A Christmas Carol

19th of November 2021

Today was a fun day for me, it wasn't like the regular Sundays where I simply attend church, listen to the word and go back home with spiritual gifts and financial prosperity. Today's service was a bit different, it was full of blessings but it also featured a Christmas Carol session. I've always enjoyed going to the house of the Lord but I was much more excited today because it had been announced since the previous Sundays that it was going to be a Carol service.

I have been looking forward to the Carol songs that were going to be selected including the singing and dancing. I mostly feel shy to dance in public so all I do is move to the left and to the right while clapping along to the beat.

Though I got to church a bit late, I was surprised to see that a lot of people were already on seat unlike the previous Sundays where people mostly came late for no reason. It's a Christmas Carol after all and nobody wants to miss out on any fun. I mean who wouldn't like to have some fun especially since it's a festive season and the period to be jolly regardless of whatever we've been through since the beginning of the year.

The men simply wore their usual attires and didn't seem to care about their choice of clothing, the women and young ladies had special attires on, mostly a combination of white and red, almost like they were practicing to be santa claus. You know ladies and their complexities; always looking bright and beautiful regardless of what day it is and looking even more attractive on special occasions.

If I was old enough I could have picked a wife among the many ladies that were gorgeously dressed or perhaps dressed to kill. The choristers were also on all white like they had just come from snow land or perhaps heaven.

• Carol songs

After the praise and worship session we didn't sing the usual opening hymn but did things differently by singing Carol 1, Carol 2 and Carol 3. Though not at once but at intervals and special presentations between which also included two sessions of Bible reading which in each case addressed the embodiment of perfection which is the birth of Jesus christ through virgin mary.

• Carol 1

Carol one was "come all ye faithful" with the first verse sung as thus;

"Oh, come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant!

Oh, come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem.

Come and behold him,

Born the King of angels;

Oh, come, let us adore him;

Oh, come, let us adore him;

Oh, come, let us adore him,

Christ, the Lord"

It's a very popular Carol song which I've always enjoyed listened to since my childhood, back when the Christmas spirit was very much alive. This song is basically calling unto every believer out there to to come witness the birth of christ the king while acknowledging his supreme majesty.

• Carol 2

The secomd Carol is a very popular one as well which is sung by both young and old, a song I can sing off hand without mincing words. A song titled "Joy to the world".

The first and most popular verse goes thus;

"Joy to the world! The Lord is come

Let earth receive her King!

Let every heart prepare Him room

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven, and heaven and nature sing"

• A little bit of anxiety

Coincidentally I was asked to read the second Bible text which was taken from Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 to 25. I was really nervous the moment I went up stage that I instantly forgot the verse I was meant to read but took a deep breath and it all came back. I had to calm myself down, took a deep and looked at the crowd with confidence without giving them a clue that something was wrong.

All these happened within 5 to 8 seconds but all thanks to God I remembered the verse and asked the whole church to bring out their Bibles while we read together (deep breaths).

• Carol 3

The final and closing Carol song was "silent night, holy night'. I didn't realise it was a Carol song until now because I always listened to it during my childhood in a nursery rhyme collection CD. I had to meditate through the lyrics and realised it was referring to the birth of Christ as well but with a metaphoric approach.

"Silent night, holy night

All is calm, and all is bright

Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child

Holy infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace

Sleep in heavenly peace"

Special presentations followed the Carol songs and we had a lot of fun.

Altogether it was a really fun service which I didn't want to end. During the Carol songs I remembered an article by @Scotty17 where he mentioned his five favorite Christmas songs, coincidentally the first Carol song mentioned above (come all ye faithful) was also mentioned on the list.

The service ended as quickly as it began, there was food and drinks afterwards and I didn't want it all to end. Unfortunately everything that has a beginning has an end.

I didn't let the celebration end there, I went to the nearest eatery and treated myself to fried rice, salad and chicken with Hollandia yoghurt to wash it down.

I didn't devour the perfect combination at the eatery but took it home so I could savor the moment properly. I've been craving chicken since the beginning of the previous week hence I decided to not hold myself back after all it's a season of celebration.

Thanks for reading.

Lead image is gotten from unsplash.com

I'm saying a special thank you to four really wonderful people that decided to sponsor me; @Jelena, @Bloghound, @Jeansapphire39, and @GarrethGrey07, you are simply the best. I'mconsidering this sponsorship as an encouragement and I promise to not let you down.