New Year’s Eve – Then and Now

Four years ago I participated in a New Year’s Eve service in the very church I’m now attending. My journal from that time states that my friend Liz and I went to the “service, where the decibel level on the sound system was in the red…. Then began a song – sometimes their language, sometimes English – that lasted at least half an hour! One enthusiastic girl in our row induced Liz and me to go up front with her and ‘dance,’ which for me meant walking in step and keeping track of the double clap that came at such an odd time…. The song was followed by a sermon…. The pastor would read his notes in English, and then the interpreter would accompany his words with enthusiastic gestures, so that we felt as though we first heard and then saw the sermon. At 11:30 came a 10-minute break, which we took advantage of to slip out and…pray in the new year as a team, African praises echoing in our ears.”

This year:

* The decibel level was not in the red (although it was still fairly loud!).
* I knew most of the songs. (Also, by now I’ve realized that it’s not one song going on for half an hour, it’s song after song without any break between – hence the rotation between various languages.)
* I didn’t dance up front. (I’ve realized that actually, most people DON’T dance up front; but there’s plenty of movement in the rows, and people who want to dance up the aisle feel free to do so.)
* I had the double clap down pat. ;)
* The sermon wasn’t interpreted (but this year’s speaker supplied his own gestures).
* I stayed in the service until it ended at 12:30 a.m.

But the biggest difference is that where everyone was strange four years ago, save for the members of my team and perhaps one or two others, this year I looked around at a room full of familiar faces and friends, and exchanged warm smiles with those with whom I made eye contact.

How can God give us so much love to share?!