Most importantly, it's the time of year when we celebrate the birth of a savior. I am continually grateful for God's decision to send him and his decision to deliver the promise of salvation to me. And you. :)
Secondarily, it's the time of year that lights sparkle and red & green are everywhere. And if you're lucky, a little white too! While the red and green and sparkle were pretty easily available (after December 1st), we did not have a white Christmas here in Shanghai. In fact, I think our only family with a white Christmas was in New Mexico! That doesn't stop us from celebrating. This year was challenging, of course. It was hard not to be with our family. Add to that a 5-year-old and 4-year-old who are still learning about entitlement vs. gratefulness and you get another rough day for this mama. I know plenty of you can relate!
On the flip side, I made Cranberry Coffee cake for breakfast and we were able to have some friends over for Christmas dinner. We read the story of Christmas and, for the first time, we were able to Skype with our families, so at the end of the day, we had a good Christmas. I hope all of you can say the same!
I wanted to add a short story from today before I sign off: the kids & I were eating lunch today when the gardeners came by to clean up the yard. One was sweeping up leaves when another came along and shook all of the trees to knock off any (still greenish) leaves that might fall later in the week. I have to admit - I almost cried! Now I really understand why there is no autumn experience here. I thought the leaves just turned brown and they were sweeping up leaves as soon as they fell, but now I see it's a much more "proactive" process than that. It's too bad - there's something really beautiful about the change of seasons, even when that includes dead leaves on the ground. It's something I've been homesick for, which probably explains the spring of tears. Nothing more, just another bit of the story that's making up our lives right now.
M and I are celebrating our 10-year Anniversary tomorrow. It's hard to beleive it's been 10 years, but we've certainly have enough memories together to fill that time! I hope everyone has a Happy New Year - I'll see you back here then!
