It’s all over now, or is it?
Well the hype, present buying, eating, drinking, buying and giving presents and the discussion about retail sales and footfall and in no time it’ll be Valentine’s Day and then Easter eggs.
But at Bethany our Christmas will last much longer, we have so many wonderful memories to hold onto. Memories of our Christmas tree dressing Sunday, a full Church with a congregation who were there to remember the birth of our Lord Jesus. To dress the tree with gifts for the shoeboxes for International Aid provided by everyone there including the Guides, Brownies and Rainbows. How wonderful it was to see and be a part of.
Then there was our Carol Service, a good congregation that provides hope for the future of our fellowship and the spreading of our message of the Love of our Father God and his most precious gift of all. There was even entertainment from the fantastic Izzy who’s just 6 and played the carol, ‘We three kings’ so expertly on the keyboard. Then Jane Good provided a highly professional performance of a carol scored by Ken Gange. In contrast a hastily put together Bethany quartet provided two new carols and one old carol to a new tune. Thanks to Chris who did all of the work arranging the carols and for the encouragement to one of the quartet who appeared to be in a bit of a dream at one point (no names mentioned).
And who could forget our Christmas morning service with the biggest congregation for many a year. Izzy and Finley making guest appearances and providing the adults with some needed encouragement to take part in the ‘what present did they have for Christmas’ spot.
Then there was the appearance of an ‘earth’ angel at the Tuesday morning ‘Drop In’. Who would have expected an angel of any sort to arrive on a mobility scooter, certainly nobody who was sitting enjoying their bacon sandwich, toasted tea cake or hot drink. But the shear delight of everyone there that Tuesday morning will be remembered throughout the year, if only to wonder if there will be a further appearance in 2023?
So when we look back at Christmas 2022 what will we remember. I’m sure it won’t be what we did or didn’t give or receive, it will be the magical moments of fellowship we shared during our celebration of the birth of a Baby born in a stable that changed the World.