Christmas Eve

Meat for dinner!

How I would love to be able to cover Christmas in one giant blog post! Sadly, I have neither the time nor the effort or motivation to sit in front of my laptop for hours uploading pictures and writing stories--so let me break it down a bit :-)

Bakery fresh baguettes!

In Germany, the main day of celebration for Christmas is Christmas Eve and so the countdown to Christmas isn't actually accurate ;-) Of course none of the kids wanted to go to bed Friday evening and none of them...none of us...slept very well that night ;-) So, instead of being sane and sleeping in while I had the chance,Saturday morning I committed to running all the Christmas Eve morning errands with Mama. At 7:15 when she came knocking on my door, I wondered just how crazy I'd become, but all in all, we had a great time running around for bakery fresh bread, farm fresh milk, fresh meat, and a variety of Christmas sweets...which I'm pretty sure can't be called "fresh".

Anyway, we got back to the house, ate breakfast, and put the finishing Christmas touches on the house--in other words, we cleaned everything. Lunch was earlier and therefore smaller than usual and as soon as everyone was done we began getting ready for the Christmas Eve service at 3:30. Mama told me my skirt looked better than black pants and I assured her that the black scarf matched better than the tan one. We were ready just in time.

The service was for kids as well as adults and I really enjoyed it. The majority of the service consisted of a Christmas play involving over 25 kids--who all new their lines perfectly. Christian was Joseph :) As soon as church was over we spent a few minutes giving and receiving Christmas wishes and hugs as everyone made their way outside and then hustled home.

The first round of Christmas celebrations unfolded downstairs with Oma and Opa as we received gifts before watching a Christmas movie together. However, I ditched my childhood for a few minutes and helped Mama put the finishing touches on the dinner table and then shut the dining room door--symbolizing no one was the enter the room until dinner time.

Several hours later, after a wonderful dinner of meat fondue (bite sized pieces of meat cooked in a special broth) everyone shifted into the living room. First we sang several Christmas songs..several of which I'm now getting the hang of...and then read the last chapter of our advent story and finished with a time of prayer. Then came the gifts and I thought a few of the kids were gonna explode with excitement! Mama passed them out one at a time until each kid had one and then everyone opened them at the same time. I'm not sure which I enjoyed more--opening my gifts, or watching the kids faces as they opened theirs.

At 9:30 I left for my first every Holy Night service. I got the church a few minutes before 10:00pm and the pews were packed. I waved at friends and family and sat down next to my host aunt. The service far exceeded my expectations with a variety of songs sung first in German, then in English and a humorous skit that followed. However, the highlight came at the very end when a boy who couldn't have been older than 10, stood up in front of hundreds and sang "Happy Birthday Jesus".

 Several minutes later everyone bundled back into their scarves, gloves, and jackets and shuffled outside where an abundance of Christmas punch was waiting for anyone who had the Christmas spirit to linger and chat. Chat? Me? Oh, but of course! :-D My friends and I finally left the church a little after 11:30...only to congregate with a large number of Gomaringen's youth for a movie night at the youth building. And so I spent my last minutes of Christmas Eve snuggled up on a sofa with friends, watching The Bucket List in German. And for the rest of my amazing Christmas, you'll have to wait :-)



Me, Leonie, Eva, and Damaris after the Holy Night service