's department before. Now I know why. And as I said above, more on that later.