Christmas Eve: Santa run and bells

Christmas Eve was supposed to start with an early run with Brad and cousin Kenny. But Kenny waited until the last minute to take his kiddos to see Santa, so he skipped our pre-dawn run to fulfill this very important daddy duty!

Brad went right back to sleep, and I hit the 'mill... with my Santa hat and socks :)

Yeah, I am that cool :)

Brad's folks came over for traditional Christmas Eve snacks before I headed to Newberg Friends for an evening of music and worship.

We played alongside a lovely acoustic mix - voice, bass, violin, guitar, piano and harp. And the evening was punctuated by some very, very, very funny moments, courtesy of our lead pastor who was having an off night ;)

Christmas Eve has become very special to me. It's many, many hours of wonderful music, lots of good food, laughs, family, friends and Jesus. I love all parts of Christmas, but I think this tradition is my favorite.

Besides the traditional, we sang some meaningful non-traditional songs. I'm always deeply touched by these powerful pieces, including The Candle Song.

We're going through some changes at NFC as my friend (and bell director) Mauri is stepping down after 33 years as worship pastor. So this Christmas Eve held extra significance as we don't know what the future holds for the NFC Bells.

I hope there's still a place for my ministry. But regardless, Christmas Eve will look different, and for that, I mourn. Our final piece of the evening, while very festive and joyous, was bittersweet. To be honest, I had to hold back a couple tears. I will dearly miss those moments.

It was a special night. Thank you to everyone who made it so great - musicians, leaders, participants, friends, family, visitors. Loved it :)

Did you miss it? Click HERE to listen to the Christmas Eve podcast.