How sweet it is...
For me, what makes it feel like Christmas is...
having kids home from school
choosing, buying, wrapping & giving gifts
baking cookies and making candy
decorating the house and putting up the tree
reading the Christmas story and setting up a Nativity set
remembering other Christmases
visiting and visitors... making time for family and friends
good food from far away... smells of cinnamon, orange, cranberry and chocolate with peppermint
candles and tiny lights
Remember my homesickness in November? Click to see the post Is it homesickness...? Before Thanksgiving I was feeling sad and missing family and all that comes with it. It was hot and my house was torn apart with renovation projects! I didn't think I could feel Christmassy in Tete.I asked for prayer from all my friends. It was a tough week.
Guess what! You prayed and I started feeling better soon after. We made an early Thanksgiving dinner when the power cuts thawed our precious turkey legs. We enjoyed our celebration of God's goodness and faithfulness to us and remembered lots to be thankful for! The next week was the last day of school and very busy for everyone. December came and Christmas preparations began. Cookies... candy... parties at school and with friends. I can't think of anything on the list that was missing! It feels like Christmas!
All the renovation projects came to a big climax the week before Christmas. Maybe that is why I haven't written for awhile! The air conditioners were in, but one room had electrical problems. The "landscaping" guy finished his work on our sad little patch of dust and mud. The carpenter came and put up shelves for my books and more shelves in the dining room. (I have unpacked 4 boxes of books and some special pretty things that have been stored for about 4 years!) The tile guy came and laid tile in the hallway and two bedrooms that had been stripped to bare, rough cement for a month. The phone company sent someone to install a land-line with broadband (and makes almost daily visits to fix problems!) Finally, on December 23rd the TV guys came and installed a satelite dish with DSTV in English!
Now there is still this little part of me that says, "You are a missionary in Africa. You should suffer in the heat with the people you came to reach out to. You should not spend money on TV and landscaping! Internet that works, ok... it is a necessity, but DSTV?" Then the other part of me smiles when I look at grass growing where my kids can play outside and I can sit in the shade with my African friends and learn Nyungwe words. I can walk through my house and it is actually clean since the floor can be swept! My kids can play on the floor in their room without skinning their knees! My husband can retreat to the coolness of our room after lunch to rest after a morning at the office up the hot, dusty road. I can turn on my new computer and hook to the internet in minutes.
We invited the translators over with their wives for a Christmas party last weekend. They enjoyed being together and I fed them roast chicken and stuffing from America. They really liked stuffing! I thought they would think it was strange. We sang carols and choruses in all our languages. We sweated in the heat of the evening with doors closed to keep out mosquitoes! One said, "Maybe next year you will have air conditioning in the living room, too. Then we can come and eat in comfort!" Maybe my luxury isn't only a blessing to me... maybe I need to share more instead of feeling embarrassed that I have more than them. Maybe 2011 will be the year I learn to enjoy Tete better. As for DSTV... it is $25 per month... a present for the whole family from money we received for Christmas. (Thanks, all of you.) I sat with my kids last night and watched Food Network and they said, "This is just like grandma's house in America!" and it was... just like home, sweet home!
having kids home from school
choosing, buying, wrapping & giving gifts
baking cookies and making candy
decorating the house and putting up the tree
reading the Christmas story and setting up a Nativity set
remembering other Christmases
visiting and visitors... making time for family and friends
good food from far away... smells of cinnamon, orange, cranberry and chocolate with peppermint
candles and tiny lights
Remember my homesickness in November? Click to see the post Is it homesickness...? Before Thanksgiving I was feeling sad and missing family and all that comes with it. It was hot and my house was torn apart with renovation projects! I didn't think I could feel Christmassy in Tete.I asked for prayer from all my friends. It was a tough week.
Guess what! You prayed and I started feeling better soon after. We made an early Thanksgiving dinner when the power cuts thawed our precious turkey legs. We enjoyed our celebration of God's goodness and faithfulness to us and remembered lots to be thankful for! The next week was the last day of school and very busy for everyone. December came and Christmas preparations began. Cookies... candy... parties at school and with friends. I can't think of anything on the list that was missing! It feels like Christmas!
All the renovation projects came to a big climax the week before Christmas. Maybe that is why I haven't written for awhile! The air conditioners were in, but one room had electrical problems. The "landscaping" guy finished his work on our sad little patch of dust and mud. The carpenter came and put up shelves for my books and more shelves in the dining room. (I have unpacked 4 boxes of books and some special pretty things that have been stored for about 4 years!) The tile guy came and laid tile in the hallway and two bedrooms that had been stripped to bare, rough cement for a month. The phone company sent someone to install a land-line with broadband (and makes almost daily visits to fix problems!) Finally, on December 23rd the TV guys came and installed a satelite dish with DSTV in English!
Now there is still this little part of me that says, "You are a missionary in Africa. You should suffer in the heat with the people you came to reach out to. You should not spend money on TV and landscaping! Internet that works, ok... it is a necessity, but DSTV?" Then the other part of me smiles when I look at grass growing where my kids can play outside and I can sit in the shade with my African friends and learn Nyungwe words. I can walk through my house and it is actually clean since the floor can be swept! My kids can play on the floor in their room without skinning their knees! My husband can retreat to the coolness of our room after lunch to rest after a morning at the office up the hot, dusty road. I can turn on my new computer and hook to the internet in minutes.
We invited the translators over with their wives for a Christmas party last weekend. They enjoyed being together and I fed them roast chicken and stuffing from America. They really liked stuffing! I thought they would think it was strange. We sang carols and choruses in all our languages. We sweated in the heat of the evening with doors closed to keep out mosquitoes! One said, "Maybe next year you will have air conditioning in the living room, too. Then we can come and eat in comfort!" Maybe my luxury isn't only a blessing to me... maybe I need to share more instead of feeling embarrassed that I have more than them. Maybe 2011 will be the year I learn to enjoy Tete better. As for DSTV... it is $25 per month... a present for the whole family from money we received for Christmas. (Thanks, all of you.) I sat with my kids last night and watched Food Network and they said, "This is just like grandma's house in America!" and it was... just like home, sweet home!
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