This was our first Christmas with our new family at Saint Paul Lutheran Church. Jay was beyond excited – he LOVES this season, for more than one reason!
We were excited too as our family joined us for the evening. Jay’s parents and his brother’s family joined us for dinner before service and then attended church with us. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to attend Christmas service with family.
We weren’t sure what to expect since Saint Paul has two Christmas Eve services – one at 7:00 p.m. and the other at 11:00 p.m. We attended the first service and the Church was full – 140 joined in the celebration. It was a very nice service and Jay loved the candlelight part. He said we need to see it from his point of view – from the alter.
After church, we talked a while with members and then home for our Christmas Eve tradition – opening gifts from afar. Since we were still recovering from illness, we didn’t all go over for the second service. Mackenzie wanted to go and she did.
We had heard that attendance for the later service is small enough to have the service on the alter and the members sit in the choir loft. So, Kassi and I sneaked over and caught a glimpse.
The church looked really nice at night. I tried to catch it, but this photo just doesn’t do it justice.
Kassi and I tried to be as quiet as could be so no one would notice us taking pictures from the coat room. It was really neat to see them all gathered in the choir loft. Knowing there would be a few from the earlier service, Jay had another sermon prepared. There were 28 at this service – some who had and some who had not been to the earlier service.
We are thinking about starting a new tradition next year. Since there are two services, we are thinking about having an open house between services. We’ll see what next year brings.
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