Christmas is over and I am finally having time to reflect as well as think about getting around to putting the Christmas tree away. It was a busy season, but filled with wonderful opportunities to share and connect with friends.
In December we graduated the largest group of students from our center to date. Our graduation night was a great opportunity to congratulate our students on their hard work as well as to give them some small gifts that some friends from the States made for them. It’s a fun night because everyone gets all dressed up and is in a great mood. Tons of pictures are taken and Zeke generally eats way too many sweets! A week after graduation we had an opportunity to host our ladies at our center for a Christmas tea. We had planned for about 30 women to come, but when 50 showed up (not including kids) we were scrambling to stretch the food, gifts and to find seats for everyone. It worked out, though, and ultimately was a great problem to have as we were able to connect with more people and to share about our traditions and meaning behind Christmas.
The following evening we had our Christmas drama at our international fellowship. We hosted over 140 people and all of our hard work paid off. It was such a great opportunity to share with the greater part of our community through drama and to be able to enjoy some Christmas cookies and treats afterwards. It is a common belief here that Christmas is the same as New Years and it has been fun over the last couple of years to be able to share with our friends how it all really works. Doing these sort of events is definitely tiring, but also a ton of fun. However, after it all we were definitely in need of a break!
My mom came to visit over the Christmas holiday. Unfortunately due to the big snow storm in London her trip with cut short by 5 days, but we made sure to make the most of the time while she was here. We had a wonderful Christmas on boxing day and ended the day with a party with many of our friends at our house. We also shopped, visited fun local cafes, had meals at our friend’s homes and even visited the capitol city of our region for a day trip. We also made many sweet memories as a family. Our boys really enjoyed having not only their Auntie (who has been interning with us for the past four months), but also their Grandma for Christmas. They were both spoiled with new toys and books and things.
We are so blessed to have so many friends and family in our life that support us and find ways to remind us of how loved we are. So often in life the things that truly bring contentment and happiness are the things that we take for granted because they are always around us. I for one have been reminded this past month that God has provided everything we need to find true joy, most of which is His gift to humanity through His Son. Therefore, even in this crazy life that we lead, we can be happy, content and most of all thankful for everything that comes our way. Take some time with me this week to reflect on the many blessings that God has bestowed upon us! More to come as we ramp up again for classes and what we have coming up for this winter season.
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