Sunday Evening

Gatherings

The Christmas season involves gatherings of friends and family at many different places. Most of those gatherings revolve around food. One of my most memorable Christmas “gatherings” was when I was 11 years old. It was the only Christmas that we spent with my Grandmother Dill in Cass, West Virginia. We left Huntington after school, so part of the trip was driven in the evening. It was snowing hard and the roads were slick, but luckily my Dad was a very good river, and I felt cozy and safe as we inched our way up and down the mountains.

The next day we went sledding at my uncle’s farm with some of my cousins. My Dad and another uncle watched all of us children sled while my mother joined all my aunts cooking in the kitchen. They were preparing a feast for Christmas Day. My family was actually staying with my Grandmother Dill “in town,” but all of the ten brothers and sisters and their families would gather at my uncle’s white farmhouse that sits across from the Cass Railroad along the Greenbrier River for the Christmas Reunion.

Sledding down the steep hill on the farm was quite a thrill. We had a great time even though it was bitterly cold. I asked my Dad how cold he thought is was, and he replied that it had to be about zero. Mother had bundled us all in warm clothes, but my hands were so cold I couldn’t feel them. So, the cold cousins went inside the farmhouse to thaw. After being chased out of the kitchen, my aunt suggested that I play Christmas carols on the piano so we could all sing. My hands were barely thawed, but I found an old hymnal and began playing carols on the old upright piano. Everyone sang, and we armed up quickly with help of the music.

I awoke on Christmas morning to the sounds of my Grandmother Dill preparing breakfast in her kitchen. I could hear the clanging as she worked with the burners on the coal stove. The smell of bacon, eggs and biscuits floated through the air, and as I looked out the window, I could see that everything was enshrouded in a magnificent blanket of white. All of us opened our gifts after breakfast, and that was a special time with the cousins.

We all gathered at my uncle’s house for the Christmas dinner. I just couldn’t figure out how the aunts in the kitchen could cook enough food for this large crowd, but we had read the story of the feeding of the 5,000 in Sunday school, so I imagined all of us sitting down and being miraculously fed in that tiny house. We were fed…and of course very well, and it was quite a reunion. Although we did not attend a Christmas Eve church service in Cass, there have been many Christmas Eve services that were very memorable.

Christmas Eve service is one of the most cherished services in our church. Many in our congregation have remarked to me that attending service on Christmas Eve, particularly the 11:00 service, is a blessing for them in many ways and is their favorite service of the year. Members of our congregation who have moved away and return to visit family for the holidays often come to worship again at our Christmas Eve service. Again, the gathering is often one of family and friends, and the time is so special with the service ending right at midnight. The radiance and fragrance of candles, the singing of carols, the hearing of the Christmas story in scripture and word, the beautiful decorations and hugs after “Silent night” are all a part of the sharing of the season. Christmas Eve services gives us a time to stop, reflect, and savor the moment of our Savior’s birth. Many times during our Christmas Eve service, I have wanted to “freeze the moment” so that I can experience it longer.

This Christmas, I hope that all of us WILL stop and reflect on the true meaning of all the gatherings that we have…whether we gather for fellowship, food, fun or worship. I pray that we will WORSHIP this Christmas season, and that we will gather on Christmas Eve for a truly memorable Christmas Eve service.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, continue to shower us with your abundant blessings and guide us as we witness to your love. Wrap your loving arms around us in all our gatherings this holiday season, and help us to take the time to truly reflect on this time of hope, peace, love and joy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Becky Sturm