Two weeks till Christmas

I've been too busy to post anything the last few days, but it's been a very good busy-ness.  I am so very grateful that at the age of 80 I'm still able to be active and enjoy my family, friends and many activities.  Yesterday I went to church in the morning for the Bible study group, we are doing the Beth Moore study on I and II Thessalonions, and it is very good.  Then at noon, all the seniors started arriving for our Senior Faith and Fun Club Christmas party.  We first had a delicious catered meal, after which there were some presentations.  I was given a gift of a beautiful scarf because I've been publishing the newsletter for the club for seven years now.  After a short devotional, it was time for the white elephant gift exchange - this was done with a lot of laughter, especially when one of the ladies unwrapped her gift and it was a roll of toilet paper!  She was a really good sport about it and had fun with it -- and a few minutes later found out that there was a $20 bill wrapped up in it!  Then we all wished we had chosen that gift, but none of us wanted to steal it from her -- I guess we were all just too nice!

Monday was another good day.  I teach a Bible study group the first Monday of each month; I started this group in June of 2001 and we've been meeting together ever since and have really bonded as sisters in Christ.  This Monday we had a Christmas brunch and also a gift exchange and a time of singing carols and sharing memories.  It was a really good time together.

And then Wednesday was my Christian Women's Connection luncheon -- again we had great food and a wonderful speaker.  We used to have these luncheons every month, but the last few years we have had to change to every other month, simply because so many women went back to work or left for other reasons.  In October we had our annual "Country Fair" as a fundraiser for missions; we raised over $2,500! 

Oh yes, I must not forget about this past Sunday.  Our church has quite a large Deaf ministry; on Saturday they had their annual Christmas party but I wasn't able to attend because I had two other parties to go to, so I went to their Sunday School and their worship service on Sunday.  They have interpreters who speak the words out loud for those of us who are not deaf.  The speaker was a visiting Deaf evangelist who was born in Nigeria and raised as a Muslim.  He was very interesting.  He became a Christian after someone kept on telling him about Jesus and what really impressed him was that Jesus had risen from the dead, while the prophets of other religions stayed dead.  This group also presented me with a gift because I have been helping them for seven years.  I don't know American Sign Language, but I wish I did so I could communicate better with them.  We do have conversation with paper and pen.  If I thought I could do two things at the same time, I'd try to learn sign language, but I don't think that's possible....

Today I was at home all day doing laundry and making Christmas cards.  We are scheduled to get some snow tonight which is ok, because the last few days have all been very warm.  I was able to go to all my activities without a coat in the middle of December.  I would very much like to have some snow for Christmas, as long as the roads aren't too slippery so I can't do the things I want to do.

Now it's time to relax in my recliner; one of my favorite TV shows is on today, "Shark Tank".  There isn't much I watch on TV, but I always enjoy this one.