This Christmas morning i awoke to the sound of a crackling fire and the smell of freshly made coffee. i layed for another moment in my cozy bed indulging myself in a few more minutes of dreaminess. oh it is Christmas morning, what a merry day! i arose and stretched, oh the bliss of a quiet, still dawn. presents, friends, laughter, tasty treats...i glanced towards the window and what did my eyes behold?? could it really be?? was i dreaming? i jumped up and almost stumbled over my slippers as i raced towards the window. my eyes focused in on the flittering snowflakes, carelessly floating down from the early morning sky. as i gazed into the courtyard i saw the cook's 2 precious girls placing the final touches on a perfectly jolly snowman. a sweet carol began to fall from my lips, and then to my pleasant surprise all my room-mates joined in. we sang in perfect harmony and then began to dance around the room with perfect grace and balance....yeah right. and then frosty came alive and joined us for morning tea and cookies.
well Christmas in india has been good, but not exactly as i explained above. not even close, really. we spent a quarter buying each person stocking stuffers. yes, a quarter on each person which is 10 rupees.
we received bracelets and earrings and chocolate and pens and gum! we don't have a tree, so we gathered around a nativity scene that we each contributed to. i made mary. my friend hollie made baby Jesus, she even crocheted Him a little hat...the whole gang was tacked to the wall from the angel to the shepherds. they were a motley crew, but hey we made do. after we had opened all our little treats, we sat around and laughed and chatted and played silly games. some of us went to a midnight mass at the catholic church on the compound on which we are staying. we sang songs and stared at all the brightly dressed indian women and the children in new outfits. we gladly went inside when they announced that although they were glad that visitors had come to their service, holy communion was only for catholics. i was nodding off at that point, it was almost 2am. today we slept in and awoke for breakfast and the exchanging of "secret santa" gifts. and no there are no fire places, crackling fires, or snowmen. it was so stinkin' hot today we thought about going swimming. we ate a buffet lunch and stuffed ourselves. swimming, yeah right. we went home with our full bellies for an afternoon nap.
this is my first Christmas away from home. i guess it's not too bad because it still doesn't seem like it's really Christmas. no lights. no people ringing bells on storefronts collecting change for the poor. no sitting in my living room decked out in my pajamas with my dear family to open gifts. no driving around and admiring the christmas lights and decor. no children's christmas pageant. it's just another day. no that's not true, it is a special day to remember one of the most historic moments of all time. God came to earth. and He came as a baby. innocent. dependent. perfect. He came down to us and lived a life of suffering, humiliation, compassion, and servant hood. He died a criminal's death. what does it all mean? what does it mean for human kind? what does it mean for me? for you? this is a time for pondering. for searching. for finding. for loving. for giving.
merry Christmas
well Christmas in india has been good, but not exactly as i explained above. not even close, really. we spent a quarter buying each person stocking stuffers. yes, a quarter on each person which is 10 rupees.
we received bracelets and earrings and chocolate and pens and gum! we don't have a tree, so we gathered around a nativity scene that we each contributed to. i made mary. my friend hollie made baby Jesus, she even crocheted Him a little hat...the whole gang was tacked to the wall from the angel to the shepherds. they were a motley crew, but hey we made do. after we had opened all our little treats, we sat around and laughed and chatted and played silly games. some of us went to a midnight mass at the catholic church on the compound on which we are staying. we sang songs and stared at all the brightly dressed indian women and the children in new outfits. we gladly went inside when they announced that although they were glad that visitors had come to their service, holy communion was only for catholics. i was nodding off at that point, it was almost 2am. today we slept in and awoke for breakfast and the exchanging of "secret santa" gifts. and no there are no fire places, crackling fires, or snowmen. it was so stinkin' hot today we thought about going swimming. we ate a buffet lunch and stuffed ourselves. swimming, yeah right. we went home with our full bellies for an afternoon nap.this is my first Christmas away from home. i guess it's not too bad because it still doesn't seem like it's really Christmas. no lights. no people ringing bells on storefronts collecting change for the poor. no sitting in my living room decked out in my pajamas with my dear family to open gifts. no driving around and admiring the christmas lights and decor. no children's christmas pageant. it's just another day. no that's not true, it is a special day to remember one of the most historic moments of all time. God came to earth. and He came as a baby. innocent. dependent. perfect. He came down to us and lived a life of suffering, humiliation, compassion, and servant hood. He died a criminal's death. what does it all mean? what does it mean for human kind? what does it mean for me? for you? this is a time for pondering. for searching. for finding. for loving. for giving.
merry Christmas
*me and my 2 german team mates, renate and aline. aren't they precious?
1 comments:
wow. that's deep. i like it. i hope you're doing well. i'm praying all goes well with your training although i'm sure it will be fine.
-much love, kalene
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