Follow that Star

 On Friday, Marty and I decided to make a quick trip into Lititz, as he had never had the opportunity to see this delightful town all decorated up for Christmas, and we were both eager for a tasty lunch at Tomato Pie.

While we were in town, we checked out the information center, located in the old train station, and I spotted a flyer for the Moravian church gift shop.  I had been interested in purchasing a Moravian star, and this was the perfect opportunity to see what the shop had to offer.  When we saw that all proceeds went to support missions, we knew the place was worth investigating.

We finally found the shop, on the edge of town, near the church.  As soon as we entered the building, we were jubilantly greeted by a very excited volunteer who was more than eager to see what she could do to help us.

The ceiling had many stars hanging  for our viewing,  and while Marty and I contemplated which one to bring home, an older gentleman came bouncing through the door with a large star in hand that had obviously seen better days.  He mentioned that he was looking for a replacement for his 45 year old star, and his wife had given him explicit directions as to what he was to buy.

Marty and I began to help him regarding his choice, and he suddenly became quite interested in our presence in the shop.  Were we just visiting? 
Did we live very far away? 
Had we been in the store before?
Did we know that all of the proceeds went to mission charities?

We soon learned that this man was one of the church members, and he was excited to see someone in the shop.   He began to share all sorts of stories about the church and he suggested that we take a peek in the sanctuary to see the 110 point star that was located inside.

While we were finalizing the deal on the star that we had chosen, this same man began to encourage us to purchase more items. After all.....all proceeds went to charity.

He suggested that I go to the car while Marty stayed behind, and he would be happy to pull out the jewelry trays so that Marty could buy me something special for Christmas.  We both chuckled at his strategy.  He was certainly attempting to make quite the sell!  It made me wonder just how many customers this shop saw on a regular basis.  Especially when yet another volunteer came through the door and immediately greeted us, thanked us for visiting, and began suggesting that we attend one of the Christmas services.

Certainly a friendly group, that's for sure.

We finally exited the store with our newfound purchase: a 21 inch star and a pack of Advent candles that I had spotted on the counter, and we headed to the sanctuary to see the special star.

It's kind of funny how you can go through life and miss certain details that all of a sudden become obvious.  Walking out of the door, we soon realized that we were in Moravian Star Heaven.   Our eyes had been opened. Everywhere we looked, there were these fabulous stars hanging.  How could we possibly have missed so many of them?

Here you can see Marty holding our star with the church in the background.  Believe it or not, a large pointed star hangs in that bell tower on top of the building.

Walking through back doors, we were greeted with this on the tile floor.

Once inside the sanctuary, we found ourselves gazing upon the famous 110 point star.

Pretty spectacular, don't you think?

When we got home, Marty headed right outside and went about finding the perfect spot to hang our newfound treasure.  It didn't take long for us to agree on where it should be hung.

Perfect!

And, it didn't take long to put those candles to use.

Let's just say that "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" around here. 

Picture perfect!