1224 Christmas Eve

Monday started off like any other day, except for the fact that it was Christmas Eve. I had made plans to attend both of the candlelight services at SBCC, at 5pm and 7pm, and had made arrangements with Steve T for a ride home. Or, at least I thought that’s what I asked him. I told my mother of my intentions, as I needed to have my parents drop me off early enough so that they don’t have to drive after dark (their eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be).

Anyways, my mother told me that my sister was coming by in the late afternoon with the kids and that they would be here until around 5:30pm or so, when they would depart for their own service at Gardena Baptist Church. At first, my mother considered that Judi might be able to drop me off at SBCC on the way, but she dismissed the idea when she considered the limited space in my sister’s minivan. So my mother decided that she and my father would take me to SBCC around 6pm and that they would deal with the night driving, despite my protests.

Judi arrived around 3:30pm, with husband Mike, the three kids (Katherine, Matthew, and Daniel) and their family dog (Putter, a female). The kids and the dog bounded out of the van, and our dog, Jett (a male black lab), wanted to get outside to greet them. After almost destroying the inside of the house, we relented and let him loose outside. He wisely left the kids alone and headed straight for Putter, in order to flirt with her. Putter, on the other hand, rightly views Jett as a pest and wants nothing to do with him. So she crawled underneath the patio, as she knew from experience that Jett is too big to follow. All Jett could do was sit on the patio, whining and waiting for Putter to come out. He’s so clueless (I wonder where he gets that from).

So Judi came into the den, where I exercise and live, and we caught up on what’s been going on in our lives. Her work, my recovery, visits with John, etc. We ended up talking about our churches. She asked if SBCC was having a service that night and I told her about my attending the 7pm service. She asked why I would make our parents drive in the dark and then I told her everything I wrote in the first two paragraphs of this blog.

She thought it over and said that they should be able to fit both me and my wheelchair in the minivan. She left to discuss it with Mike and my parents, since she didn’t want them to be driving after dark either. She was gone for a long time, then came back into the den with a puzzled look on her face. She said, “Your friend, Steve, is here to pick you up for church.” And in comes Steve T, smiling as usual.

Suddenly, everything fell into place. I got myself changed as Steve pulled his car into the driveway. We loaded me and my wheelchair into his car, and off we went. He told me that I asked him for a roundtrip. I thought I only asked for a ride home, but fortunately, it all worked out.

We arrived at SBCC about 4:45pm and Steve helped me to the door. He headed off to meet with Pastor Gary and I talked with some friends on the patio. Lillian Y approached me and asked where I would be sitting. I told her that my usual place in the back is fine. She told me that she watched me on Saturday night, and when the congregation rose during worship, all that she thought I could see was backs and butts, and she didn’t want that to happen again. So she led me into the Sanctuary early and pulled a chair out of the front row for me to wheel into place.

Wow! What a different view I had from the front row, although napping during the sermon was much more difficult.

I sat in on both of the services. They were identical except for a few small variations. During the 5pm service, all four pastors (Gary, Ken, Nathan, James) were presented with customized quilts from the Crafts Ministry, headed by Mrs. K. And the Hula Ministry performed at both services, but the teams were different.

Pastor Nathan opened with some popular Christmas carols. Davey was the emcee and spoke about Placide Cappeau, a French poet, who was asked to write a Christmas poem by a parish priest, and was inspired by passages found in Luke 2. He wrote a poem titled “Minuit, chretiens”, which was then put to music by composer Adolphe Adam in 1847 as a song titled “Cantique de Noel”. We know it today as “O Holy Night”. The Hula Ministry then came onstage and performed a dance to the music.

Pastor Gary came up and spoke about what it must have been like that night 2007 years ago. He talked about lying with Cheryl during her pregnancies with their unborn daughters and how he spoke to them and prayed for them. He also prayed for the little boys who would become his future son-in-laws, after the girls turned 30. He spoke as a parent, and that he understands the grief that God must have felt to send His only Son to earth, to be born as human, and to die on the cross for our sins.

The service ended with a video from the New Creation orphanage in Uganda that the church helped to found and support. The orphans and staff sang “Noel” and “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”.

Pastor Nathan closed with “Silent Night” as candles were lit through the congregation.

The first service was packed to the walls with mostly new people. There were a few last-minute shoppers in the crowd, and those who had plans or parties to get to. Plus a few regulars. I saw Brian with his father, Arnold (his mother, Lillian, and his grandmother were spending Christmas in Hawaii); they were heading down to Carlsbad that night to be with his brother’s family. Carlton & Debbie, the Fujinos (Pat, with daughters Tricia and Sheri), Danny & Trisha, Lyle & Cindy, the Koskas (Didier, Alice & Cameron) and many others.

The second service was only about a third full, and it was mostly SBCC regulars. Like Garrick & Karin, Rod & Claire, Liz, Tina, Scott, Judy, Mike & Carol. Mike & Dana, etc.

Between the two services, I had the opportunity to chat with Pastor Nathan about the Christmas caroling the previous night. He only expected about six people would show up, but he ended up with about 30 in all. It was a very special evening.

After each of the services, there were cookies to munch on. Liz asked me about my stroke anniversary as she remembered last year’s Christmas Eve service had all the cookies that I had baked. I baked the cookies as Christmas gifts for friends, but never had the chance to give them away when the stroke hit me on 12/22/2006. I remember lying n ICU, telling my sister to pack them all up and give them to the church to dispose of.

After it was all over, a group of us headed out to find something to eat. But before we left, a fire engine came racing into the parking lot with its lights flashing. As it turned out, Mike C hit the “fire” button while setting the alarm system at the church. Everything was straightened out with the engine crew and we wished them a Merry Christmas, along with our sincere apologies.

We discovered that Coco’s was closed, as the waitstaff were walking to their cars as we drove up. Fortunately, they directed us to Norm’s, just down the street, which would be open through the holidays.

As we drove into the Norm’s parking lot, we could see that they were packed. There were eight of us, so we had to wait about ten minutes for a table. Actually, we were split up into two tables of four. Interestingly, the four women (Carol, Dana, Judy and Lillian) sat at one table and the four men (Mike F, Mike C, Steve and myself) sat at the other one. It was interesting to watch the dynamics of the married couples, as they checked to see what their spouses were ordering.

We had breakfast at our table. I had the lumberjack combo, Steve had the corned beef hash with eggs, Mike C had the melting pot omelette and Mike F had bacon and eggs. As the food arrived, we could hear one of the women saying grace, so we asked them to pray louder and cover us as well. They just laughed and the voice got softer, so we volunteered Mike C, while he was in the restroom. When Mike came back, he said grace, and then we ate.

Norm’s offers a 10% discount for teachers, so Lillian handled the check. We just tossed her the cash and she took care of everything. We left the server a good tip, and headed out to the parking lot, where we wished each other a Merry Christmas and then went our separate ways. Steve had me home by 11pm.