Christmas Eve at Weddington Church

Christmas Eve may be my favorite night of the year.   My parents and grandparents always made it so memorable. We had many family traditions on this night growing up in Indiana. December in Indiana was always cold and it just “felt” like Christmas.   We would drive over to Nana and PopPop’s house and my brother and I would search the skies out of the car windows, certain we would spot Santa and his sleigh. When we arrived, all fun family chaos would break loose with cousins, aunts and uncles, and close family friends.  Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best; this was a special night, a holy night.

Nana had certain dishes she always prepared, and PopPop scooped out homemade eggnog, a family specialty still to this day.  Inevitably, at quite the remarkable moment, we would all hear it….Santa’s reindeer and sleighbells on the roof!  Honestly, it happened every year (thank you PopPop), and we knew that was our signal! All of the kids would race to the basement to see what Santa had left for each of us.   I can’t remember a lot these days, but I recall those nights as if they were last week. They are forever imprinted into memory.

Then, after all of the feasting, laughing and opening of gifts, we would climb into Uncle Karl’s van and head to Bethlehem Lutheran Church for the Christmas Eve service.  I think it was usually 11:00 or even the midnight service….and typically the temp was in the teens by this time of night!   I can still feel the cold and the anticipation….and the knowing that this was somehow a sacred night.

When I think back now about all of this, I am so thankful that my parents, aunt and uncle, and grandparents created this magical family night for all of us.  I’m most thankful that in the midst of it all, I still remember Christ being the focus.

Was it convenient to plan the meals and gift-giving around attending church?  Was it easy to keep us all awake and load us into the van, late on those cold winter nights?  Were we tired?  Would it have been easier to just relax and all head home instead of going to church?

You get it….it took effort and intention!  Most worthy things do. 

As Christians, we know that CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT JESUS!  And yet, we can so easily leave Him out and focus on all the other STUFF.

As we Book Time with Our Kids this Christmas, let’s read them the real Christmas story.  Let’s make it a priority to worship together as a family.  Let’s plan meals and gift exchanges around church services…not the other way around.  Weddington has  services at 11:00am, 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm and 11:00 pm!  Wow, no excuses, right?  By making worship a priority and by gathering together as the body of Christ, we are teaching our littles that this is important, significant, worthy of our time.  Celebrating and honoring the birth of the Savior is worthy of our time.   

Singing SILENT NIGHT together, holding up our candles, often a cappella, and celebrating the birth of Christ….well, that might just be the best moment of this favorite night.  Now, I’m the “Nana”, and I know what my most important job is this Christmas…..and it’s all about Jesus.

Silent Night, For King and Country

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