“Christmas time
is here
Happiness and
cheer
Fun for all that
children call
Their favorite
time of year”
- Lee
Mendelson
What
a blessing it is to be home for Christmas this year! For some reason, it didn’t really feel like
Christmas last December in South Africa. Maybe the 100 degree weather and
blazing sunshine had something to do with that.
It just isn’t right, for me, to spend Christmas in a tank top and
shorts! And how can you have Christmas
without baking? But who wants to heat up
their oven when it is crazy hot and there is no air conditioning?
Thankfully,
Christmas isn’t about baking, wearing hats and scarves, drinking hot chocolate,
or even being with family. It is about celebrating
the birth of Christ; come to redeem the world. He brought freedom, love,
redemption, and hope to ALL people. That
fact holds true no matter what the weather is like!
It took 24
hours, airport to airport, to get home from South Africa, with a 2 hour layover
in Amsterdam. Thankfully, the flights went
smoothly and my baggage arrived, with me, in Vancouver, BC safe and sound. I must say, however, I’m not looking forward
to the flight back on the 27th. I don’t
think I’ll ever get used to these long-haul flights.
While home, I’ve
enjoyed spending several days with my Aunt over this holiday season. She is
fighting a losing battle with cancer and so I cherish every minute we spend
together. This is the kind of thing that makes living overseas difficult.
On a happier
note, I had a bit of reverse culture shock in the produce department of Fred
Meyer recently. Such an amazing
abundance and variety! Not that South
Africa is really lacking in their produce departments, especially compared to
other Africa countries. But still, I
looked around, sighed, and enjoyed the display.
Some of the
foods I’ve been enjoying while home include: eggnog, bagels, clam chowder,
tortilla chips, and coffee shop drinks.
I may have to attempt making bagels back in South Africa when the
weather cools down again.
As much as I
enjoy being back in the US, I look forward to getting back to South Africa and
starting the new year with a new group of students. My garden there likely
needs a lot of love after being neglected for a month and I’m sure my foster
cat, Leo, will be very happy to have company again.
I’ll skip all
the details about the past year in South Africa since you have probably been
keeping up with me via my prayer letters and Facebook. If for some reason you
don’t receive my regular prayer letters from South Africa, please let me know or
sign up at www.cvmusa.org/quam.
I wish you a
stress free Christmas season and a heart filled with the peace of Christ.
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