It takes me back

I can officially give a shout-out to Christmas Day. Praise! :-D

So, I did the usual candle light Christmas Eve service at church and henceforth, I'm about to share some thoughts.

a) When we walked into the sanctuary.. music was playing through the speakers. Uhm, that has never happened. And to top it off, it was the stellar Hillsong with Mighty to Save! It was strange for me because this is a very traditional church body and for a long time, they were anti-anything but tradition. Back in the day, I had several people frown at me when I would introduce new forms of worship. Either way, it's totally cool. If it works, it works. It was just cool to know that these people are finally understanding if not appreciating different forms of praise.

b) Some little girls I used to teach.. are now graduating high school. They sang tonight. I am a creature of observation and in that - while one girl was doing her solo.. I focused on her father's face as he listened to her sing. (Mary Did You Know) He listened with his eyes closed and a passion for the words she sang. Yes, I almost lost it. I seriously caught myself moved to the point of tears. A beautiful moment. This man later came up to me and said a big hello and Merry Christmas. (and I don't really know how he even knew my name to be honest. He never came to church when I went)
-When I left my hometown to move to cola, I prayed that I would leave a pebble of motivation/energy behind... and at this moment, I felt that perhaps I did leave a bit of something to the youth. Maybe it was just in giving them courage to seek a voice within the family. I know getting to sing probably wasn't easy, but they did it. And in turn, they will help motivate the next group coming through.

c)After the service, I ventured upstairs to my old stomping grounds. I went to my old Sunday School room and upon entering the door.. a smell hit me like a ton of bricks. It's the smell of old people, books, stale star crunches, dr. thunder spillage, dry eraser markers... and.. oddly enough... I adore this smell. I know it sounds spectacular as all get out but.. it takes me back. I walked into the room and just stood there...alone.. reflecting on who I was then and who I am now. I like having deep conversations with others but every now and again, I like to have a good one with myself too.

And a side-note that is unrelated to moments of reflections...
I now own a sweet new camera!! I had no idea... this was a huge huge huge bit of awesomeness that added to my day. My previous camera struggles. haha. And being as though I love taking pics... t'was a magical gift. And it's pink ;-)