Merry Christmas!

WOW! Our Christmas Eve Service last night was awesome! We had a packed house and a ton of 1st time guests! I loved everything - the music, the video, and the GIFTS! That's right, gifts. My message last night was entitled, "My Favorite Things" and we literally gave a gift to everyone present. The gift bags were filled with lots of chocolate, goodies, ornaments, coupons, free stuff, reindeer head bands, and Chick-Fil-A calendars. It was so cool watching everyone open their bags. And to four lucky audience members we gave away a bracelet, an ipod shuffle, Guitar Hero 3, and drum roll please . . . 2 tickets to the 2007 Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, GA! (There's a cool story about getting the tickets that I'll post later.) Honestly, it was probably my favorite Christmas Eve service we've ever had. Huge props go to my Creative Team for all your ideas and work putting it together.

Janet and I went to bed at about 2AM and the kids got us up at 6AM. We had a great Christmas morning! I just absolutely love my family. We have so much fun. It never gets old watching your children open presents. Christopher got a bunch of paintball stuff that none of us really understand, shoes, movies, CD's, and right now he's rockin' out to his own Guitar Hero 3. Lydia got a cell phone (now that she's driving, I think it was more for mom and dad), books, shoes, the Hairspray movie & soundtrack, a Monk Bobblehead & t-shirt, and her very own blog (I purchased her own domain name - www.lydiarollins.com). I look forward to adding her to my blogroll and reading her posts.

We just got finished with lunch (I cooked steak and shrimp on the grill.) I'm stuffed and exhausted. I need my Christmas nap! And yes, I got several cool Clemson things: a new Clemson flag that I will display proudly, a Clemson grill spatula, and probably my favorite Clemson gift - a Clemson remote control!!!

Merry Christmas Coastal! And Merry Christmas to all of you who read my blog regularly or just stop by once in a while to see what we're up to in Charleston. 2007 has been a wild ride. It's an honor to share it with you! Thanks for putting up with my rants, my rambling, my strange sense of humor, and humble attempt to share my heart. 2008 is going to be a breakout year for Coastal! I love you!