Admittedly, I'm slow to get in the groove at Christmastime. I'm not into the carols and all that, but I have a good and valid reason. My early life was like living in a Christmas snow-globe, seriously. Posing for plywood cut-outs of Dickens characters, standing atop rickety ladders as my father vied for another first-place ribbon in the neighborhood Christmas lights contest, and during one three-year stretch, doing nearly a thousand performances of a Christmas Vaudeville Olio replete with every carol ever written. So, I've bestowed upon myself the right to gag when Bing Crosby comes on the radio.
But I have to tell you...I am actually pretty excited about Christmas this year. For the first time in a decade, I welcomed the Fall weather, rather than bemoaning the demise of Summer and her long days and warm nights. Maybe it was the late Summer trip to Mentone, maybe the October trip to New Hampshire, but whatever the catalyst, I sold out to the idea of sweater-weather and apple cider.
October gave way to November, and the shock waves from an explosion of true community generosity overtook us all during Thanksgiving. And the ripples continue as we turn the corner to Christmas. Santa for Seniors, Christmas Stocking for Neighborhood Kids, the church's overwhelmingly positive response to our first monthly Benevolence Offering. All of these things are working together pointing all of us to Christ. And it's changing me. So folks (.....drum roll please.....) I am officially READY for Christmas. The cat has hit the wall. It's time. I'm in. Note: to fully appreciate the significance of the cat comment, refer to the video below from last year:
Cat-tastrophe! from Gene Oden on Vimeo.
ditto!
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