You would think that after a day of worshiping for almost twelve hours straight that exhaustion would overtake this fifty seven year old body, but instead it invigorates it and makes it crave more!
Yesterday, after morning worship and a wonderful sermon on the joy of being in God's house, we kindergarten Sunday school teachers took all the children to a retirement community to sing three Christmas carols ("Christmas Tells of Jesus," "Away in the Manger," and "Happy Christmas Bells")
and hand out their handmade ornaments as gifts tot he residents there. The joy and excitement on the children's faces poured out onto that community of senior adults and brought a light of hope and expectancy to their eyes as they received their gifts. They smiled, ooed and awed, gave thanks and spoke of the beauty of the gift. I pray the memory sticks with them and with all of us, especially the children and that it places inside each of us the desire to give even more.
Next we met up with a couple (friends of ours and the wife teaches with me in Sunday school) at Subway for a quick lunch where we laughed and shared with our husbands the joys of teaching kindergarten. (Like they don't know how happy it makes us, but it is so FUN to talk about!!)
What a blessing to have such wonderful friends!! Both of us ladies had to return to church quickly, so we parted but met up at church again that evening.
Then came Voices of Christmas rehearsal. Here I personally enjoyed almost four hours of singing, laughing, praying, laughing, talking and laughing some more! However, singing and talking for that long dries the throat and I had a sound check to do for a solo I was supposed to sing in the evening service. That sound check made me nervous! The low notes didn't want to come out!! My friend who accompanied me on piano told me to go rest my voice, so as difficult as it was, I didn't sing during worship. If you know me, you know how hard that was!! When it came time to sing the solo, I still didn't feel ready, so I did what I always do. I told God that it was His song anyway, so do with it as He pleased. I sang and it sounded "okay" to me, but about halfway through the song I felt God's power surge through me and excitement took over. At that moment I wanted to get the world out that the world truly does need to hear us singing and shouting the glories of Christmas and what it is all about!! I smiled as I felt a new boldness and heard the words become strong and sure: "Glory, glory to God! Glory to God in the highest! Peace and goodwill the shepherds heard from the hill, for our blessed Savior has come!!"
And then, to culminate the evening came the sermon. A message on putting away all bitterness,wrath, anger and malice and speaking words of building up instead of tearing down. That is exactly what Jesus came to do - put away all sin out of the picture of our lives and fill us instead with His mercy, grace, forgiveness, compassion and JOY!!" Yes, I came home tired, but exuberant and wanting to do it all over again! It truly IS better to spend one day in the house of the Lord than three years anywhere else!! (Psalm 84:10)
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