Corey and I had a wonderful first Christmas together as a married couple! It was tiring though! On Christmas Eve, we had 2 services at church- one at 7:00 and one at 11:00. I was really excited to be on the other side of a Christmas Eve service after attending them for several years- I was actually going to be one of the pastors involved! And it was everything I hoped it would be. And the really cool part was that I got to sing "Mary Did You Know?" at both services and had a great time doing it, even though I messed up the words during the second service in one part! Oh well. In between services, we went to an open house at some members' condo and had some good things to eat before returning to church for round two. I just love Christmas Eve candlelight services, and it's even more amazing as a pastor. There is just a special feeling in the sanctuary- it's not just routine for some people like Sunday services are- I got the sense that every person truly wanted to be there to welcome Christ into the world once again and to celebrate this amazing time of the year. Even people that do not usually attend church want to be a part of the mystery that is Christmas and to experience the feeling of awe when "Silent Night" is sung and the candles are lit. This is a picture of Corey and I in front of the altar. It was really a great night!
But that didn't mean that we got any sleep! We had to get up really early on Christmas morning to drive to Knoxville in time to have lunch/dinner with my family. It was great to see everyone, especially my sister and my two grandmothers who I haven't seen since the wedding. My parents' new home was really nice, and I actually didn't get sad at all at the fact that we were not in the old house. My family was there and that was all that really mattered. The house is really cute and cozy, and it felt like home from the start. Even Kole seemed at home, although he and Moose (my parents' Italian Greyhound) took awhile to warm up to one another :) My sister's dog was there, too (a chihuahua), so there was never a dull moment with the 3 dogs running around! That night, we went to see Marley and Me...a piece of advice- take a box of tissues if you go see it!
On Saturday we headed up to Frankfort to see Corey's family. They had a nice lunch prepared for us and we opened gifts- they definitely spoiled us! His parents completed my set of pearls with a pair of earrings, which I had really been wanting- so I was very excited. I also got some Veras :) Then we headed back to Terre Haute where we hit REALLY hard rain about 30 miles away. It was scary, but we made it home ok. Weather has been crazy here lately.
On another note- Corey and I checked out a "mega church" here in town last night. I went to get an idea of how they do contemporary worship. This was one of these non-denom churches that have the stadium seating, etc. where you feel like the whole thing is a production. The sermon was 45 minutes long, followed by 30 minutes of music and prayer time, and someone was also baptized in the middle of all this. It was interesting...VERY different (obviously) than the UMC. I'm glad we went though because the music was very good, and I'm actually planning to meet with the leader of the band in the next week or two to pick his brain about how they go about planning, picking music, and running the band. I think I will have a lot to learn!
2008 has been a year of life-changing events...let's hope 2009 will be a little more low key :)
See you next year...
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