Crossing the Delaware - Christmas Day

We attended church for the 10:30 service and afterwards they brought out a HUGE birthday cake for Jesus. Afterwards, Christina and I went to see the  "Historic Washington crossing the Delaware"  re-enactment. Wow! I always thought that was just a bunch of guys get into a boat dressed as revolutionary war soldiers and officers. Was I wrong! There's dialogue, interaction, narration, etc. Also, Christina and I live right in front of the Delaware River. I mean, you can see it from our bathroom window. Well, we went to the Pennsylvania side to watch the re-enactment. So, watching what happens BEFORE the crossing, was really cool. While we were waiting for George to make his famous cross, a friendly soldier answered all of our questions concerning that time. I highly recommend taking your children to see this once a year. Educational and a lot of fun!

Did you know that the phrase, "Lock, Stock, and Barrel" originated from a revolutionary war soldier's musket? The 3 main components on a soldier's musket. The Lock mechanism, the Stock (or handle) and the barrel (what the musket ball travels through). The phrase means that "you've got everything you need!"

We came home, and watched  "A Christmas Carol"  with Jim Carrey as the voice of Scrooge. EXCELLENT version of the classic story.
A MUST SEE!

Christmas Eve

Whew! Wow. What a great Christmas. This was actually the BEST Christmas my wife, Christina and I have EVER had. Christmas Eve was so much fun. We had dinner at home with Christina's parents and then went to our church's Christmas Eve service. They had 3 of them. We attended the last one, at 6:00pm. At one point, they had a girl perform a ballet number to a wonderful acoustic. She was great and the "snow"  falling from above really highlighted the performance. I WISHED I had a picture of THATbecause it was absolutely perfect. Subtle, yet noticeable, and very professional. As the stage lights hit the "flakes",  it really added depth to the dance. Just great. The worship team and choir led us in carols and ended with a candlelight service. It was really, really great.

Worship team and choir followed by a candlelight service!

Hold for Frank

So, Christina and I are at our friend, Albina's, house enjoying a delicious lunch and as we are nearing the end of our visit, the Lord says to me, "Get the coffee".  I said, "Get the coffee, Lord? What does that mean?"  He then says, "I'll show you on the way home."  Normally, my wife is with me but she had her car and I had mine and she wasn't going straight home.  So, I put our address into my GPS and started home.

I'm about 5 minutes into the drive when the Lord says to me, "Make a left here".  I make a left. My GPS is protesting and says in exasperation, "Re-calculating route!"  Not really exasperated, but I like to imagine my GPS is human. (Psalm 25:4 - Show me the path where I should walk, O LORD; point out the right road for me to follow.) Ok, so, I make the left and continue straight saying, "Lord, this is not the way back. Where are you taking me?"  He says, "Make a right...HERE."  I turn the wheel sharply and enter the parking lot of Starbucks! "Ooooohhhhh, 'Get the coffee', right", I say.  I get out of my car and start walking in.  "But Lord, I don't have any money on me." 

He says nothing.

I walk in.  I browse the merchandise waiting for a word, a direction, something.  Nothing.  I figured I'll stand in line.  Still nothing.  I'm next!  What do I say?!?  The barista behind the counter asks me what I would like.

"I'm here for, um... the coffee", I say with a questioning tone.

"Oh", he says, "YOU'RE Frank."

"Yeah", I say.  Not really too impressed as FRANK is embroidered on my jacket in big yellow letters.  Kind of hard to miss.

"Hang on a sec", he goes to the back and then comes out with a brown Starbucks paper bag. On it was written in black magic marker, "Hold for FRANK". 

Hold for FRANK

"Here ya go", he says as he hands me the bag. I open the paper bag and there is a pound and a half of Christmas blend coffee. (One of my favs!)

"Thanks. Um, who left this for me?", I ask.

"Oh, I don't know", the barista says.

"Is the manager here?", I ask. The barista goes and gets the manager. When the manager came out, I asked her who left the bag for me.  She didn't know because it was sitting there before she arrived at the store this morning.  I asked her to take a picture with me, for this blog, and she said, "Well, I think you should take the picture with Samantha. She was the one who brought it to my attention."

---

Frank and Starbucks barista, Samantha.

Samantha then stands next to me, I give a thumbs up, the manger snaps the picture, and I take my coffee and leave. But not first without telling them that, "God just provided coffee for me today through you guys!" and told them the story. They were astonished, laughed, and were totally into it.

I pray someone comes and waters that seed.

Selah.

Matthew 6:31-34 - “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ (Even coffee? Even coffee.) or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.