Joyland Christmas Celebration
The beginning of December usually marks the beginning of the Christmas season, and for many people, this means that it is time to hit the shopping malls and start buying those Christmas gifts. For Joyland teachers, the beginning of December marked the countdown toward the annual Joyland Christmas Celebration, which is scheduled for the third weekend of December. JCC is a performance that is put on every year by our children’s department during which our kids get a chance to show off their amazing singing, acting and dancing talents. JCC has always been a huge production in the past that required countless hours of preparation, but this year the workload increased even more due to the added number of kids and new friends that have been coming through the Impact program.
While the rest of the world has been busy hitting the malls, Joyland teachers have been busy writing scripts, making props, sewing costumes, finding and editing music, producing thousands of flyers and programs, practicing the lines with the kids, teaching kids how to act etc. etc. Every aspect of JCC is indeed very involved and time-consuming. As the costume lead for the 2nd-3rd grade skit, I am just one small part of the entire performance, yet I have spent many hours and long nights cutting fabric, sewing tunics, fitting costumes on the kids, altering costumes, and creating dozens of spreadsheets.
It may seem strange that so much work and so many sleepless nights are put into this 2 hour performance. Yet, I am personally thankful to be part of this kind of work, to be around people who are trying to honor God passionately by giving their all and spending these long hours on what may seem like trivial things. Seeing the entire JCC performance coming together and watching the kids recite their lines, I am reminded that it is all worth it. While the rest of the world is lost in a shopping frenzy, I am glad that we can be engaged in meaningful work and that we can lose ourselves for these kids.