Christmas Eve Eve Service

So, my brother in law preached on Christmas Eve Eve. He talked about being the light of the world.

He told a story about how about a week before he had been driving along and was on his cell phone and I think he had to write something down because he pulled over. He happened to pull over in front of a hotel and a gentleman walked towards him. My b-i-l thought that this guy thought he was a taxi driver so he started to roll down his window and tell him just that. This man asked if he knew where the mosque was as his family needed to get there to pray. My b-i-l said that it was just around the corner and he could drive them if they wanted a ride. He dropped them off and thought nothing more of it.

A couple of days later he noticed a camera in their car and asked his daughters if it was one of their friends (Jodi and I were in KL at the time). They said no, so he decided to look through it for a clue as to who's it was (that's the nice thing about digital). He looked through a few pictures and didn't recognize anyone until a couple of pictures in and he realized it was the family who he had given a ride to the mosque. He knew what hotel they were staying at, so he decided to drop by and see if he could return the camera.

When he walked into the lobby, he immediately saw a man who was in some of the pictures on the camera. It wasn't one of the people he had given the ride to, but he approached him and asked him if he knew "this man" (while showing him a picture on the camera of the man he had driven to the mosque). "Yes, yes," this man said, "I will take you to him. He will want to see you." My b-i-l went up in the elevator with this man and when they went to the door and knocked, the gentleman who he recognized answered the door. This man exclaimed, "Aaaahhh, I knew it! I told my family that you are a good man and that you will return our camera. I told them that I could tell you had a good heart. Come down with me and meet my family."

They all went back in the elevator and down to the lobby. In the lobby was this man's family and he went up to them and said, "See? I told you this was a good man and that he would return our camera." Then he turned to my b-i-l and said, "Please, can we get a picture of us all together?" My b-i-l complied and said, "Where are you all going? Why are you all meeting in the lobby?'' The man turned to him and said, "We are leaving for the airport in 5 minutes."

Now, this story isn't a big evangelical, transforming someone into a Christian story, but it still has a great message. My b-i-l said to us that night, "I don't tell you this story to show you how great I am for bringing back this man's camera, but to show you that people are always watching you. Are you being God's light to them?"

It was a great message that's stuck with me and I've been thinking a lot about it since then. Just the other night at my Life Group, our leader challenged us with this exact thing. He said to go away and read John 8:12 and Matt 5:14-16:

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be
hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

These pictures are from the Christmas Eve Eve service. They have their service on the 23rd because the traffic gets really crazy on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so it's just easier for everyone to have it one day earlier. This picture above is of Ashtyn and one of her friends. I thought they looked so much alike that they could be sisters. So cute.

And here's poor Jackson. You can always tell when he's not feeling well. He's usually running around and sweating profusely, but he wouldn't leave his Mom's side and sat still during the service, so you know something's wrong. After the service my sister and b-i-l had to mingle, so Jode drove Jack and I home and he laid on the couch and we put a movie on for him. About 2 minutes after my sister had left, I looked over at him and he was sound asleep. Poor little guy. As we were driving home he said to Jodi, "Can I still open my presents?" So cute! Christmas was still 2 days away and he was already feeling better the next morning. It was even nice to be there for those moments.