Imagine with me for a minute: you are hosting a Christmas party for some of your closest and dearest friends. You want to show your friends how much you love them while emphasizing the true meaning of Christmas. As you think about the event, you begin to make plans. Where will the celebration take place? What food will you serve? Will there be any entertainment? What will the decorations look like? Will guests leave with gifts?
Well, here at camp, we decided to do just that! And, we figured who better to join us than our wonderful Camp War Eagle families?! So with nearly 600?? families scheduled to come, we had some serious planning to do.
Several weeks beforehand, Ozone and program staff met out at camp to wrap the hundreds and hundreds of gifts that would be distributed. The planning continued, as we booked the Metroplex, a large event center in Rogers, Arkansas, created table decorations, packed food bags, distributed information to families, gathered volunteers to serve food, and of course, arranged for Santa to attend.
That morning, all of our cars journeyed through layers of snow and ice, remains of the recent snowpocalypse, and finally pulled into the parking lot of the Metroplex. After several hours of setting up tables and chairs, preparing areas for food, transporting gifts, and creating a game room, we were ready for our guests to arrive!
Our giant Christmas party was ready to begin! As families arrived, we greeted them warmly and led them to their seats. From that point, we invited them to take a photo with Santa, visit our game room, or interact with their server. Once all of our guests were seated, we served them a plate full of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and a roll – a complete Christmas meal! The kids eyes lit up when we brought a whole plate of Christmas cookies to each table. Throughout the night, we provided entertainment through music, Christmas carols, and a telling of the Christmas story. Families heard about Jesus’ birth, celebrating with us the coming of our Lord. And just as God gave us the greatest gift of all, His Son Jesus Christ, we brought presents out to every single child in attendance. Once everyone received a gift, shouts of joy filled the air as they opened their presents. We also provided every family with at least one food bag, providing staple ingredients to help sustain them during the winter months.
In the days afterward, we were filled with happiness, thinking of the great Christmas party that we’re privileged to orchestrate. We love our CWE families and enjoy celebrating the holidays with them. We are blessed to do so.
I suppose we’ll put our clipboards down for right now, though I’m sure more planning will soon begin. With year-round events such as our worship night, spring break retreat, and canned food drive in the works, we look forward to seeing you again soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment