Let Me Tell You About…Jingle Jam

Today, Pam and I got absolutely nothing done. We didn’t do any shopping, and despite a growing pile of them in what used to be our dining room, wrapped not one single present. Instead, today was essentially Volunteer Day. The morning had us at our church’s big Christmas event put on by the Children’s department called Jingle Jam. We had heard about it over the past five years but had never gone. This year our niece Bernadette, one of the children’s pastors, roped us into working the event. We arrived a little after 9:00 and left three hours later. (More about this event later)

Then we grabbed some lunch and got back home in time to haul our solo stove out into the street and set up a s’mores making table in our culdesac for the neighborhood party which featured the official arrival of Santa…

Just about the time we got the fire good and hot we realized we were late for our afternoon shift at Hope Thrift. Friends promised to keep an eye on it so the entire neighborhood didn’t burn to the ground, and off we went to the store. By the time we got back home around 5:45, it was pouring down rain and we felt like we had both been run over by Santa’s reindeer. A crazy, wild, fun and joyful day.

But, lets get back to this Jingle Jam deal…

Pam took lots of pictures but none of them captured the magic of the thing. Every inch of the inside of our church looked like an explosion had gone off at the Christmas Mouse. I had never seen so many inflatables in one location in my life. The theme of this year’s Jingle Jam was the adventures of Bobby the Elf, the lessor known successor to this guy…

Did I mention the inflatables??

My favorite? This one, hands down!

Our job was to run a game called “Package Stackage”. The idea was to get kids/families to see who could stack a series of empty cardboard boxes up into the shape of a Christmas tree. That was fine. And it started out that way. But it didn’t take us long to realize that the kids were far more interested in seeing who could stack them all up in the highest tower and then send them all flying all over the place by crashing into them…sorta like life-sized JENGA. It was crazy fun, and we had the kids lined up to get in on the fun. When all of a sudden we looked up and these three beauties were standing there!!

These guys are our adorable next door neighbors and their sweet Mom had brought them to Jingle Jam. Later we all took a picture together…

Then it was time for the big show. We all went inside to where we normally have our worship services, only this time it had been transformed into the…

Lincoln Tunnel!! For the next hour, 600 people got to see the highest octane, most over the top energetic rendition of Bobby the Elf ever told. It featured an actual video trip to New York City, where we got to see our heroes visiting all the places that Buddy the Elf had been years earlier. It also featured a harrowing giant inflatable candy cane competition. But the highlight of the show was a 600 person recreation of the famous Buddy the Elf snowball fight in Central Park! Watching my sanctuary given over to this insanity of joyfullness did my heart so much good. At the end when Bobby learns the true meaning of Christmas, I was exhausted just having watched it. All the intrepid actors, singers and dancers had to do the same show two more times.

It’s hard to put into words how wonderful an experience it was. First of all, to everyone involved in the planning, organization and execution of Jingle Jam, I salute you all. I am told that it took over 175 volunteers to make it work. Pam and I feel lucky to have been among them. One more thing…I grew up in churches where sometimes the actual building was a thing held in high and reverent esteem. When entering the sanctuary, people talked in hushed tones. There isn’t anything wrong with that really. I mean, I get it. There certainly is a time for being reverent. But, one of the things I love about my church is that it doesn’t worship the building. It isn’t afraid to unleash a thousand cotton snowballs in the place and let kids and their parents have at it. And don’t think for a minute that I will soon forget which little kiddo from next door hit me right in the kisser with a fastball either!

So, hats off to everyone who worked and planned and worked some more to provide nearly 2000 people a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit by acknowledging the birth of our Lord and Savior. Can’t wait until next year!