Christmas in M-ville

Here we are on Christmas Eve, washing laundry, taking naps, doing some last minute shopping, eating (way too many) Christmas goodies, and spending time with friends and family. Seems pretty normal, right? So far Christmas has been nice here in M-ville. Last night A and I finally got around to watching Elf as we drank hot chocolate and decorated our tree. We met with our team this morning for a service (Friday is Sabbath day here) where we sang carols, told the Christmas story, drank hot chocolate, had treats. Little t was convinced that everyone wanted to hear him play the piano and continued to try his hardest to give them their deepest desire. All of our teammates from Finland were dressed in their finest and they joked because those of us from the States (our family) were in jeans. We gave thanks for such a wonderful gift as a Savior and talked about what our lives given as gifts looks like.

Now, Little t is sleeping, A ran to the bazaar quickly, I am doing laundry and reflecting on the day. We will soon go eat lunch with our Finnish teammates (the well dressed ones) because the Eve of Christmas is their special day.

Tomorrow, we will have lunch provided by our friends who are Brits, exchange gifts, laugh lots and eat too much. We had our little family celebration before we came, so there won’t be a lot of gift exchanging here, but we did get Little t a new ball in the bazaar yesterday that will probably be wrapped up for him. We are just enjoying feeling a little more settled and warm in our house. We are thankful for my mom being here with us and the enormous amount of help she has been.

It isn’t easy to be away from family on this holiday and I don’t feel like over-spiritualizing it, but we are glad to be here. When we have internet again I will post a blog written by friends of ours who work in Haiti. Her challenging words have pierced my heart this season as I think about the depth and meaning of Christmas…how amazing, yet tragic to have a baby wrapped in rags and placed in a stall. Oddly, I find myself comparing life here to what it must have been like at the time of the Saviors entrance – dirty and dingy, dark and cold, so much hurt and desperation around him, yet he came with peace and hope and truth. We feel so honored to be a small flicker of light in such a dark part of the world. We find ourselves hoping and asking that the Father would be pleased with the part we play in brining peace on earth in this place.