Reindeer Games

Yes, I finally did take a day off from blogging yesterday.  I had to break the cycle and it took a lot of work for me to do it.  I actually wanted to blog despite having worked most of the weekend, but I knew it was simply a whirlpool I was caught up in, so I forced myself not to do it. 

Yesterday, we started on the traditional Christmas candy making because nothing says "I love you" to friends more than homemade candy (Well, maybe other things do say it better, but for blogging purposes, it's my story and I'm sticking to it.).



We did chocolate creams, vanilla creams and raspberry creams yesterday, but we still have more to make.  They make nice small gifts for people you don't really exchange with, by putting 4-6 pieces in a Christmas-y bag tied with a pretty ribbon.



JJ was on hand to help where Aaron opted to stay outside playing with the hellions kids up the street.  The Brit finally sent these children home because they were determined to wrestle and everytime that happens, someone gets hurt. 

I have more potential good news that I'm still keeping a secret until I can clarify the rumor tomorrow.  Though I would very much love it to be true, I'm not convinced that it is, so we'll wait on that one. 

I'm in a good place at the moment.  It seems that when church life is going well, most of the rest of my life goes well too and yesterday, we had 5 people come back to church who had left over a year ago when all the trouble was at its worst.  The folks who returned yesterday were not the trouble makers, but maybe some of the folks who followed blindly or simply left before the vote because of all the tension.  One of the women said she had been to the "new church" but she couldn't handle hour long sermons and that she didn't like change.  I smiled and told her, "Well, we're pretty much the same here."  And it's the truth. 

A few of us got to talking today during our prayer shawl time about some of the things that went on while the other group was at the church.  The weirdness of it all still astounds me and I compare it to being under a controlling dictatorship.  Those of us who wanted to stay with the ELCA would be followed around the church if we were trying to talk to someone, and some of the "leaders" of the other group who attended the first service would then stay for the second service, standing in the back of the santuary like guards to make sure that nothing was being said about their plans to leave the ELCA.  Those examples are only the surface stuff; the weirdness went much deeper.

Remembering all of this feels like images from another life.  Now, when I walk in there on Sunday, there are warm greetings and smiles.  There is a feeling of family that was never there before.  Everyone is so much more relaxed and happy and financially, we are doing very well (The rumors coming from the other church is that we will be closing our doors the first of the year.  Yeah.  Okay.).  The Holy Spirit is present in that place and it fills me with much peace.  The church was decorated for Christmas yesterday and I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.