Christmas in the Square
Merry Christmas! This season is always really busy for church workers, and doubly so for those of us who work at a pastor-less church! Tuesday was filled with last minute preparations for Christmas Eve - Ken finished his sermon, I practiced a lot of piano, and we did grocery shopping to get what we needed for our traditional Slovak Christmas Eve dinner.
Pakutahowa (NZ Christmas Tree)
Christmas Eve service went wonderfully - my choir sounded great and Jen and I sang a duet (O Holy Night) that brought many to tears. Ken's sermon was titled "Beautiful Feet" and spoke on Isaiah's prophecy of how beautiful the feet are that bring good news. Ken tied that into Christmas, how Jesus is the fulfillment of that prophecy and how "beautiful" his feet are as they walk to the cross and get nailed there for us and our sins. How "beautiful" those feet that rose again, bringing us life and salvation. And how "beautiful" our feet are, as believers, who are called to go and spread this news to others.
Christmas Eve Choir
Jen and Sam
Before the service Ken and I did our traditional Slovak meal - it was a bit odd not having all the family around for it, but we made it our own and I felt pretty proud that we were able to pull it off! After the service we came home to open presents - Pepper had a great time with that! (see the pictures below for proof).
Before the service Ken and I did our traditional Slovak meal - it was a bit odd not having all the family around for it, but we made it our own and I felt pretty proud that we were able to pull it off! After the service we came home to open presents - Pepper had a great time with that! (see the pictures below for proof).
Ken preparing the fish
Our little Christmas Eve
Opening presents
Pepper enjoyed this
Merry Christmas from the Chitwood's!
On Christmas Day we went to Trinity in Feilding where I played music and Ken led the service. Following the service we went to the Cuttle's for Christmas dinner - it was really fun to be with them and their family. We played lots of fun trivia games and had a $2 gift exchange game where you pick a gift to unwrap and then the next person can either pick their own gift or steal from another person. Ken and I walked away with a really awesome elephant pencil holder and some NZ playing cards! Talk about jackpot! haha. I brought over a plate of Slovak cookies that were almost all eaten within the first two hours! Their grandparents came over as well and treated Ken and I just like family - even gave us some gifts! We enjoyed getting a picture book of NZ as well as some Cinnamon Toast Crunch and chocolate Pop Tarts (the Cuttles have family back in the states who mailed those over!) Yum! When we got home late in the afternoon, we took Pepper on a special Christmas Day walk and then ended the evening with The Nativity Story.
Christmas Dinner at the Cuttles
Pop tarts and CTC!
Lesley and Brett Cuttle
Trinity in Feilding
Yum - these went really fast!
A lovely day for a walk in the park
Friday Ken and I went in to work - we boxed all our books and things as well as finished last minute office details. We won't be back in to the office now until late January. Ken will take his work on the road with us when we go on vacation since the first week of vacation I will be at a choral conducting conference, so he will finish writing his world religions book as well as some tips/resources for the new pastor.
Saturday was Ken's 24th birthday! So we celebrated by going to the rugby museum (something he's wanted to do the past 16 months!) and then went out to dinner. It was a really nice relaxing day.
A dream come true
Us in the square
Palmerston North Square
Mao Bar
Pepper celebrating Ken's birthday too
Sunday was my last time playing music for St. Luke's! After the service we went to the Nelson's for a bbq and had a really nice time visiting with them and Paul and Carol Argyle. We've made some great friends at both St. Luke's and Trinity that will be sad to say goodbye to...
Monday Ken went on a 22-mile run! Yuck! While he was doing that, I worked on the inventory of our stuff. The movers are coming on the 31st to pack us up! It's amazing how quickly everything is coming!
Thank you for your prayers for Themba - we have now raised about 1/3rd of what we need! But please continue to keep us in thought, especially as we await some important papers to come from South Africa so we can work on our visa as well as apply to defer a student loan. As nerve wracking as it can be, I rest in the Angel's words to Mary in Luke, that NOTHING is impossible with God. May it be done as He wills! Amen.
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