I am feeling a little disorientated this Christmas - and it is great.
For the first time in 24 Christmases since we got married Jane is working (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day & then New Years Eve, New Years Day and the Bank Holiday Monday). Over the previous 10 Christmases we have got used to me working (if you can call helping out at the Whitechapel Mission or leading Worship working).
This is a bit different as Jane is working 7am til about noon each day, which means today we will only pass when she comes to the Christingle and Midnight services, well we will eat together between them as well :-)
So our family rituals for Christmas are going to change a bit, biggest one was that we had our family Christmas Dinner yesterday when we both had days off. Very relaxed it was too.
In some ways the disorientation is all good.
One side effect is that we have not connected with Christmas TV (our set-top box won't record and we haven't watched a TV program in weeks - the boys are happy enough with iPlayer & youtube in the bedrooms) - being a bit of of sync means we won't be watching TV in the next few days either. What a huge time gain!
Another is that I have found it giving new perspectives on the Christmas Events and how often our safe & comfortable habits & rituals hide us from the amazing ways in which God acts. This has been a real gift for me this Christmas and one I will treasure long after the Chocolate has all been eaten.
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