Personally, I can’t believe that Christmas is this week!! I have done little to prepare: we put up the Christmas tree on Saturday night, I purchased a couple of presents online, and the Christmas card list is made and the letter written, but I can’t find the cards I purchased some time last week. My son, Daniel, hung Christmas lights outside about 2 weeks ago. I’m waiting for the Christmas spirit to descend.
Last Tuesday was the Laura Baker/Emmaus Church Christmas service. The live Nativity was fun: Rodney, the wiseman, Evan as Joseph, Mona as Mary, Kim as a shepherd, and others. I always love the Christmas service. We sing my most beloved Christmas songs, and we hear the Christmas message in its simplest form. Often, our Christmas service launches the Christmas season for me.
This year, our DONORS! are bringing the holiday spirit home for me. Every day, Jan and Jane bring me another story of a generous gift. As people struggle with the economy and as we all try to adjust to the “new normal” (whatever that is, or that means), our donors’ expressions of support through gifts of time and money mean so much more. To me, they are a clear reflection that the community recognizes and values the support we provide. We don’t have to work in isolation. We have partners who want to share our work with us.
