O Holy Night . . .

My favorite church service of the whole year is our Christmas Eve Communion service. Our church does an excellent job at creating an environment that helps attendees slow down to recognize and enjoy the significance of the holiday. With the lights dimmed, the candles lit, and the church packed, we share in Christmas music, take communion as a family, and reflect on the wonder of God with us. On this night I feel deeply connected to my church family and deeply thankful for the Christ child.

As with everything, children can make the experience . . . interesting. One of the ways our church symbolicly prepares for Christmas throughout the four weeks before Christmas by lighting the Advent Candles and adorning our sanctuary week by week. Each week as we light the Advent Candles, the children of the church are invited down to the alter so they can have a close up view, a special conversation with the pastor, and share in our excitement of the coming of baby Jesus. We light the final candle, the Christ candle, during our Christmas Eve service.

At our service on Monday night Grant was particularly excited to be down in front of the congregation for the lighting of the Christ candle. When Grant gets excited he bounces. So picture Grant bouncing around all of the other children of the church as the pastor is explaining the significance of the Christ candle. Wanting to keep the children's attention, the pastor asked them if they knew who gave the baby Jesus a gift. Grant, with much enthusiasm, bounced up and down with his arm up in the air, shouting, "Ooo! Ooo! Ooo!" The pastor called on our excited child and asked him, "Who, Who?" To which Grant responded, "Who. Who. Who." Fortunatly an older child stepped in and answered that is was the Wise Men who gave Jesus gifts. We like to think that we give all of the other parents in our church the gift of sweet relief that their child isn't the one making the biggest scene.

Grant's favorite part of the Christmas Eve service by far is when we all light candles and sing Silent Night. Before church we had reminded Grant that he would get to hold a candle and sing a song. We failed to tell him what song we were going to sing. So . . . Grant held his candle and began singing, "I love my candle. I love my candle. It is pretty and I love my candle." What can I say . . . he is who he is. It's a good thing he is really cute.