What Christmas Was

Christmas tree worms celebrate Christmas their entire lives!!!

I had just missed the moment by 5 minutes. An abduction attempt was made on a woman by four assailants with a fleeing car at the spot where I parked & alighted. When I got into my cellgroup leader’s house in Bandar Utama, I was confronted with a tensed group of members who just rescued the woman. She was my leader’s sister. As bluntly as my leader put it, “There you are, Pam! You missed the attempted kidnap by 5 minutes. You should have been taken instead so you can put them in their places!” (I hope I did not misinterpret what he said as a statement of rejection…) And I replied, “Yes! I’ll convert all of them!”

It was a time of celebration for the season & a feast of sorts were dished out by members of my home fellowship to make the ‘pot-bless’ a reason to gather. We don’t believe in luck. My leader said grace & I gave my thanks in a silent prayer that I was not the one to experience the ordeal. To think that I missed my alarm to wake up at the time I was supposed to prepare a dish, I rushed through the food preparation to make it there on time. However, my usual route was congested so I veered off another way only to find congestion there too. Being the first one to arrive each week, this was the first time I didn’t feel bad for being late. Yet another divine intervention…..

Christmas meant giving pressies & receiving surprises from loved ones. I got a pair of binoculars to bird watch AND bird watch….. It’s a time for turkey & mince pies. It’s also time to get away to celebrate my birthday which comes three days after… (Hint! Hint!)

Somehow, this year would be the first Christmas I would not be performing for the church musical. During this time each year, I’d be getting into character, remembering lines, talking to myself while driving & getting ready, both mentally & spiritually, to face the crowd. What people get to see on stage is a played down version of my character. What they don’t get to see is the spiritual warfare that goes on for months leading up to the play itself. Before I took on a role in the performing arts, I had never dreamt that I would be serving in this capacity but somehow God has lead me to use the skills I’d learnt walking down the catwalk & being groomed to become beef to bring the good news to the weary. What can I say? This was not my intended vocation but an accidental one & I’m enjoying it!

So I am here. I’ve shelved my plans to visit the islands of Thailand because some Thai guy predicted another quake that would send another tsunami our way. Not that I believe in his prediction but if disaster strikes, I would like to help CREST again. Last year I cancelled my trip to Koh Lipe & escaped the tsunami on Boxing Day because I took up the offer to perform for New Year’s Eve. With God allowing such to happen, perhaps it’s time to heed the message of the Christmas that had been…..