A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to do a fireside for the youth in my ward. We hd planned to do A Night in Bethlehem as laid out by The Idea Door . I had invitations out, parts casted and all I needed to decorate my backyard into a small little market. I already have a pergola with lights that we thought would make a beautiful manger scene. Things were going well and the youth were getting excited. Then the day before the activity, the weather in our area took a turn and we had a huge storm predicted to come rolling in at the time of our event.
By this point, I had just worked a 12 hr day at work. The first 2 weekends of December are always our big shows for the parents. It's fun but exhausting. In a 24 hour period we move around the gym equipment and put up 200 chairs for parents only to move it all back to be ready for regular classes on Monday. So for a person dealing with Chronic Fatigue that is normally all I can do in the weekend. But now I was needing to make changes for the fireside too.
I couldn't have done it on my own, but God knew just what to do! And I listened as he guided all my thoughts.
We decided to move the activity into my house and not decorate like a market. I had my kids string up Christmas lights around the room and I put up Eva Timothy's picture Tender Shepherd on my TV. We only had the Christmas lights on and the white bagged lights that led the path into my family room. I knew would would have a tight squeeze to get the youth into my house, but it was the only place I had (The church had already been booked out for that night).
The more I thought about it the more I realized I needed to make a change to the script so the youth to could really be able to get into the Christmas spirit and not just blank out because it was another reenactment of the Christmas Story. Saturday night after coming home from shows, I knelt down in prayer and asked my Heavenly Father to guide my words and help me find a way to share the Christmas Story in a way that the youth would connect with and inspire them. I felt very strongly to write a script based off of how the characters of the Christmas story might have personally felt.
I was so nervous on Sunday not sure how everything was going to turn out. What if the kids thought it was lame? What if the spirit didn't testify of Christ that night? So much doubt of my weaknesses in writing came out.
But as it was all presented, the spirit was stronger than I had felt for a long time. Majority of the youth were engaged and attentively watching and listening. We sang Christmas songs, read scriptures, listened to what Mary, Jospeh, the Shepherds and Wisemen must of felt that night of Christ's birth; and then we testified of Christ.
It was a worship of Christ that I've been craving for a while. I was trying to bring his spirit in, but was falling short. And then with the help of God, and his unexpected ways, I found my true worship!
Don't you love when God allows natural detours to happen, but the detour ended up being exactly what we need!!
When life isn't going how you planned and unexpected road bumps come up, lean into them. Instead of fighting and feeling defeated, go with it. Turn to God and see where he will take you in the moment of the unexpected. When you do, I know you will find a true worship with HIM!!
If you would like access to the script, message me with your email and I will send it over.
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