Last night we went to Lake Lanier Night of Lights. It has been a tradition for...well I don't really know how many years...that we load up with some college friends of ours and head to eat dinner and then see the lights together. 
It's been fun to go and see how the kids enjoy it year after year as they grow older. This year we hit the 9 person limit for one car! We ride in our own cars to dinner and then right before the entrance to the lights, we pull into a closed boat store and we pile into one car. This year we put the back seats down in our van and let the kids have a place all their own to sit. It worked out wonderfully and the kids had a blast!
Last year Blackshear Place Church started the live Nativity at Lake Lanier. It was so beautiful and it comes complete with donkeys, goats, calves, sheep, and even a camel! They act out the Christmas story of Jesus' birth from the book of Luke. We bundled the kids up and enjoyed some time there at the nativity.
It was a great night and one that helped again to focus on the light of Jesus Christ that was brought into a dark world. It reminds me of the verse in John:
"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Several friends have passed this along through email. I wanted to share it with each of you...I think the meaning is very challenging to each of us today!
1 CORINTHIANS 13 CHRISTMAS VERSION
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies,preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure. Merry Christmas!-- Author Unknown
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