Rejoice Rejoice

Everyone's home for Christmas. It has been chaos, with all the treat making, people randomly freaking out, pulling down all the old ornaments from the attic and placing them haphazardly on the tree, wrapping presents, listening to littlest sister sing carols at 3 octaves above normal human range, etc, etc.

Sometimes it makes my mom frazzled, and sometimes I eat fudge for both breakfast and lunch (okay who are we kidding... dinner too). Sometimes Beth has to go into her room to escape it all and to brood, and E and I have to go in and dance interpretively to her rock opera (rock + opera = ropera). Sometimes my brother has to sleep on the sofa and I on a camping mat on the floor because his bed is covered in "storage" and mine has no mattress. But if you asked, I'd have to say it really is fantastic to have everyone together.

My parents and youngest sister have been singing in an ecumenical Christmas choir with a nearby Catholic church, so after my cousin's Christmas Eve party, we popped in for a dose of mass.

The choir put forth a solid performance. The priest gave a sermon about (what else) the meaning of Christmas. If such a great gift has been given us, what can we possibly do in return? We can give our hearts in gratitude; we can give our love in service to others. The funny thing (which my little bro pointed out): we heard almost the exact same message at our own church service Sunday. As I listened to the choir's music and the words of the kind, honest priest, a beautiful idea washed over me. Now is a time when we can celebrate together with Christians anywhere and that the message will be the same... a message of peace, of love, and of joy!

And so, I will leave you with this little ghost from Christmas past. I mean seriously, what evokes the Christmas spirit more than a slightly hungover three-year-old, struggling to make it through church?