I still cannot get used to flip flops in December, but that is my lot in Florida. I have been out of pocket the last couple of days with a sick child and my day off and so I have been wearing the Florida uniform--shorts and flip flops. Granted, I would rather it be warm like this (in the upper 70s and low 80s) than like those back "home" in North Texas and Oklahoma. I do not want to trade places with those folks.
As you know I have been busily working on all of my Christmastime musical presentations. The choir was done on Sunday evening. My senior ladies choir had two performances this week and both went swimmingly well. They are a lot of fun to work with and we had attentive, interactive audiences for our end of season performances which make the ladies sing all the better. Truth is, we rarely get this type of audience in the places we frequent--nursing homes and retirement centers. My handbell choir gave their final concert this Wednesday evening for our weekly fellowship supper. We scheduled the concert in conjunction with the weekly supper so we could guarantee a good audience and the tactic worked. We had one of the best crowds we have ever had for a handbell concert. The ladies did well and they were very generous with me.
This Sunday, the Choir is having a Christmas luncheon at the yacht club. I was really looking forward to this, but now we have a funeral on Sunday afternoon, so I will not get to go home at all that day. Church for 6 hours, luncheon for another hour or so, a funeral, and then caroling and a chili cook-off. And I thought last Sunday at 13 hours was a long day. I really only have one project left to do for the season and since I am not completely in charge of it, I am not as worried about it as I probably should be.
I am really looking forward to being on hiatus for a little while. It will be nice to see family again, and recover from this season's hullabaloo. I appreciate the idea of resting for a few moments before charging into the new year. This has been a trying last few months, but it is amazing how that when I stop, even for a few moments, I begin to get eager to be busy again. I don't know if this is because I have too much time to stop and reflect on things that I need not worry about or if it is because I truly need to be busy. I really do not know the answer. I am sure that spending Christmas with my three little angels will make all things new again.
One last thought: Has saying "Merry Christmas" become a political thing?
You know, there were 9 members of Congress who voted against officially celebrating Christmas this year, though most of these voted to celebrate Ramadan and other non-Christian holidays. I like being politically correct, but it concerns me when our elected officials continue to disdain the majority of the American populous while catering to a minority opinion. It is perfectly fine to offend a Christian in our country today. Maybe we have allowed things to get to such a point where people outside the Church have no qualms about offending Christians. Or maybe, Christmas has become so commercial, so secular? Maybe the holiday as celebrated today has become so far removed from the true meaning of Christmas, that we are easy targets for this type of discrimination? The one thing that I hate about this is that it seems like people are saying "Merry Christmas" for all the wrong reasons. I am saddened when I feel someone is only telling me this because they feel their rights have been infringed upon, not because they hope my heart is filled with Christ afresh during this season.
Well, I hope your heart is filled anew with the spirit of Christ this Christmas season, that you can sense his presence in a tangible way, that you are able to move past the commercialism of the secular holiday to find Christ afresh. Better yet, "Merry Christmas!"
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