I have a lot to say tonight and a lot of time to do it since Jack is laid out sick & Jami is at work.(THANK YOU LORD for overtime) Let me first tell you how I decided on Hark the Herald Angel for the children’s Christmas musical. I browsed Christmas musicals over and over & kept coming back to hark. I envisioned the children as angels in a choir. This musical was kind of old so it wasn’t set up for me to listen to any sample songs on line. Not wanting to order without listening I kept searching & kept being pulled back to hark. Then at church several Sundays ago, Ashley asked me what I was going to do. She said, without me mentioning my thoughts, that she thought about the kids being in an angel choir. BAM… there it was, what I thought was a sign from God. 2 people thinking of angels & I kept going back to the angel musical. So without hesitation I ordered the music even though I had never heard a song. I anxiously waited for the music. We should have begun practice last week. No music. I waited every day this past week. Finally, it came Friday. I ripped open the package, put that baby in the CD player & about threw up! Soooo not what I had envisioned. I sent Ashley a text & told her it was horrible. Yesterday I was telling Jami about how bad it was & I was going to have to take the story and use it but put other music with it & he asked to hear it. He had the same response. He laughed and wanted to know what possessed me to order a musical without hearing the music first. I blamed it on Ashley’s vision! Haha Today I get to children’s church prepared to let Ashley hear it, let her gag, and then us try to figure something out. After hearing those children sings the 1st 2 songs I think we are going with it. It sounded much better with our kids verses the high pitched singers on the cd. Ashley had a different perspective than me so I am going with my original feeling that Hark was meant for us. If they musical is really bad I’ll blame it on Ashley!!! Lol Just Kidding! I know it will be good!
So you parents know what to expect, everybody’s child is an angel. Some of the kids are nativity people also. (Requires costume change) Some have lines, some do not. I try to use the oldest kids first because they have less time left in the children’s dept. and work my way down by grades. I will be ordering costumes by Friday. You will probably get a text from me this week with me asking if this size is correct. Again, I need to stress practices. We are getting late start & the musical is 1 month from today. As this gets closer I will need some volunteers for different things and items. I know I’ll need help decorating because it will have to be done the day of the musical after church. I am in need of white sheets, white lights & tall columns. If you think you would like to help with the decorating part please let me know & we can get a group together to brain storm ideas. I’ll need some moms to help with quick costume changes too. After the musical I would like to have desserts & drinks for the children, families & visitors. Just a quick time to socialize. I’ need a volunteer to organize that. More will come on the musical so I’ll get to the other kids stuff.
Saturday, December 14, 9 am will be the Breakfast with Santa. This is completely free but this year you will need a ticket to attend because we are growing so that I need away to know how many people to cook for. Trying to get pictures with Santa was chaotic last yr. due to so many people in the gym. This year you’ll be called to go up by the number on your ticket. If somebody can think of a better solution please let me know. You might have attended one at another church that handled that problem better. I am always up to hearing ways to improve an outreach. I could use some cooks to come in very early in the morning & help me cook pancakes, bacon & sausage.
We will also have a children’s Christmas party but I don’t have date yet for that. I know all your schedules are filling up like mine so as soon as I figure that out I will let you know; might be easier to just do it on a Wednesday night.
Every year I schedule the children’s dept. to ring the Salvation Army bell at the mall. This has grown from just children to anyone who would like to participate. This year we are set to do that Monday December 23. The hours will be 10-8. Let me know if your family would like to work an hour shift. I also like to go caroling to our church elders but let’s get thru November & then I’ll try to figure out a date on that! Whew!! Are yall already tired? I am! I know we are all swamped this time of the year but I just try to focus on every event, every outreach our church does as an opportunity to reach someone who might not know Jesus. I told my children this morning that I know practicing for the musical is not that much fun but them being in a musical draws family & friends in to see them & that just might be the way the seed gets planted. Something as simple & worldly as a Santa breakfast might bring someone in with their child because it is free & they want their kid to see Santa. Along with Santa they will find a church full of welcoming, friendly faces, hospitality that nobody can beat, full tummies and hopefully they will feel comfortable enough to come visit us on a regular Sunday. Christmas carolers might be what a lonely elder needs to bring them a moment of happiness. So as you are tired, as you are saying can Kristi really schedule one more event, think of it as an opportunity to bring happiness to others, to invite someone to church, to help plant the seed of Jesus & to share the miraculous birth story! I know our world wants us to focus on gifts, the decorating & the feel like I got to buy it all for my kids but take time to reflect and remember who this holiday is all about. Make sure your children know who it is all about. Presents are great, believe me I love presents, but there is nothing more important that knowing Jesus. I know I said this was long & yes I probably left something out. Be in prayer for all our events. We want to reach others! For those of you who have served this great country, THANK YOU and enjoy your day tomorrow!
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