O Holy Night

//Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His Gospel is peace.  Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother, and in His name, all oppression shall cease.//

It sure feels different to be spending Christmas in warm weather.  I miss all the happy lights and candy canes and I haven't heard or sang as many Christmas songs this year.  (I also miss those handy-dandy little Christmas carol songbooks we had at church.) 

But Christmas does take on a new meaning here... Last night we went caroling at the St. James Infirmary (a nursing home) and then stopped in at Blossom Gardens and hung out with the kids before they went to bed.  The infirmary was really a good experience...the elderly people loved the Christmas songs and didn't want us to leave.  And Blossom.  My heart practically lives at Blossom.  And somehow I think that if Jesus had been born in this century, angels would have invited these dear children to come see the Baby.  

Merry Christmas!

8 Days till Christmas!

Yesterday I finally got around to making a Christmas countdown chain.  Naturally, we were out of red and green construction paper.  So my first step was coloring white paper red and green.  (I think you're actually supposed to do this at the beginning of December, but a week before the holiday works too, I guess.)  ...Pretty much a normal week.  Blossom twice, taught letter 'H' to Landon, got to visit the neighbor kid's fun day at their school.
This afternoon Mom, Pat, Kirby, and I took play-dough, crayons, and coloring pictures down to some of the neighbor kids since their Christmas break started yesterday.  And we made pink play-dough snowmen.  Can we please have a snowstorm down here just ONCE?  Man, these kids would have a blast.  (And probably freeze to death, but hey, fun over comfort.  Or something like that.)  Mom and I then went to see a neighbor lady who had a baby a few weeks ago... The mom wasn't home but some of the kids were...Amanda and Ashaunti, 12 and 8, sang to us.  Who knew that poor Jamaican children knew "Go, Light Your World"?  These girls both have beautiful voices and they get all soul-ish and gospel with their singing.  And make up the words they don't know.  (If you buy me a video camera, I will video them and post it on here.  A win-win situation, I'd say.  A missionary family has a video camera and you get to see these adorable girls sing.  Just mail it on down.)

Life is definately not always easy down here.  I struggle with loneliness at times.  My faith is not always strong.  But I'm so grateful that God has given me the opportunity to live in a different culture, meet a new kind of people, experience another way of living.  I love meeting the neighbor kids who live all around us and spending time with them.  I pray I will learn the lessons God wants to teach me while I'm here. 



Sisters Shakira and Kemesha at the Bogue Hill School's fun day



school students waiting in line for the moon bounce



Blossom toddlers Daniel and Aneisha enjoy chocolate ice cream.

my little schoolers.  omar and adrian.

Well, I'm off to pull a link off my paper chain.

Celebrating Thanksgiving in a nation where the people really don't have much has a way of making you think.  And a way of making you realize again how incredibly blessed you are.

Our Thanksgiving meal was a Jamaican one.  (But we did have pumpkin pie, so it's all good.)  We dressed up the kids as Indians.  Never mind that they didn't really understand the whole Squanto-being-nice-to-Pilgrims-with-shiny-buckles thing.  And when Jahaeim's Indian pants ripped open, I told him it was okay, because real Indians didn't wear pants at all. 


Jahaeim, pretending to be an Indian warrior, I think

Fierce Kenroy.  Ha.



Little 'Neish


Thanksgiving day the Schlabach family arrived!  Fun times talking on the roof, playing games, and trying to scare away the gigantic lizard that lives in the guesthouse... eek.