English Country Line Dancing-- The Scottish

I finally found the videos I took at the Christmas Ball! Grandma and Papa gave us their old camera; it saves as a different format, hence the reason my searches didn't find it. But the good thing about the different format is the fact that it takes sound and can go on Blogger. :)
This dance is one of my favorites, although its not technically "English". We call it The Scottish, and it is the most tiring dance. It is so popular that they have to do it two times so everyone can have a go. It is a looong dance, and I taped nearly the whole thing. You do not have to watch all ten minutes of this. :)

English Country Line Dancing

I've been going to English Country Line dances whenever I can make it (not very often). Usually it is a ton of fun, but the Christmas Ball topped it all! In addition to wonderful dances, hilarious jokes with friends, and all around-enjoyment, I got to feast my eyes on the costumes. Many people simply wore nicer clothes (a nice skirt, or a church outfit, etc.) Since it was the Ball, several people wore prom dresses. But I saw several hoopskirt dresses, a few Colonial gowns, a Southern Belle, a few midevil peasants, a medieval princess, someone who looked just like Henry XIII, several Regency gowns, and even something that looked like either a pirate or a gypsy. I, of course, wore my Elvish dress and jewelry. :) Some dances are for the older kids, teens, and adults, but entire families came to this one.

Here are a few pictures-- not many, because I was spending my time dancing, talking, and drinking the berry tea.

^My friend Grace wore a Medevil outfit that looked Elvish!

I had a video of one of my favorite dances-- the Scottish-- but apparently it didn't download onto the computer. I hope I didn't delete that particular memory card yet...

What Child is This?

What child is this, who, laid to rest
On Mary's lap, is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?


Every child is a miracle. What else would you call such a little bundle of joy? Tiny fingers, innocent eyes, soft skin, sweet smell-- but most importantly-- a person?

But what is so important about this child? How can He be more than a miracle? What makes Him so special? He is just as weak and just as vulnerable as any other little baby. He is sleeping in His mother's arms, shivering slightly in the way that babies have a habit of, and probably drooling all over her sleeve.

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary! 

This is Jesus, the Son of God. He is part of the Trinity. He is God.
He made the world. All of its complexities, all of its brilliancy-- He made it. He made you. It is because of Him that you and I exist at all.

What child is this? So small? So weak? So willing to suffer, for those that He created? So delicate and breakable? So human?


This is probably the single most important question you could be asking yourself right now. What child is this? Is this really God? Do you believe it? It is beyond your imagination, if you really try. Try, right now. Put away your fears of actually seeing this. Shut your eyes, forget lists of things to do, and spend ten seconds really paying attention. This child is more than a picture on Christmas cards.

Raise, raise the song on high,
The Virgin sings her lullaby:
Joy, joy, for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!

On Christmas Carols and Songs of the Holidays

When you think of Christmas, you (often) think of decorated trees, piles of presents, and Christmas songs. You think of carols sung by off-tune children (as in my family), instrumentals issuing from an iPod, concerts held by the next musician in the family...

Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Frosty the Snowman are all favorites. They haunt your Christmas shopping in November and stay with you until December the Twenty-Sixth.

Songs such as these are great fun. They remind us of the simple, childish imagination. To many, these songs hold as much truth as Silent Night and Hark the Harold Angels Sing. To them, these songs are all things of imagination-- things that are fun to think of, but things that they do not believe in.

To Christians, however, these songs hold so much more meaning than Rudolf or Frosty. They are real. A child, sleeping in the feeding trough of rough animals, is the greatest human ever to walk the earth. This child is God Himself. The peace, the splendor, the humbled omniscience indicated by Silent Night are true. Tell me, does that not send a shiver down your spine? That joyful shiver is something that poor Rudolf never gives me.
This is truth, not a myth. And sometimes it seems too much to believe. Doesn't a baby born to save trillions of people sound as magical as a reindeer who leads a sleigh full of trillions of toys for joyful children? Doesn't the truth sound like a fairytale?

Perhaps that is the point. Take a short breather and look at Christmas as if it were something you had never seen. Take the risk of seeing an ordinary thing for the first time again. The truth is so magical that it is shocking. But it resounds so much clearer, so much deeper, so much sweeter than tales of a talking snowman.


To quote G.K. Chesterton, "Truth must always be stranger than fiction, because fiction is the creation of the human mind and is therefore congenial to it."

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas Pictures

Here are some pictures of Christmas for you to enjoy! I don't have much time to add captions, or whatever it is called. :) So just enjoy the pictures! These are all from Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I have more to come from when we were at Grandma's house.

Second Batch Christmas Pictures

Thrid Batch Christmas Pictures

Think they liked their present?

Christmas

Looks like we're all doing stuff at Christmas Eve Mass! I am playing one song in the prelude, Ben is singing in the choir, Will is doing one of the readings, and Nick might be bringing up the gifts. Will, Dad, and I will also be doing the soundboard.

I've got alot to post! Yesterday was Nick's birthday, and I need to get those pictures up. I have older pictures to post, too.
On Sunday, the Woelks were having a Christmas party where they asked people to preform Christmas songs. The Sauers and I discovered that we had the same song, O Holy Night, in the same key. Nicole played the violin, Michelle played the flute, and I was on the piano. (Jacob Hamacher played gutair and Elise sang) We played it through a couple times, and it sounded really good! Mrs. Sauer asked us to play at the Christmas Eve Mass! I'm so excited!
It was also really neat to hear Father Basil, who is from Nigeria, sing. In addition to singing, violin, flute, and gutair, the accordian and recorder were also played. Dad challenged everyone with a fun singing game. He divided the room in half, and each half sang a different word (Not syllables) of Jingle Bells. This is what some of it should have been like:
Side 1: Jingle
Side 2: Bells
1: Jingle
2: Bells
1 Jingle
2 All
1The
2 Way... etc.
This is what happened:
1 Jingle
2 Bells
1 Jingle
2 Bells
1 Jingle
2 All The
1 Way
2 Oh What- wait! One WORD, not syllable!!!!!!!!

Ben got a long-awaited email account. What else has happened? Lets see, we set up the Christmas tree and lights. Well, we haven't done much to post about, but I have some fun pictures coming, so hang onto your seats!