A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

You have to pretend that today is Dec. 23. I wanted to post this that day but life and Christmas intervened. Today is the first chance I have gotten (after wrestling the computer away from its other owner who was checking on golf course sites in Waco, TX). Tuesday brought yet another in a succession of storms and we were worried about Ellen even getting in through Milwaukee, from whence our storms were coming. At one point as we were waiting in the afternoon, we were enjoying our tree and some Christmas music as we looked out our bay window through the falling snow towards the day care center behind us. All of sudden, Chuck called out, "Hey, Karen, there's Santa Claus." Sure enough there he was saying goodbye to the kiddos and scraping the snow off his sleigh. Just what our believer needed to think that she would hear reindeer hooves on the roof in another night. You'll see evidence in this picture at the red dot! Finally, several hours later Ellen arrived and we had friends for dinner and games. An altogether beautiful day in the neighborhood, followed by a couple of others, celebrating not only the birth of the Christ Child but his many gifts as well. The weather prevented us from going to the Christmas Eve service, but the Christmas day service was another powerful worship experience. Merry Christmas!

At the end of his orange rope

To complete the seasonal cycle of pictures, here are two of today's snow, the second in what the people in the know say will be four storms by Christmas day. This one shut down the bottom half of the lower peninsula (maybe the top half too, but Michigan Public Radio doesn't cover their news). If the third comes as predicted, we may not be able to make it to our three anticipated events Sunday: Jenny's church choir/service in Holland in the A.M, a carol sing/buffet at the Hunts in the late afternoon and Karen's church choir/service in the early evening (overlapping with the Hunts and 15 miles away). We are grateful for Chuck's new "man toy," an electric snow thrower. However, unlike the larger gas blowers, this one only clears to a depth of about 5 inches. We'll have to repeat our work later today. FYI, I'm pondering a post about liturgy, but my thoughts are still incoherent enough that I am hesitating.

First Week of Advent

The first week of Advent has not be quiet and contemplative with school still in session and the double ESL commitment and last shopping trips and preparing the 19 children's gifts for mailing out next week. It has looked a lot like Christmas, however, with many inches of snow. Looks beautiful but makes for difficult driving for a person who likes driving as well as I don't. On Wednesday I took my piano teacher's daughter to a family Advent festival at church--various stations at which children can hear stories, see a play, sing and play rhythm instruments, learn a liturgical dance, and create Christmas crafts. For someone not yet four years old, J did very well; she seems to have adopted me as a substitute grandmother since her own is a missionary in Dubai. Here is a picture of her--the smallest one at the back of the line--learning the slave shuffle that forms the powerful symbolism of the dance that begins all Advent services at our church--we are groaning under the weight of the slavery of sin. (Up until now, we were ok with the liturgical dance but not really helped to worship by it. This one is different.) Her favorite station by far was the music followed by the crafts.

Today we solved the dilemma we were facing (and helped the economy at the same time): We ventured out in yet another burst of snow and bought an artificial Christmas tree after learning that if we get a real one, we will have to dispose of it the same way we do our leaves. That was the straw that broke the Christmas tree camel's back. We'll decorate it next weekend when Karen is here for a few hours and after I have the fun of figuring out where to put all my creches in the new house.

It Takes a Village...

…to teach newcomers to America how to negotiate this culture, especially the language. What a fantastic experience it has been to be involved in this ministry at COS. The day before Thanksgiving, I read a children’s picture book about the holiday to the seven people there, some of whom are pre-literate. The oldest and most language-challenged man crept closer and closer to me, pointing to his eyes and finally fingering the turkeys and the pictures of Pilgrims and Indians carrying their catch on sturdy branches. I wonder if it reminded him of Bhutanese/Nepalese village practices? Oh for my camera, to have taken a picture of him pouring over the picture book by himself after the story was over. When class was done that morning and everyone was leaving, he very carefully told me “Hello.”

…to celebrate Thanksgiving. With guests, dear family and extended family/friends, coming from four states, it was a very special time and reminiscent of Thanksgivings past when we had students from all over the world and family from all over the country. No students this year (we will remedy that at Christmas, I hope), but such treasured people. Chloe, Mindy and Mark, my dad, the three girls, and Kelly, who flew from Waco with Ellen. Steve and Laura (and Kimia) came for games after dinner. God’s blessings have showered down on us all this year. We wish you could have joined us!

…to finish the mammoth raking job. All the Hampton girls and Kelly and Chuck and I got outside on a gorgeous Thanksgiving Saturday afternoon and made short work of the back yard. The rakers made many piles of leaves, Chuck mower mulched them into a fine surface of mulch that can stay and nourish the yard (particularly under its blanket of snow that followed the next day). Kelly cut down some low hanging branches from a tree in the front. Some of us tracked dirt into the house, but what are vacuums for when the work is so satisfyingly finished. I still have about 10 bags of leaves (to make a total of 55) to take to the leaf dump, but I’ll wait until the snow storm has stopped.

…to correct shopping errors. Chuck and I were alone Saturday night (C and M&M had gone on to Wisconsin and back to Ohio, Ellen and Kelly were taking Karen back to her group home, Jenny had returned to Holland, and the doorbell rang. It was our next-door neighbors, T and her little gal Gracie, with a gift of a pumpkin roll. They came in for a visit and saw Karen’s stack of Christmas gifts for the 19 children she loves the most (a rather arbitrary number, really, but we were able to draw the line there for her bank account’s sake). On it was a cute little Christmas shirt we had gotten for Roman. “Bone, bone,” she shouted. Bone? I thought it said “Ho, ho, ho.” Well, it turns out that the shirt is for a small dog, the bone on the tag signifying that. Red-faced, I’ll return the “shirt” to Target and find something more appropriate. Thanks, Gracie.

…to get family photos. Earlier that day it seems we had provided some entertainment for T and Gracie as Mindy set up her equipment to take professional pictures of the Hampton clan in various permutations. She had Mark teetering on a precarious ladder holding out a white tablecloth to change the light quality for better pictures. Even more interesting that the photos themselves!