The Germans decorate their trees on Christmas Eve, attend church, then have a dinner and open presents. So for them the big celebration is during this time. For the non-German crowd we follow our more North American customs. Our church had Christmas Eve service with singing and a short sermon. We lit the last of the Advent candles - the one for the Light of the World. The music and sermon focused around the Word becoming flesh and the Word was a light in the darkness. One tradition of this service is at the end when the lights are all turned off and we light candles. The first candle is lit from the Christ candle in the Advent wreath; then we pass it from person to person to symbolize our responsibility to share the light with those around us. In no time the auditorium moves from pitch black to glowing light - a strong reminder off the power of God's Light.After the service, I went with Gail to the home of another single gal, Dorcus. She wanted to have a little get together and looked for other singles who might not have a place to go. 
We did cheese fondue - a test of our skill in dipping bread, veggies and fruit into a small pot of cheese via long forks. I did the worst and dropped several of my pieces in! We spent the evening around the table - listening to carols and chatting. Above you can see Dorcus (L) and Gail (R) getting started.
Gail was pretty good at this and only dropped one thing in!
This is a very traditional German Christmas decoration - I'm not sure what is is called but you see different arrangements of the church, threes and carolers in the village.
This is a very traditional German Christmas decoration - I'm not sure what is is called but you see different arrangements of the church, threes and carolers in the village.
