Caroling, Caroling!

Last night, some friends of mine were kind enough to join me in caroling to some older folks from our church.  We met and the caravan began around town.  We started at a dear friend's from the choir...she is in her 80s and just lost her husband...and her husband was amazing...one of the funniest people I have ever met.  So, we sang a little, she came out, gave the kiddos some candy (always a good move), and she surprised me when I looked and saw tears in her eyes.  She said, "This is going to be a hard Christmas, but you made it better."  

At other times, the older people sang along, kids ran up and down halls, the baby even danced a little and sang "da da das" with Away in a Manger.  At one point, we were in this tiny apartment visiting a long time member of our church and she was so excited to see the children...she opened her arms to hug the two 5 year old...I looked at their faces and they registered panic!  The boy stared wide-eyed at her and started to back away..I just watched and honestly, wanted to laugh a little.  Eventually, he gave in and hugged her.  These are the memories that make me realize that those moments made me who I am today...learning to hug an old person...life lessons.  :)

We spent maybe an hour and a half making deliveries, singing, and running around...but I just had this moment of pure joy...sitting in my banged up car named Lashonda...I said to my friend Meg, "We really have good friends and good people."  Yes, that may be oversimplifying it, but people showed up to do something as simple as walk around, share their kids, sing, and tell people that we love them.  Small, but huge.  This is what we are all about.  This is the kingdom...this is Heaven on Earth.  I hope that the people we visited were encouraged...but I can't help but think that we were changed because we were forced to look outside of ourselves and to be a little less selfish.  

Have you seen beyond yourself today?  All of us have different circumstances...but, in the end, we can all look and see past that in order to make the day better for someone else.  Jesus made things better for us....he brought light into darkness...why shouldn't we do the same?