Christmas Blessings

Referring back to my last blog posting, "Our Christmas ", I bring to you great tidings of this year's Christmas Blessings.

I compell you to reread my descriptions of the past two years' Christmases, as you will better appreciate God's blessings to us after doing so. As you may recall, the first year we were here, we were given the delight of having carollers come to our house and sing to us. We hosted a Christmas party at our house this year, for my dad's staff and their partners, on the 22nd. That night Pii Gung invited her church friends to come and carol to us, and they did, in Thai! This was the first time for most of us to really hear Thais sing Christmas songs in their own language, and it was a really cool experience; masking the same thing that happened to us two years ago!

Christmas Eve we were invited by a family to go over to their place and just, talk. It was interesting, as they had another family already there. We all sat down in their living room, and just related and told stories of past Christmases to each other. It was particularly fascinating listening to one person talk about how they had been able to sing in a choir in Bethlehem on Christmas Day. I think this really helped all of us to remember that Christmas is a very special time for all of us, and that it's nice to just spend some time talking, and remembering Christmases past.

Christmas Day finally came around, with us waking up in the living room, as we had slept as a family under the Christmas tree the night before. We spent the morning eating breakfast and opening gifts, and used the remainder of the day to rest and relax. We went that evening over to the Shorts' house, a family that is with our mission. Already there and celebrating were the Crawfords, who are also with our mission. Both families had children who we knew, and we were able to hang out and play, while leaving the adults to talk amongst themselves. It was a pretty good night, with excellent food, and even a fire outside.

The following day, for all of you non-Canadians, was Boxing Day. That afternoon we all dressed up in nice clothes and attended the wedding of Khruu Aah (who you can read about in an earlier posting from way back in March 2006). It was a very unique experience, and I realized that Thai weddings are not at all like Western weddings in the least. It was a happy occasion, and we were able to see how God has blessed this couple. Please pray, as Khruu Aah's husband is not a believer, while she is.

In conclusion, this Christmas Break has been an enormous blessing to all of us. We were all able to experience new things, and just enjoy God. We thank those of you who were praying for us at this time. May God bless you in return.