Each year Madison makes a chain, link by link, and not quite the kind we see in tales of Mr. Scrooge. This is a paper chain, each link decorated with candy canes and stickers and quite a bit of effort actually. Madison finally finished this, and so we're ready for another December, as each day goes by, the links on the chain are removed one at a time. When all the links are gone, that's when it's Christmas!
It was a Wednesday night service tonight, and Daddy did the message for the auditorium, one with a simple message of worship, and a moment of being still. Some time ago, one of my favorite Christmas memories was coming back from an event at Raggers Retreat, something for the Y-Club kids like myself. There were about seven or eight of us, and we all stopped a moment, just talking and then just singing Christmas carols. I'll never forget the sweet moment, the harmony and sincerity when we sang "Silent Night." To this day I remember that, and thought this service we could do a bit of that, sans the instruments. I hoped to do it without the microphones too, but musicians are funny that way sometimes!
Anyway, the message was about a couple of anniversaries, each related to the overall message in their own way: the first anniversary that is pretty big is of the song itself, "Silent Night." It's two-hundred years old this Christmas Eve, at least in its completed form. The story behind it is interesting, with the church organ not working, and the young priest desperately wanting music for the evening. He wrote a poem a few years prior, and the organist set it to music that could be played with a guitar, and the rest is history.
The other anniversary is younger, but pretty amazing as well. It was the first time humans circled the moon, three Americans on Christmas Eve, fifty years ago this year. They were told they could make some personal remarks, and when it came down to it, the three astronauts weren't quite sure what to say, as it was all rather trite.
I made these two things above for the upcoming Parenting Matters, but also talked about them tonight in service, and it went rather well. Christmas is coming, and it's all good!
It was a Wednesday night service tonight, and Daddy did the message for the auditorium, one with a simple message of worship, and a moment of being still. Some time ago, one of my favorite Christmas memories was coming back from an event at Raggers Retreat, something for the Y-Club kids like myself. There were about seven or eight of us, and we all stopped a moment, just talking and then just singing Christmas carols. I'll never forget the sweet moment, the harmony and sincerity when we sang "Silent Night." To this day I remember that, and thought this service we could do a bit of that, sans the instruments. I hoped to do it without the microphones too, but musicians are funny that way sometimes!
Anyway, the message was about a couple of anniversaries, each related to the overall message in their own way: the first anniversary that is pretty big is of the song itself, "Silent Night." It's two-hundred years old this Christmas Eve, at least in its completed form. The story behind it is interesting, with the church organ not working, and the young priest desperately wanting music for the evening. He wrote a poem a few years prior, and the organist set it to music that could be played with a guitar, and the rest is history.
The other anniversary is younger, but pretty amazing as well. It was the first time humans circled the moon, three Americans on Christmas Eve, fifty years ago this year. They were told they could make some personal remarks, and when it came down to it, the three astronauts weren't quite sure what to say, as it was all rather trite.
I made these two things above for the upcoming Parenting Matters, but also talked about them tonight in service, and it went rather well. Christmas is coming, and it's all good!
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