Greetings and welcome to the season of Christmas from all of us at St. Andrew's. It is cold. Iowans like to talk about the weather. It probably reflects our agrarian roots and I am no different. I really enjoyed leading morning prayer to our small gathering today. We shared our thoughts on Lessons and Carols this Christmas Eve. It was a wonderful experience for me to share the readings and sing those songs that we seem to have always known. Singing Silent Night by candle light always gets me choked up. The food and conversation afterward was great too. We also talked about Christmas day. Bill was surrounded by family in Northeast Iowa and he admitted to looking forward to coming home to his own bed and pillow when it was all over. Sam hosted Christmas dinner for his family and four Mormon missionaries and had a great time playing games afterward. Sherry and I had salad for Christmas dinner. That may sound meager but it seemed like we had been eating in excess for days and "just salad" was perfect.
After the service we enjoyed coffee and treats as we always do. However, since New Years is this Wednesday we had the New Years ritual of eating black eyed peas as well. It's a southern custom to eat black eyed peas on New Years so that you will prosper the rest of the year. At least that's what Sherry says. She also put a penny in every window. That is done so that your money won't fly out the window in that year. Are we superstitious? Maybe a little.
There was a small miracle that happened in church today. Frank had ridden with Bill last week for the tour of homes in Corydon. He asked Bill if he had left his gloves in Bill's car. Bill said he did but he could find only one glove. Then...after church service Bill came back from looking again and the other glove had miraculously appeared! I hope this doesn't get around too much. I'd hate to have people lining up in front of the church to find their missing glove!
Peace and good will to all of you,
Deacon Fred
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