Christmas in London???

As we made plans to move to Germany this summer, we thought we had a pretty good idea of what Germany would look like at Christmastime. We envisioned Christmas trees, Christmas markets, lights, spiced wine and singing Silent Night in German during the Christmas Eve service. Well, we did experience most of these things. Except, to our surprise, we sang Silent Night in English this year! This Christmas, we had the gift of worshipping the newborn King with our family in London, England!

At first, it may seem a little odd not to spend our first Christmas in Germany. After all, Christmas is the biggest, most important holiday in this neck of the woods. But since we have family living relatively close by it seemed even more odd not to go visit. As a result of travelling to England, God gave us the gift of worshipping in our mother tongue; something we don’t take for granted these days.

We had such a relaxing and enjoyable time with our family. On Christmas Eve, we attended a little old church, built in 1871. The church did not have heat but our hearts were warmed because of the people we were with and the God we worshipped. It was such a blessing to be a part of that community, if only for a night. When it came time to sing Silent Night, we were probably the only ones who noticed (and appreciated) the fact that it was in English. Singing this song reminded us that even though we are far from home for Christmas this year, we are at home in Christ and that is all that matters.

No matter where you are or what language is spoken there, continue to sift through the language barrier, even if it’s your own language and try to hear what God is telling you. No matter if you worship in German, English, Chinese, Russian, Thai, or any other language; God tells us this Christmas that there is hope for the world in His son, Jesus Christ.