The Crucible and the Crown: Christmastime in the city

My morning started out with a horrible migraine. I could barely see straight, every noise echoed, the light overwhelmed my senses. I was supposed to be coordinating the volunteers at the StreetLight Mission Christmas party, not to mention that I was also a member of the StreetLight Women's choir and planning to sing with them to help spread the message of Christ to our guests. Honestly, I was pretty devastated. The Christmas party is so much fun, but more than the fun, is the chance to see all of our guests together in one place at one time.

To give some insight into the day, the mission invites 600 people to a four course sit down dinner. The servers are in dress pants and shirts, and we welcome them with a standing ovation. For some of our guests the only Christmas they will have is that one day. To see the sparkle on all of their faces as they walk in and are greeted and see the beauty of the ballroom is overwhelming. We also have volunteers there who host the tables as if the guests were in their home. They make sure every guest has everything they need. On stage there is entertainment all centered around our Savior. There's a photo booth where each guest gets a chance to take their photos with whomever they choose. At the end of the night the children all get a Christmas present. It's an incredible day!

My heart was broken because I couldn't see how I could be a part of this day. But to make a long story short God healed me. And I don't think I have ever been more glad to be healed from a migraine. It was the first and smallest in a line of miraculous events of the day! The next one was that the maintenance lady who worked at the ballroom began a conversation with one of the table hosts and surrendered her life to Christ. There are some things that never get less powerful, and Christ saving a soul is one of those things.

I could tell stories about Sunday all night, and still not capture the power that encapsulated the afternoon. The Spirit of God was all over the event. Women in abusive relationships standing up for themselves because of a little kindness from one of our volunteers, women having the courage to stand up in front of 500 people and sing into a microphone, and a young woman from a small town who somehow managed to help coordinate 200 people and help put on an event for the people she's always wanted to help.

I have been sitting here staring at the computer screen for 10 minutes trying to fully express how special this day was to me. I am not sure that there are words. My heart and thoughts are so full. If you haven't known me for years,then maybe you can't fully understand how much of a dream come true the chance to work with StreetLight is for me, and compiling all of the guests into one place was like seeing it all in front of me. To give you a little bit of a picture of the evening I am going to attach a picture for you! Merry Christmas to you all!