12 days of Christmas

Including today and Christmas day there are twelve days left in this blessed season. That seems like a good excuse for me to blog for each of those days (quite a commitment on my part :-) as I ponder (see yesterday's sermon at eastviewchurch.net) all that makes up my Christmas. I'll try to come up with a number of something each day, but hey...no promises. Well, let's get started:

12 pieces of sushi

Nothing says Christmas like fresh (raw) tuna, salmon or eel wrapped in rice and dipped in a soy sauce/wasabi mixture, right?

Well, maybe it's not traditional Christmas fare, but tonight is our annual staff Christmas party at Kobe steakhouse. It is a really great time of being together (with spouses and friends that we sometimes don't get to see enough) in a casual setting to celebrate all that God is doing in us and through us. It's a great time to laugh and eat together - I don't know if I'll eat twelve pieces of sushi or not, but it's possible.

Traditionally, I hand out prizes for the top three decorated offices in our staff area (really a bunch of humbugs this year...too busy I suppose), and give a little speech, and give a small gift, and take a staff picture (you'll see this Christmas Eve).

I talked yesterday of shepherds in the Bible and I consider our staff to be some of the best shepherds there are. The care and concern and energy invested by these guys into the lives (and more importantly souls) of the flock God has entrusted to us in amazing. I'm blessed to have them on my staff (double entendre shepherd joke - pay attention people). It is this night more than any other that makes me feel like the dad to a big family...and I like it.

So on day twelve send up a prayer of thanksgiving and strength for the people who organize, recruit, set up and tear down, practice, write, meet (and meet some more), inspire, and pray for the ministry at Eastview Christian Church. We really do have some great people that God has given us and so we celebrate...Kobe it is!