Senior Pastor, Rev. Sandra Bonnette-Kim
How long do you keep your Christmas decorations up? Are they down yet or do you wait until Epiphany? Do you keep them up for the end of January or until the middle of summer?
We take ours down after Epiphany but growing up our decorations went up the first of November and most years came down right before my birthday in March, because I insisted that they were gone before my birthday party. However, the lights outside around our house never came down. I think we actually sold a house with them still in place. The reason we had our decorations up for so long was because my father LOVES Christmas. He did not want it to ever end.
Now that he is living with us, we are trying to compromise how much we decorate. If he has his way, we will be one of those houses that is on the Greatest Christmas Light Fight show on ABC. He wants all the blinking colorful lights with motions and sound, while I like soft white or blue lights, nothing extravagant instead classy and peaceful. In the previous parsonages, he had his own room that he could go crazy in, and I had my room. Outside was a mix of his crazy lights with my lights. In the Needham parsonage, our inside is a mix just like outside. It is all about compromise and remembering what Christmas is truly about. It is not about how one decorates but what Christmas represents: Love, Peace, Joy and Hope. This is something we should not forget. But, so often in our world, we do forget about it as soon as we take down our decorations. However, I believe that we need to keep it going throughout the year. That is our calling and our gift from God.
Christmas is not only about a day or a month but a way of life for all of us. So, as you take down your decorations, put away your trees, and pack up your ornaments, remember that Christ is here to stay.
Christ will help you throughout this New Year.
Christ will take you to places you never imagined.
Christ will guide and challenge you to live out your faith. Be open to all the possibilities and the grace that Christ will bestow upon you in 2022.
May we live with Love, Peace, Joy, and Hope each day of our lives.
Peace and Grace
Pastor Sandra
