sheer madness

Nothing will get you out of bed faster than the sound of a barfing 2 year old. Madison and Ella woke me up with their screams and cries. So, I ran down the hall to see if they were ok. I walked in the room and instantly smelled the nasty stench of vomit. So, I ran to Bill and Jane's room, and shouted at them from the door. They didn't budge. So, I had to go all the way in, and literally yelled at Jane to get her up. Those poor kids would've been screaming all night. Grandpa and Grandma are deep sleepers! We got them out of the pool of grossness, changed sheets, jammies, and blankets. That was at 1:30 a.m.

More and more kids! Today was another outreach event at Good Shepherd called Santa's Workshop. It's an opportunity for parents to drop off their children while they go out and shop and get ready for Christmas. The catch: no GS kids allowed. So, we had 60 non-church related kids on campus, and their parents as well. We can only hope that they'll come back again for worship. Greg and I lead the music portion and traveled around to the different age groups to teach them actions and songs.

As I walked into a room of 15 kindergarten through 2nd graders, a little boy walked up to me and said, “We’re not going to sing any songs about Jesus are we?” “Why?” I asked. “I just don’t want to sing songs about Jesus.” “Well, considering the whole reason we celebrate Christmas is because of Jesus, I think we better sing a couple.” Each Jesus song we sang, he stood there with a big frown on his face, refused to do any actions, and even snipped at the other kids when they tried interacting with him. He truly sums up how many people feel about Christmas. They don’t want to talk about Jesus, and when they hear about him, it’s just sort of ho-hum.

Well, Santa's Workshop was a success. Complete with an inflatable bounce house that Dana and I got to jump in for fun! I had never been in one before, and was impressed that they were bouncy enough to spring flips! It reminded me of the trampoline fun that Presley and I have back in MN.

Even though I was exhausted, there was no time to rest...my sermon was only half done. I'm involuntarily turning into a procrastinator, and I don't like it! My stress level goes through the roof, and I can't sleep until it's done. But I had made a commitment to someone, and had to take a break from it. But, it was a good call. Carla invited me to an ornament exchange at the house of another woman from the congregation. There were about 40 women gathered in a house. Tons of treats and goodies, and even shopping! Purse, jewelry, clothing, and candle vendors filled the rooms of the house, so I got to browse and pick up a few fun gifts for my nieces. When it came time for the ornament exchange, all the women gathered in one room, all picked a number and started with one ornament. Then there were bowls of dice being passed around the room. If you rolled doubles, then you got to steal an ornament. I brought a glass flip-flop ornament that I really wanted to keep for myself because it truly reminds me of what the Christmas season has been like so far in Torrance: warm! Every time I rolled doubles, I went to snatch it up. The only problem: everyone else wanted it as well. When the time ran out, I was so sad to see someone snatch it out of my hand at the last minute. I ended up with a big brown glass ornament. Carla could see my disappointment, so she switched me for hers. What a gal! Those women were ruthless. Lesson learned: never bring an ornament to exchange if you hope to get it for yourself in the end. :(

After a much needed two hour break, I headed back to the office to finish my sermon. I was there 3 more hours, and didn't go home until midnight, and not into bed until 1:00. My alarm was set for 5:30. Oh dear.