The joy we have experienced comes from being welcomed and loved by the community. Abundant invitations to visit, spending hours over tea in people’s homes. There is so much life in that, and it’s hard to ignore how tea and food bring people together—even our stocking on Christmas morning, we’re excited to find a mandarin orange in the toe and a candy cane hanging over the side.
For Christmas, we always put on a traditional Turkey dinner, but turkeys can be hard to find. So one year, we had a goose! Tom went with a friend to a farm and selected the goose and our friend butchered it, dressed it, and took it to a local bakery to cook it in their clay oven. We had 15 people for Christmas dinner that year and it was a special time that brings back great memories. 😊
One of our traditions as a family is watching the movie “The Nativity Story” on Christmas Eve. Jesus came not to a palace but to a stable, not to kings but to the shepherds. I love that the shepherds were the first ones that knew about His birth, and immediately believed and went to find Him.
It’s a miraculous thought that God chooses us, transforms us, and sends us out as His ambassadors.
“The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”
1 Thessalonians 5:24
Merry Christmas,
