“Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:1
As I was growing up, there was one place I wanted to be every Christmas Eve...church. It was such a special time, every year playing a part as a choir member, whether girl’s or high school choir. I was there, surrounded by family and friends. There was the play, “Amal and the Night Visitor.” There were the Christmas carols, And at the end, the lighting of the candles we all held as we sang “Silent Night.” There was nowhere else I would rather be than in our church on Christmas Eve for the sole purpose of commemorating the night before Jesus was to be born, amidst so many, singing, praying and fellowshipping.
When I married Bill, that all changed. His family gathered for Christmas on Christmas Eve. I have not been in a church on Christmas Eve since. Boy, was it a gathering at the Chapman house, though. All the Chapmans and the Nobrigas crammed into Bill’s family home. We ate a big meal, spread throughout the house as there was no table big enough, or room big enough, to accommodate the number of people. This was not a Christian gathering where the birth of Christ was celebrated, but one of love and family at the core of it all.
What this meant for me was that I needed to carry the celebration and anticipation I grew up participating in each year in my heart. The building was not what was important, but the fact that Jesus was coming! He was to be born a babe in the arms of His mother, Mary, and join us here on earth to bring life and wholeness and grace. Bill and I brought that to the Chapman house, where most of them did not share that excitement for a newborn Son, but we experienced such joy and fellowship with a family we cherish. We taught the truth of Christmas to our children. They knew that love and anticipation, not because we experienced it at church on a Christmas Eve, but in the joy we shared with one another at the coming of our Lord.
I cherish those memories. Those times of fellowship and anticipation at our church on Christmas Eve will forever be a part of me. They are a good foundation for a relationship with the Lord that has grown and deepened throughout the years. The best thing about it is the truth of the message is not changed because the location may be different. The truth is in my heart, in your heart, and it will not be lessened or taken away because the building, the location, changes. Merry Christmas Eve, my church family! May the miracle of the birth of the Son of God fill your heart and bring you joy!