I hope you all had a delightful Christmas season and a very Happy New Year!
Josh and I spent our Christmas break in Florida with family and loved ones, and both of us feel like it was the most restful Christmas we've had for a long time. Of course there is more that we wish we could have done, more people we wished to have seen, and more time we wished we could have spent with loved ones, but there's not much we can do to add time to the clock.
The Christmas season is always a little tricky, trying to get all the time balanced between families without anyone feeling left out. We were able to spend Christmas Eve with my family and our adopted family (the H's), and go to my favorite Christmas Eve service, then Christmas morning/breakfast/lunch with the H's, and then I made Christmas dinner for my family. We had a whole little house to ourselves (which felt a bit like a palace coming from our studio apartment in Waukesha!), so we were able to play host. I think we ate all day long.
We tried not to make too many plans for every day and be a bit more spontaneous, even if that meant doing nothing but watching Downton Abbey all day. I think that helped us relax more - no expectations.
Above all, we saw how loved and blessed we are. It was a constant stream of love, blessings, and warmth the entire time we were down there. I don't know how to explain what that feels like, except that my heart is so full and I feel a bit small and unworthy of what we have received. For some time now, experienced missionary ladies have been telling me to write down my blessings so I can look back on them in hard times, and I've meant to, but I haven't quite followed through. Here's a few that happened while we were in Florida:
-a house was for us to stay in
-food. so much food. <3
-lots and lots of k-cups and coffee.
-a space bag and a half of winter sweaters and an "arctic expedition" coat from a local church, free.
-more scarves and socks than you can shake a stick at.
-our trip down and back paid for.
-so many prayers.
-hugs. lots of hugs. <3
-a Rosetta Stone course in Dutch so I can understand Josh's extended family in Belgium this summer.
-movies nights.
-paleo cookies.
-my favorite Easter song sang by the choir, from memory, just for me on our last night.
...and I'm sure I've forgotten to write down a million more...
We left Thursday morning to come back up to Waukesha. It was a wrench leaving. It reminds me of a story someone wrote a few years ago about goodbyes (well, see-you-laters in my book), and how they never really get better, and they really shouldn't get better. It feels weird to be getting back to a routine of classes and work, and you know, snow, but such is life. It goes on. No matter what we feel, God is still on His throne, still sovereign, still good, and still sees us right where we are.
Maybe I'll look at doing a regular counting and sharing of my blessings, because obviously I forget some, and one day it will mean the world to me, I'm sure.
Labels: celebrations, christmas, florida, missionary life, new year
