We put on our fun party clothes
We decorated our Christmas trees
We polished my grandmother's silver anniversary punch bowl which last saw daylight in 1965. It made the perfect place for Jon's homemade, super strong Egg Nog. I made my first ever bunt cake and prayed hard to St. Martha as I flipped the cake over on the plate. It worked!
We chatted and ate cookies.
Jon made a touching toast to his Boss to thank her for hiring him three years ago. I teared up when I thought about missing the lovely home we've made for ourselves in Maryland if had rigidly kept to our plan of moving into New York City. We held Mimi up as yet another blessing and joked "she probably won't have been born if the Benjamins were stuffed in a studio apartment on Long Island."
We traded hats with our guests
We hugged when it was over.
Hannah decided that the kids bathroom, which is unusually "company clean," deserved its own photo the next day!
The line of the night which made me giggle the most was Jon saying "Everyone from the office will feel at home here. I don't think our place looks too Catholic!" Not only do we have giant Blessed Mother Photos, Crucifixes, and Pictures of our Holy Father on every wall. My dear husband made this statement right next to this Marian alter!
This party honestly was the third event we've hosted in three years, all in the past few weeks. We did Alex's birthday in October, Thanksgiving dinner for my parents and then a cocktail party for Jon's office. I'm so happy that getting formed in Christ means practicing Christian hospitality. I pray for the people in his office, almost every day. It made it easier to bare the extra work of party prep knowing that I'm begging Jesus to invite most of these people back into the Catholic Church. I figured the least I could do was offer up the physical act of shampooing my carpet for their souls as well.
I don't think I realized the magnitude of this hospitality gesture until Jon explained after the party that his office has only gathered TWICE outside of the office in the three years he's worked there. I just made a connection that all the frazzled feelings in the office weren't helped by not getting to see each other as "people" outside the office environment. I hope we'll be able to host quarterly events for his office staff in the future.
