A week before Christmas our church had a party. Since our house is the church building it made sense to have it here. We had lots of great food. Each family brought a traditional holiday dish.
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Then we played white elephant gift exchange.
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Finally, the kids decorated cookies while the adults discussed some things they had learned this year.
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It was a great party, not unlike some others I've been to in the past. There was, however, something different about it. As I was cleaning up after the last guest left, I was thinking about how much the whole evening felt just like every other Sunday in our home. I thought about how we eat together every week, discuss something from the Bible, pray together, teach the children...
Then it dawned on me that this party with people I just met less than a year ago was like a family get together. We have all grown together over the past year and whether we are having church or a meal or a party, there is a sense of family when we are all together. We are so blessed to be part of a church like this and are excited to see what God will do through us in 2011.