A Taste of Heaven

I guess I should mention that some of our fun Christmas activities were with our church family.  I love my church family.  We are full of several different talents and we continue to discover new talent, even in people who have been attending Westside Bible Chapel for years!  It's always fun to see God use the many gifts and put them together to bring glory to Himself.  I love seeing God work in our local church.

I mentioned the Christmas program in my last blog.  I was not involved in putting it together except maybe as giving advice or suggestions behind the scenes, especially in the writing of the skit.  I have to say it was probably one of the best Christmas programs I have ever seen.  It not only told the story of Jesus' birth, it also explained why He had to come and His birth was expected.  We heard about Adam and Eve and how their sin infected all of mankind.  God was going to provide a lamb, a pure sinless man, His very own Son, to pay for the sin of the world.  We heard about Noah and how God made a promise to him and we can depend on God's promises.  We saw how the wisemen were searching for the King of the Jews because of the prophecies that told of His birth.  We saw the fear in Mary and Joseph as they first learned of her pregnancy, as they had no place to stay when labor began, and when they heard that Herod wanted to kill Jesus.  We saw the shepherds rejoicing when they saw that the Messiah had finally come.  We saw Simeon and Anna proclaim the long-awaited Savior had finally come.  We saw Elizabeth encourage Mary and rejoice that the Messiah was finally here.  From the first sin in the Garden of Eden, we heard about the need of a Savior and saw the joy when He had come.

That evening, a couple from our church hosted a Christmas party complete with horse and buggy rides.  What a wonderful evening it was!  Just fellowshipping, singing, enjoying each other's company.  This is what heaven will be like.  These times of good fellowship are just a little glimpse of heaven.  What an amazing thought that we would enjoy this kind of fellowship for eternity.  It's the party that never ends.

Thursday, we were invited to go ice skating with another family from church.  A few different families came.  I hadn't gone ice skating since college and only my older 2 had ever gone roller skating.  J caught on quickly and was around the rink on his own from the start.  K had help from several different people around the rink.  A did, too.  K eventually felt more confident on her own but A pretty much clung to a person or the wall.  K ended up with 2 blisters, one on each ankle.  They're still healing.  I helped A around a few times, but also had freedom to go at my own speed.  It was fun for all of us.  Afterwards, we went to the family's home who invited us skating and had a chili supper.  Another great evening of fellowship.  We sang Christmas carols and just had fun together.

This is all just a taste of heaven.