Christmas Eve Church Service 2008

With the history setting winter weather we have had in Portland this past week most, if not all, Christmas Eve church services were canceled.

Not to be deterred, Cole planned a Swanson family service complete with home made program.

He designated himself as the "priest" and piano player with Leah as the special music and assistant. Trisha and Grandma provided the catering. Apparently I was the silent benefactor :-)

We opened with Christmas carols with Cole and Leah doing the piano accompaniment.

Cole then read the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke.

This was followed by candle lighting and prayer time to remember those in need and to thank God for all the wonderful things in our lives.

The service wrapped up with chocolates and cookies provided for all the parishioners and service participants.


Merry Christmas to all from the Swansons!

Rebuilding Together

This morning a group of 14 guys from Grace Point Community church got together and helped rehabilitate a yard in our neighborhood.

The group brought the rakes, clippers, and other tools and provided the volunteer labor for a Rebuilding Together project. Rebuilding Together is a non-profit which partners...

"with the community, repairs and rehabilitates the houses of low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly, those with disabilities and families with dependent children, so that they may continue to live in warmth, safety and independence. We have been performing these free repairs in Washington County since 1994."

For more details on other projects and how to volunteer click on the Rebuilding Together logo.

For our day, the cold and clear weather was perfect. We trudged in and tackled the blackberries, rose bushes, figs, clematis and fruit trees that had taken over the yard.

With three hours of good, hard work the team cleared out the vegetation, pruned the trees, weed whacked the shrubs and mowed the lawn. The garden path was cleared, the deck was swept and the gutters were emptied of the accumulated dirt and leaves.
We even helped a few snakes move to new locations within the yard :-)

It was a great opportunity to give back and exercise our "servant" hearts. Does anyone know a better way to bring guys together than firing up a chain saw on a Saturday morning?