I musn’t forget to say thank you to my Secret Santa. I don’t know who you are but you certainly helped to make my Christmas a little more wonderful. Thanks ever so much.
Merry Christmas.
I’ve had about 5 hours sleep and I probably won’t get to bed until late tonight. Mmmm.
It was made all worth it though to see Emily and James open their gifts this morning. They opened a number of parcels and were absolutely over the moon with their gifts – and then there was a ring on the doorbell. We got new bikes for the kids and I popped them by the front door before hitting the bell and running back in through the back door. They were gobsmacked.
Afterwards I was saying to Emily how wonderful it was that they were happy with the smaller parcels, thinking that was it for them, and then they got the biggest gift of all, their bikes. In true Emily style she said, “But the best gift of all is a family hug.” So we all got together for a big squeeze.
I have been really surprised at how little the kids have bought into the ‘give me give me’ mentality of Christmas. Even when people have asked them what they will get for Christmas they’ve shrugged their shoulders and said, “I don’t know.” They are very happy kids. They are very beautiful kids. I am biased. 🙂
I like what the Catholic Archbishop of Western Australia has to say most of the time. I reckon he’s one of the good guys when it comes to making public statements on matters of faith.
In this morning’s West Australian newspaper he has an ad that promotes the church and the true menaing of Christmas. Great message but I was a little bemused to see that almost half the ad is a taken up by a picture of the Cathedral in Perth. Surely after 2000 years we have something better than the front of a building to symbolise our faith. Maybe they didn’t want to go with all the cliched Christmas type pics but I reckon they could have found something a little less cold. Even if the pic of the Cathedral had people in front of it welcoming others.
For several days my Recent Listening list has read:
Abba Gold – Abba
Martinis and Bikinis – Sam Philips
Hillbilly Deluxe – Dwight Yoakam
Dig – Adam Again
A Very Ally Christmas – Vonda Shepard
A Christmas Song – Russ Taff
I Wish You a Merry Christmas – Bing Crosby
A very strange list indeed. I need to put something else into the CD player very soon. There are a few Christmas CDs there along with some Abba. I can’t stand country music but the guy with the most country sound of all, Dwight Yoakam, is in there too. I don’t know what it is with Dwight but I just love his stuff.
The only CDs I can be really proud of in that list are Dig by Adam Again and Martinis and Bikinis by Sam Philips. I’ve got to get the CD player cranked up really soon.
I went to the city on Friday night armed with video camera. A friend and I got reactions from a number of people on their thoughts about Christmas.
It’s now professionally edited down to a 6 minute DVD we’ll show as part of our Christmas service on Thursday.
Some great comments. One guy, with a great sense of humour and a deadpan delivery, told us that he was eating up big to get into training for Christmas Day. He said, “You’ve got to know when to push, when to hold back, when to take on fluids.” He went on to explain that the fluids help to avoid dehydration and to lubricate the aesophegus. His preferred lubricant for Christmas Day is beer.
A group of three young people told us that Christmas is the same as Easter – only with chocolate. They also showed us that they had purchased a “Black Super Jesus Action Figure” at a hippie shop in Fremantle.
A young guy in a santa suit rtied to tell us that Christmas was all about free giveaways from the Vodaphone Shop. He tried to lure us into the store with a hearty Ho Ho Ho.
We even met a guy who explained how to get a free coffee at McDonalds. You simply wait until someone else finishes their cup and walks off. You then go and get the free refill, thus saving yourself $1.50.
We also had a couple of people who gave the ‘correct’ answers. We were told that “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” I don’t know that he’d be too keen on claiming all that goes on in his name but it’s good to at least a couple of people with something Christian to say.
It’s very late notice but if you’re in the Perth area and want a dub of the DVD to show on Thursday, email me pronto and I’ll arrange it. It will be used as a springboard for the pastor’s sermon in our case but you may like to use it to add some humour and to provoke a few thoughts as part of your service.