Overflow Christmas Party...what a night!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
A VERY MERRY OVERFLOW CHRISTMAS PARTY!!!
Last night we had our first Overflow Christmas Party, in our Mall Community Center, and we were amazed at the night, the turnout, and the vision of Overflow unfolding before our very eyes. We had planned a very simple night with some of your typical Christmas festivities with a Christmas party...we decorated, we enjoyed a potluck, we had a fun Christmas quiz, watched a short video on the real meaning of Christmas, and then had a "white elephant" (if you are unfamiliar with this see below) gift exchange.
There was nothing unusual about what WE had planned, but what transpired was so much more than we had planned. We had 3 new families and a couple of other visitors from the mall stop in and join us for the party! What was so incredible, though, was the level of hospitality and community that we saw throughout the room as new people were welcomed with open arms and friendships were formed and even deepened among everyone. Within the room was a great diversity of people from all walks of life. It made my night to see our vision for unfolding in the form of: authentic community & diversity and all centered on a celebration of the real reason for Christmas....the birth of His son Jesus!
Overflow has also had the opportunity to "sponsor" and help 7 families and 18 children this Christmas and have begun to form real, and hopefully life transforming, relationships with most of these families. Please pray that God will continue to work in and through these relationships and bless these families in need during the Christmas season.
We are truly thankful this year for the birth of His son and the birthing of Overflow in the SJ/BH area and the unfolding of something that can only be described as "the work of the Lord". Thank you for continuing to pray for Overflow and the Bennett's and know that your prayers are effective (James 5:17) and bringing results!
On a personal note...we are continuing to celebrate the fact that we are together in the SJ/BH area as a family and that God has provided us with an apartment to enjoy. At the same time, we could still use prayers for the sale of our home in Battle Creek and the release from that financial and emotional burden.
Thank you for sharing the journey with us and HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
In Pursuit,
Brian
*The December Bently is posted as a PDF on the right side if you missed it
*What is a "white elephant gift exchange": (from---http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange)
White elephant gift exchange (also called Yankee Swap, "Red Sox Swap", Thieving Secret Santa, Dirty Santa, Chinese Gift Exchange, or Thieving Elves) is a popular party game usually played during the Christmas season in the United States and Canada. The premise of the game is that each guest contributes one gift to the game, and ultimately each guest walks away with one different gift from the game. The type of gift is sometimes decided ahead of time (e.g., "something less than $10," "a used item from home," "a gag gift," etc.).
Gameplay
All participants bring their gift to “the pile.” Gifts are wrapped, but are not labeled to reflect a sender or recipient. All participants draw a number (from a hat, perhaps) to determine their order. The participant with #1 unwraps any gift from the pile and then shows it to everyone. Each successive participant, in the order determined from the drawing, can either 1) "steal" an already opened gift (if there's one they really like) or 2) be adventurous and go for a wrapped gift from the pile. If the participant chooses to steal, the person whose gift is stolen now repeats their turn and either 1) steals another person's gift or 2) unwraps a new gift. This cycle of stealing can sometimes continue for a long time, until a new gift is chosen, at which point the turn is passed to the participant with the next number from the drawing. (An alternative to the drawing is to sit in a circle and take turns in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.)
Since items can be stolen, the item in your possession is not yours until the game is over (i.e. a food item cannot be eaten until the game is over). However, this is often amended with a rule declaring a gift "dead" or "safe" after it has been stolen a certain number of times (usually two or three). This helps the process go more smoothly (avoiding, for example, the hypothetical scenario of the same gift being stolen by every successive participant) and limits the disadvantage of being among the first to choose gifts.
posted by Brian @ 1:41 PM,
