This Christmas was like last Christmas: good. Even with Ted/Karin and family's escapade to Asuncion, the rest of us here in the wetlands had a festive time with family. I stayed the night at my parents' place. Here's how I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve:
* 6:30pm - went to my parents' church for a children's program. It was a good program, a typical North American "musical performance" that had a lot of props and lights and even video streaming, but not too much of a theological backbone. The kids, however, were super excited and enthused about the program, and that was great to see.
* 8pm - dinner at mom and dad's. Heinz, Melanie and family came also. Great dinner, great conversation. Thank you Lord for the blessing of family.
* 11:30pm - midnight mass at Westminster Abbey in Mission. Beautiful, as last year. The sermon was on John 1:1: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...
Christmas Day:
* 9:30am - I went to a church service at St. Matthew's Anglican Church in Abbotsford. It's a small church, but it was a great service. The officiating pastor had such a gentle yet genuine demeanour it was inspiring. I could tell he really loved the Lord and the people he was shepherding. I'm more and more convinced that the perfect church is one that has under 100 parishioners. That's the magic number, because once you have more than 100, it gets big and impersonal.
* 1pm - lunch with the whole family-gang again. Same as last night: good people, good conversation, and good food.
* 6pm - played Rook with dad, Heinz, Terence, and Tanis.
My only complaint is that we still exchange too many presents. No matter how much family members agree that "this year we'll only buy 1 present per person", the resolve is weak and without integrity. The result: everyone gets 5 presents, and those people who only buy 1 present (as agreed to previously) look like stingy idiots.
I arrived back at home in Vancouver around 11pm.
Christmas Eve:
* 6:30pm - went to my parents' church for a children's program. It was a good program, a typical North American "musical performance" that had a lot of props and lights and even video streaming, but not too much of a theological backbone. The kids, however, were super excited and enthused about the program, and that was great to see.
* 8pm - dinner at mom and dad's. Heinz, Melanie and family came also. Great dinner, great conversation. Thank you Lord for the blessing of family.
* 11:30pm - midnight mass at Westminster Abbey in Mission. Beautiful, as last year. The sermon was on John 1:1: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...
Christmas Day:
* 9:30am - I went to a church service at St. Matthew's Anglican Church in Abbotsford. It's a small church, but it was a great service. The officiating pastor had such a gentle yet genuine demeanour it was inspiring. I could tell he really loved the Lord and the people he was shepherding. I'm more and more convinced that the perfect church is one that has under 100 parishioners. That's the magic number, because once you have more than 100, it gets big and impersonal.
* 1pm - lunch with the whole family-gang again. Same as last night: good people, good conversation, and good food.
* 6pm - played Rook with dad, Heinz, Terence, and Tanis.
My only complaint is that we still exchange too many presents. No matter how much family members agree that "this year we'll only buy 1 present per person", the resolve is weak and without integrity. The result: everyone gets 5 presents, and those people who only buy 1 present (as agreed to previously) look like stingy idiots.
I arrived back at home in Vancouver around 11pm.
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