We had a very special Christmas Eve and I want to share it with you.  We spent the evening with a very special family and we truly enjoyed our time with them.

To start at the beginning, we moved into our new neighborhood last February and we did not know anyone in the area.  As it was winter, everyone was inside, so it was only months later when we met our neighbors.  Many in their family live on the same road and others in the general area.  They have a very large family and have a special building on their property as a meeting place so everyone can get together for special events.  I still don’t know everyone by name, but they are all extremely friendly and are very wonderful people.  We were invited to their party on July 4^th and then again for Thanksgiving.  Then we were invited to come for Christmas Eve. 

So it was Christmas Eve and we arrived and as we walked inside, many of the family and friends were already there.  Others were arriving, carrying presents and putting them under the Christmas tree.  The aroma of the wonderful food filled the air, people laughing and talking, mothers holding their babies, and children were playing with excitement of being all together.  It made us feel so good to be invited to enjoy this celebration.

Then Vicki asked everyone to stand up, make a circle and hold hands, as we were about to say a prayer. I don’t know exactly how many people were there, but it was at least 60 or more.  So, you can only imagine how large this circle was.  Then Vicki thanked Jesus for the chance to be together again, for the food that we had to eat and thanked Him for all the family and friends.  I don’t know if you have ever experienced this, but holding hands all together with everyone in this large circle, and everyone listening intently to Vicki’s prayer, you could feel the love fill up the room.  In unison, everyone said “amen”.

I have a small family now since most have passed on, so this was a moving experience for me.

Then everyone walked up to the food tables filled with such wonderful food.  They had turkey, ham, chicken, deer meat, stuffing, cranberry sauce, yams, clam chowder, macaroni & cheese, vegetables, potato salad, rolls and many pies for dessert.  Everyone filled up on all their favorite foods.  After that, everyone started to mingle again, talking and laughing and just having so much fun.  What Christmas party would be complete without the arrival of Santa Clause?  Well, not this one!

Santa walked in saying Merry Christmas to everyone and sat down by the Christmas tree.  The children were very excited to see him with big smiles on their faces.  Santa started calling their names, and they came up, sat on his lap and he handed them a wrapped present.  They were so excited and ran back to their parents to show them what Santa had given to them.  Linda, who I just met that night, had bought presents for all the ladies and we went up to Santa and picked a present from the basket that Vicki was holding.  I received a pair of extremely soft socks that I love wearing. 

So I want to send thanks to Vicki, Monie and their entire family for including us in their wonderful celebration.  We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful friends to enjoy this special holiday and I thank God for every single one of them.  Christmas is definitely for sharing and the love in that room was larger then the room itself.

I truly hope that everyone enjoyed their Christmas holiday and celebrated with loving family and friends.

God Bless,

Sue