I hope the holiday found you all doing well. It was a wonderful time for me. This year I did not join my dad in pestering mom to open gifts on Christmas Eve as I have in years past. I joined her sentiment and waited until Christmas morning. We celebrated in a more American fashion since we waited to open the gifts and then have a dinner after. Here in Brazil, families will gather on Christmas Eve for a dinner held at midnight. Then if there are any gifts to open, they are opened after the dinner. Most of the shops closed about noon, except for most of the supermarkets. They are last minute shoppers here as well. That half of a day is pretty much all they receive in time off.
Saturday we woke earlier than the rest of the time I have been here. We opened our gifts from each other and the rest of the family. (I got some cool Sponge Bob flip-flops.) It was a nice time. I feel like the blessing rained down on me because I get to be in a place I love with people I love. That is the best part of Christmas. Before getting back to finishing the cooking for our Christmas meal, I laid in the sun by the pool. Yes, the sun was out and it was close to 80 degrees . I did not stay out too long because the sun was very hot and I am very white. Then the kitchen called and mom and I answered the call. As always, we made too much while doing our best to cut back. It was all delicious. Saturday evening we went to a special presentation at church. Saturday is the youth meeting at church and they prepared a drama for the church in place of their regular meeting. It was a brief depiction starting with a news reporter reporting on the coming birth of a new king of Israel then the angel appearing to Mary, moving on to Herod´s meeting with the three kings and ending with the three kings coming into the manger scene presenting their gifts to the new born king. The church choral had 2 songs in the midst of the drama as well. I do the great presentation no justice in these few words. Then the pastor gave a message. (More to follow.) It is great to see other Christians celebrating the birth of Christ, knowing that our “extended” family is all dong the same thing by bringing glory and honor to His name.
The pastor, Epitaçio, gave a great message on “room for Christ.” We read from Luke where we see that there was no room for Joseph and his family in Bethlehem so Christ was born in a stable and placed in a manger. There was no room. We don’t know how many doors they knocked on or how many inns they asked for room. In spite of their best efforts, there was no room and Christ was born in a humble stable. What about room for Christ in our lives? Have we become so full of other things that there is no longer room for Christ? We need to review those things we hold dear and those things we give our time and make sure we are giving God the proper honor and place in our lives. Christ made room in heaven for us by going to the Cross. Have we made room for Him in our lives?
Blessing and mercy fill your holiday.
fofinha posted at 4:07 PM
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