November and December went too quickly!

I have much catching up to do on my blog!  The months of November and December went by very quickly as I finished my physical therapy for my bionic left knee, scrambled to get a lot of firewood split for my many customers (including a couple new ones), and attended a bunch of Epworth United Methodist Church events.  Oh, yes!  And we celebrated Christmas.

It is the church events that I am going to write about the most. The Christmas season at Epworth begins with the family style dinner at Friendly Farm Restaurant located in the middle of farm country. It truly is a friendly farm that started doing meals many years ago and it has become a tradition for us at Epworth.  A couple hundred folks turn out for terrific fried chicken and roast beef with all of the fixin's and celebrate with prayers, contests, and prizes. And Santa!

This year, we were blessed with the addition of a new choir director, Elaine Gradowski.  Even though she arrived quite late in the year, she was able to expand the choir and perform a lovely Cantata.  The children's choir sang also. It was truly a highlight of the Christmas season and it dovetailed nicely with the theme selected by our clergy to tell the background stories behind traditional hymns.  It turns out that quite a few of our favorite hymns have very meaningful back stories.

The children performed a family service at 5 p.m. and they told the Christmas story through a narrator, songs, and drama.

And at 11 p.m., we had our traditional candlelight service with communion and we added pre-candlelight service music for 30 minutes featuring several members of our congregation.  We have some very talented musicians in our midst and this was an opportunity to hear them.  The sermon focused on the story behind "Silent Night" which,  if you have never heard about it, has to do with a broken organ...a poem...and the need to have special music quickly for Christmas night.  What a great story.

Finally, on Christmas Day, we went to visit my mother who is in a memory care unit at Symphony Manor in Roland Park.  The care they provide is impressive.  Mom can't remember much these days including that she had been visited by Pegg and Sue earlier in the day, but she was in good spirits and had a ready smile for us. Symphony Manor had a musician with a guitar perform for the clients and a good time was had by all.


But the real highlight of our Christmas was the opportunity to spend time with Matt and Mary Louise and Rob.  And we are hopeful that we will have the opportunity to spend time with Rob's fiance, Vera Alcorn, this summer!