Join Us for Christmas!

Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, New Year… these  are a few of my favorite things!  I love the foods, the smells, the  lights, the pageantry, the gift giving and the hope of starting fresh  each year.  But you may have noticed, as I have, that it is easy to get  burned out part way through it all and wish you had chosen to take on  fewer projects!  That’s why my Christmas motto is “Put my oxygen mask on first!”  That sounds like a selfish motto for this season of giving, doesn’t it?    

I’m  determined to learn something important from all the times I have heard  the speech given by a flight attendant before takeoff.  The gist of it  is:  If you are traveling with someone who would need your assistance in  an emergency, put your own oxygen mask on first and then you will be  equipped to get the oxygen mask on someone else!  It makes so much sense  and yet it’s especially hard for many of us to put our own well-being first.  It sounds so selfish!  Yet if I get overworked or irritated or sick, it will impact everyone around me and all those I would have helped if I had just taken the time to take care of myself! 

So as this holiday season ramps up, I challenge you to put on your oxygen  mask first.  Make sure you take care of your health, pray daily and join  others for worship each week so that YOU are ready for the birth of  Jesus and all of the surrounding festivities.  

Our  congregation knows that participating in these devotional readings and  the worship times below will help you to keep your oxygen mask on!  We invite you to join us! 

JoAnne Alexander 

The Martinsburg Journal featured OCC's upcoming 33rd Annual Live Nativity Pageant in the local newspaper. Click here to read all about it!