Merry Christmas!
Sort of considering this blog is being posted somewhere in the month of January! Oh well! This years Christmas was the first Christmas away from home and I got to spend it in Africa! How sick is that!
Christmas as you know, is a day to celebrate when Jesus is born however it’s often misconceived due to the fact of the unnecessary chaos and a abundance of presents. Between the family dinners, going to all your grandparents houses, and other holiday festivities- sometimes we lose the point. Don’t get me wrong I love all these things and they are some of my favorite ways to celebrate Christmas However this Christmas looked very different.
I was woken up early by a banging on my door. And by banging I mean an obnoxious slamming. To my surprise, behind that door was Mo Mo and Natalie singing Christmas carols at the top of their lungs along with some of my other squad mates. It was slightly terrifying but overall one of my favorite ways to be woken up so far! Ha!
Then it was time for breakfast and our wonderful cooks- Zanet, Buze, and Meme decorated the table for us and made us donuts covered in chocolate syrup. My team and I took a picture in front of our water color tree and afterwards opened Christmas letters from our families and tiny gifts that we received (usually underwear and socks, hallelujah) in our room. Then as a squad we opened our sockings (socks hung in the common room) which were filled with notes from the squad and a chocolate bar and gum form Mary. The notes varied from prophetic words to watercolor painting. Take in mind that words of affirmation are my absolute love language- so you can only imagine how loved I felt. Then we played white elephant. The gifts my squad came up with were hilarious . They varied from coke to socks. The socks especially were a huge hit, in fact, I’ve never seen so many people fight over them!
After white elephant, we ate lunch and watched the movie Elf and then played a intense game powder puff football. For those of you who don’t know, powderpuff football is where the girls play and they boys coach. I was fortunate enough and blessed with Damon as my coach. Unfortunately we lost. But that’s ok. I’m fine. It’s fine.
Later that night, we had worship by a bonfire (shout-out to the boys). During worship, I was so overwhelmed with gratefulness for my squad and for my family. And that’s when I realized I’m with some of the people I care for most and I’ve never been so content with simplicity in all my life. You see- due to the lack of items and the unpredictability of Africa- this Christmas was the most special because we truly got to focus on the reason for the season- which is Jesus! And turns out- Africa celebrates Christmas in January! So we got to celebrate two Christmas! Actually more like three because nobody actually knew when it was! But that’s ok! So overall, Merry Christmas and I hope your New Year has been spectacular!
Slightly delayed but still important,
KJ
