Find peace in the Silent Night

Sometimes during the hustle and bustle of this time of year we must pause. (OK, let’s pretend there is a dramatic 20-second silence right here) Sit back, relax, take a breath and let it soak in a second. That happened to me this weekend. Let me fill you in.

As some of you know, we recently moved. And, as most of you know, that leaves you in a hectic state for a while. Boxes filled with your necessity items fill your every space, and you just can’t find that one thing you need. Now, that is hectic in its own right but add Christmas nearly two weeks away - and decorations and shopping still to be done - and panic starts to creep in from under the doorway and take a grip.

Then there is the Christmas party explosion. Work parties, friend parties, school parties, and, in my case, a birthday is thrown in there for good measure (18th if you’re keeping track). The one party we try and never miss is the Faith Community Church Christmas Dinner. That is where I took my breath this weekend, but it did not start there.

Our kids showed up for a visit Saturday night. It was a special time. We are in a time of change as parents. The raising and correcting is in the past for the most part, and we are trying to discover ourselves again as husband and wife. With the moving into a new home a little further away, we found that missing the kids was a little more real now. So when they stopped in we wanted to make it special for them, but instead they made it special for us. They are adults now, having adult conversations and jumping in to help as needed. Cards were played and they stayed the night. It was a special treat to make them breakfast in the morning, see them smile at jokes and just be themselves. We are proud to call them “Our Kids.” As they drove away later that afternoon a weird feeling came over us. They were driving away and we were going to miss them greatly. Maybe even more than before. We would see them soon, though, at the Christmas dinner.

As we were getting ready to leave to head to Electric City for the dinner, I got one of those gut wrenching calls. I won’t go into details but my mother had called with some bad news. My heart was broken for my nephew, mom and the whole family. (Gage, keep your chin up and know you are loved. All the rest of you, too.) After a silent prayer we headed to dinner.

If any of you have ever been to the Faith Christmas Dinner, you know there are some things to be expected, traditions, if you will. Lots of good food, lots of good people and a few songs. This year we got the special treat of seeing Shad Moore and the Chipmunks and Janice Archer and The Missed Steppers (Sheryl Moore and Kim Stanger) sing a couple of Christmas classics. This was followed by the Twelve Days of Christmas (with a lot of LR Raiders involved this year), but Reese stole the show with his mike stealing on the last verse. Then we were led by Steve and Janice in a few carols. That is when the pause happened.

The last song of the night, just like every other church dinner in the past, ended with Silent Night. But this year was different. We took pause. It hit us hard. The words spoke to me like I was hearing them for the first time. I relaxed and took a breath, and was hit full force by the reason for the season.

Sometimes, we get caught up in the complexity of our lives and forget the simple but important stuff. Like a helping hand in the kitchen and a smile on a young man’s face. A grandfather or a mother and father. A song sung from a true and pure heart and a wife that can cook a mean casserole. Just the simple gift of spending time with the people you love and who love you. No matter how short it is, we must make the most of it. A silent night, a holy night, all is calm, all is bright. Take a breath, relax and remember.