Belated Christmas Wishes!


MnM hopes and prays that ya'll had a blessed and wonderful Christmas!


On Christmas Eve, hubby and I had to find a church to attend 'cuz the church we currently go to didn't have a service. No service on Christmas Eve? That just sounds wrong, doesn't it? I mean, even if there are hella peoples who are only "C and E" attendees (Christmas and Easter), going to church on Christmas is just the thing to do...in my book anyways. So we find one through the newspaper listings called Wooddale Church. First of all, this is one HUGE ass church! Growing up, I've always been used to big, Catholic churches anyways. Coming to Minnesota, I've had to adjust to a much smaller scale church community. I'm not quite sure which I prefer yet, big or small. In big churches, I like the fact that you're just surrounded with a whole bunch of people getting their praise on and such. The downside is that you're just a number. Sure you know people, but in most cases, there are so many that you'll never really get to know-know personally. On the other hand in smaller churches, everyone knows everyone and that in itself can either be a good thing or a bad thing...depends on which way you look at it.


Anyways, I really enjoyed going to this service. They had a full orchestra for what I thought was only for this Christmas occasion, but in actuality, this ensemble plays each Sunday. How totally cool was that? I don't know about ya'll, but I personally dig hearing all the instruments meshing into that one beautiful sound. I'm totally mesmerized by all the instruments, especially the violins. One of my favorite moments is when they all start tuning their instruments. I don't what know it is about it. Technically, it's like a singer clearing her throat before she starts belting out. Even though they're not playing anything specific as they're tuning their respective instruments, it still sounds pretty. In any case, because of how the church was set up, it somewhat felt like we were at a concert instead of a church service. The music totally added to the already Christmas feeling in the air and made for a satisfying spiritual experience.


Compared to a Catholic Mass, Christian services don't have the regular 1st and 2nd readings followed by a Gospel. Usually, we have a praise & worship section and the pastor will deliver a message. In this service, they had what was called a Dramatic Reading. While the orchestra played on, a lady with a headset walked out and in a voice that just wills you to listen, began to tell the story of Christ's birth. Perhaps because it was the way she recounted the story, perhaps it was the accompanying music that made it seem as if the story was happening before our very eyes, perhaps it was a combination of both, and even still, perhaps it was the depth of the story knowing how it all ends in His death on a cross for us...whatever it was, I was teary-eyed at the end. I've heard the story hundreds and hundreds of times, but never like this. 'Twas just beautiful. Simply beautiful.


As the service ended, hubby and I walked out to a winter wonderland. Though it had started snowing as we arrived at the church, we found ourselves in awe at the beauty of the night. How appropriate that Minnesota should have the first snowfall on Christmas Eve! Hubby and I stood in the parking lot for a few minutes, relishing the falling snowflakes as it hit our cold cheeks. It looked like falling cotton from the sky. In my eyes, the snow was symbolic of so many things- among them being God's love pouring down on us from above and also, just a sign of renewal and fresh starts. Even though it was my first Christmas away from home, being with hubby on this Christmas Eve turned out just perfect.