Christmas Celebrations
From Intern Beth…
I pray that you all have been keeping warm this winter season, that you had a very merry Christmas, and that the new year brings new hopes and renewed energy for you. I wanted to start this month by saying thank you to all who contributed to, volunteered at, and attended the Saint Nicholas Festival. The turnout was more than I expected and brought about lots of joy and holiday spirit! I encourage us all step into being like Saint Nicholas and do an act of kindness for someone this Christmas season.
Thinking back over all of the buzz and excitement of the holiday season, I surely got to experience lots of new celebrations and traditions this year. From the Jackson county Christmas trees display, to driving through Columbus Country Christmas, to helping to decorate the church, to walking downtown Madison and Nashville for Christmas shopping, to joining a couple of you for family Christmas celebrations, and attending the Caramel Christkindlmarkt.
Driving through downtown Caramel, as the sun was slowly setting, we made a turn and suddenly there was this beautiful display of lights all glowing bright in the darkness. As we then walked through the market I found myself surrounded by the scents of traditional German street market foods, admiring all of the intricate craftsmanship of the ornaments and pyramids, and warming myself up sipping on warm cider. Most of their ornaments displayed manger scenes, many contained advent wreaths, and some depicted stories of Christmas carols or traditional Christmas legends. Stand after stand contained little pieces of traditions that all worked together to tell the whole Christmas story. Seeing the love and patience and work that went into the telling of the Christmas story allowed me to reflect on the ways that we experience Christ in our lives outside of the church. While at the church we laughed together watching the children’s program and then sang together in the chapel on Christmas eve, I am sure may of us also had many times throughout the season when we felt Christ in our lives beyond the walls of the church. Maybe at the school Christmas concert where you got to see your kids celebrating Christmas with their friends, maybe it was while driving around seeing all the Christmas lights and decorations that other put to light up the nights, it could have been in the family laughter and joy as they gathered around the tree to open gifts, or maybe it was in your Christmas shopping walking through different markets. Wherever you were able to feel God at work in your life as you waited for the birth of Christ, I invite us all in this Christmas season and new church year to continue finding the ways Christ is active in our lives.