Finding Joy...

Congratulations, we have just about made it.   Hopefully by now all, or at least most of the shopping has been done; the cookies have been made and the choirs have been rehearsed.  We’re in the home stretch. Christmas is just a few days away.  Pretty soon we’ll all be able to sit back, and relax for a moment and say “It’s over for another year.  We’ve made it through another Christmas.” At that point will all the stress be gone?  Will we at last find peace or at least have a few moments of peace?  When the holiday is over, what will we remember?  Will there have been peace, love and joy? Or will we have spent so much time preparing for “the event” that we will have forgotten what the holiday is truly about?  And that the birth of Christ is just the beginning?  That the joy, the love and the peace of Christ continues on...

...if you want to know the rest of the story, you'll have to stop by the First Presbyterian Church of Verona (10 Fairview Ave, Verona, NJ) tomorrow morning at 10:15 AM.

When I volunteered (yes, I volunteered) to speak at the church on the 22nd, I didn't think it was going to be hard to do.  But as I sat down to write, I gained a new respect for those who stand in the pulpit week after week.

I am lucky in that I will be surrounded by friends and family.  If I stumble and fall, it will be okay.  But it is still a daunting task, that didn't become quite nerve wracking until the past few days when I realized that I was actually going to go through with this.

Will I survive?  Of course...But how will it turn out???  I'll find out tomorrow (and you can too).

Say your prayers and send me your blessings...