Completing Christmas!

We're midway through Advent and have finally started to get into the Christmas Spirit. We held a successful Table Top Sale on Saturday which brought in a new selection of stallholders and an ever varied selection of bargain hunters. It was a great atmosphere and everyone seemed to have a rewarding time. The efforts of our fundraising committee who organise these events is to be commended as the funds raised help towards building up a fund for future fabric and outreach expenditure.
In the evening (who had the idea to do these things on the same day!) we held our Christmas Dinner. Forty-eight attended which brought its own challenges for the catering team not least fining enough oven space for all the roast potatoes. In the end all way cooked and served and everyone was well and truely stuffed! The proceeds of the evening - £100 - were presented to representatives of The Folkestone Rainbow Centre, a homeless charity we had decided at Church Meeting to support. We rounded the evening off with carol singing - the first carols we had sung in the 2010 season! Reflecting upon the mountain of washing up, with fresh enthusiasm we resolved to commit to the challenge of relocating the kitchen by next year so we could prepare, cook, serve and clear up that much easier at such events.
Our 'alternative' Christmas tree has been placed in the church - a simply decorated cross - after it was displayed at the town's Methodist Church during the first week of Advent as part of their Christmas Tree Festival's display.
At our final Home Groups of the year we listen to the insightful recording of an interview with the writer/producer of the BBC series 'The Nativity' to be shown in prime-time during Christmas Week.
We prepare now for the long run of Christmas services and activities. The knitters have their Christmas Party on Wednesday, we hold our All-Age Nativity Service on Sunday 19th with Carol Singing to our neighbours in the afternoon. With our Carol Service on Wednesday of Christmas week, Family Carols on Christmas Eve and a Family Service on Christmas Day, we will be looking forward to the end of our celebration with Informal Worship on Boxing Day.
Having distributed over 1500 invitations to local homes we hope that we will see some new faces at some if not all of our celebrations.
College term finishes this week and I have two assignments to hand in well ahead of the 31st January deadline and hope to relieve the library shelves of a few books to help complete one, if not two more, over Christmas.
On a personal note having skipped a couple of weeks of college for hospital appointments I am awaiting news of results but with the assurance of the Consultant that all seems well.
So Christmas is coming...and so, if the weathermen are correct, is more snow - hopefully the right sort this time so I can build some snowmen! Then my Christmas will be complete!