Epiphany, Light of Christ, and More

First of all, thank you so much for all the good wishes and encouragement left for me in the comment box of my last post!  It was a heartening way to celebrate six years of blogging.  (The comment box is still open; you're never too to the party!)

It's Epiphany, the end of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" and the beginning of a new season in which we celebrate the Wise Men following the star and encountering Jesus at the end of their long journey.  Our church was birthed during Epiphany, which is why we named it Light of Christ.

During Advent, the world was in darkness, and we prayed and waited in the spirit of the Jewish nation which lived in expectation of the Coming Light during thousands of years. At Christmas the Light shone forth, but dimly, seen only by a few around the crib: Mary and Joseph and the shepherds. But at Epiphany the Light bursts forth to all nations and the prophecy is fulfilled: "The Gentiles shall walk in Thy light, and kings in the brightness of Thy rising." The mysterious star of Epiphany, "flashing like a flame," is still another facet of the light-motif, a symbol capable of being interpreted in a dozen different ways.  ~Elsa Chaney

Isn't that a great image?  We use that star combined with a quatrefoil in our logo.  It is our prayer that our church will be the Light of Christ "bursting forth to all the nations"--or at least shining into the dark places of our city.  We pray it will be a powerful beacon, like the landmark lighthouses of Kenosha.

Tonight, our congregation will meet for dinner and our Annual Celebration.  Oh, it's a business meeting too, where we'll approve the budget and our new vestry members.  But we'll also rejoice in what God has done in the past year, and anticipate what we believe He wants to do through us in 2012.  And it's our fifth birthday, as a church!  Lots to celebrate.

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So I better go get ready.  It's been a busy week of appointments, errands and schoolwork pushed off until after the holidays. We had a nice time over the break, first with Papa Rooster's side of the family--his parents, his brother and our sister-in-law and niece/cousin--all at our house on Christmas Day, then with my parents at their home in Ohio in between Christmas and New Year's. My Pilot Brother and his wife and their four girls were all there too, so it was quite the family gathering!

Blondechick is still home from college, and we got to have lunch together yesterday, before she goes back next week to begin a new semester of classes.  Bantam20 is finally off the waiting list at the DVR (Department of Vocational Rehabilitation), and we met twice this week with his caseworker, who assists people with disabilities to find jobs.  I really like her, and we are eager to see what she comes up with.

The Bantams 16 and 12 have one more week to complete all their work for the semester, for their virtual school.  They got behind before the break, partly due to their employment at the Christmas tree farm, and then they weren't able to make up very much of it over the break, with all the family visits.  So I've been trying to keep them focused, assisting where needed--and trying not to stress out too much.

Happy Epiphany, everyone!