It’s the holiday season; a time of laughter, joy, Christmas carols, and family gatherings. And I’m not there. I’m an ocean away surrounded by unfamiliar sights, spotty wifi, strange food, and a frustrating language barrier. I miss my family. I miss cold weather and sweaters. I miss driving. I miss light shows, nativity scenes, and decorations. For the first time ever, I’m not home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
It’s hard to connect this time of year with what the holidays I know and love. Back in Virginia, everyone is already bundled up, sweaters and scarfs galore. The wind bites and the trees have almost lost all their leaves. Morning are filled with frost and you can see your breathe. Snow might even be in the forecast soon. Christmas decorations can already be seen in every store. Christmas carols will be sung everywhere before you can finish Saying “Happy Thanksgiving!”
Thailand is just as hot and humid as ever. The funny thing is it’s actually their “winter.” We teach English every weekday, even on Thanksgiving. Christmas is a known holiday, but not as highly celebrated as in America. Thanksgiving is even less heard of and kind of hard to explain to Thai people. To celebrate the Great Turkey Day, my team cooked dinner for our host family. It was a mix of traditions we hold dear and new ways to celebrate. Turkey is hard to come by, so we settled for chicken alfredo.The classic apple pie was baked and enjoyed. Devil eggs made an appearance. Sweet potato casserole was cooked despite the substitution of certain ingredients. There were multiple market runs, shopping lists, and taste tests.
We celebrated with a new family, in a new country and that was experience that will always remain. I have gained a new father and a new mother in just two weeks. I have seven sisters to add to the two back home. I didn’t know that I could fall in love with people so deeply and in so little time. They have become family. And it doesn’t matter that we don’t share the same language or that we look different or that we come from different places. We are connected.
In this revelation, God has also reminded me of another truth. We are all born again into a family, His family. Because of this we are joined together with one spirit. We speak different languages. We have different skin colors. We live in different countries. We don’t agree on everything. We worship the same God though. The church is widespread and filled with variety, I think the same thing can be said of our God.
We are not the same, but we serve the same God.
We are apart of the same family.
We are different, but united; individually unique, but filled with the same spirit.
“There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call–one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Ephesians 4:4-6
So even though I’m miles away and missing home, I find comfort in this new family I get to be apart of and new traditions we get to learn and create. I may not be there physically during all the celebrations, but it’s nice to know we are still connected. The same holy spirit that resides in me resides in you.
