In July, the staff, the officers, and committee chairs got together and planned out the entire 2014-2015 church year. We worked backward from Christmas Eve, to allow for scheduling: when the choir cantata needed to be ordered; when the resource center needed to get us the family names for Christmas outreach; when the youth needed to shop for Thanksgiving baskets; when the sanctuary needed to be decorated; and not only those dates but the other planning that goes along with each step.
As I write this, it is the end of October. The Advent Meditation books were ordered in August and are ready to go out in the sanctuary in a week or two. The choir has been working on their music for over a month, and the narrators are in place and have their scripts. The youth just completed their Reverse Trick or Treat, and will shop for 10 Thanksgiving baskets of food during their next meeting. During the month of November, the youth will prepare their Advent Sunday service as well. Outreach – especially Dayna and Mike – have collated and charted all the shopping and buying and wrapping that needs to occur during this month. Earlier this morning, I wrote scripts for each of our staff to use as they light the Advent Candle each Sunday.
And, no, it’s not even November. And, yes, it was almost 85 degrees yesterday.
It sounds as if we have things in hand, doesn’t it? But it will need so many more people to put things together so it all works out. We need folks to buy toys (sign up Sunday!); we need folks to buy food (also, you can sign up Sunday!); we need many dollars of donations. MANY dollars of donations.
But most importantly, we need you.
So before there is a chance of complaining about how much you already have to do, and how little time there is, before you start out already worn and weary and callous and hard………………….
Stop. Pray. Take a whiff of Douglas Fir. Remember Zuzu’s petals. Let your heart grow 3 sizes. Rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing. BEFORE it’s Christmas. BEFORE Thanksgiving. Even BEFORE Halloween. Because there will always be work to do. But to help others, and to help us, it has to be done with love.
Not because Jesus is the reason for the season. But, because Jesus.
Just because Jesus.
It’s a full sentence.