Merry Christmas!!!
Right now I am sitting in a guest house with 50 or so people, most of whom are on computers at this very moment, skyping people from home. We’ve gone from the bitter cold of China to the humid tropics of the Philippines, all in the course of a few hours! There are packages littering the floor that have been lovingly sent from the States straight to the hands of eagerly awaiting Word Racers, the contents spilling out from the frenzy of opening them. There is a pan half full of Christmas cookies and fudge on the counter, and a fake Christmas tree in the corner. Racers walk around in their pajama pants and talk about what they miss from home and what they would be doing right now if they were with their families. Christmas movies have been watched and a carol or two is hummed continuously throughout the day. People rush around, trying to empty their big travel packs and repack with only what they will need for the next week that will be spent on the beach about 3 hours from here. Scarfs are exchanged for swimsuits, tissues for tanning lotion. The coffee pot is refilled for the third time tonight since most of us have decided to pull an all-nighter to be ready to leave the house at 4 am for our trip to the beach. Presents from around the world have been bought, packaged, and sent home to family members, covered in prayers so that they will in fact make it to the States. The time difference has been discussed again and again as people try to schedule times to call home on Christmas day. The look of homesickness that settles on some of us like a thick blanket is torn off by a random hug or smile from a teammate. Thoughts of home and family Christmas traditions fade a little when compared to the innocent eyes of a Filipino orphan who lives right outside our house.
Memories will always be there to make us smile and even to bring a few tears now and then. But we are here right now. We are 50 some people who didn’t even know each other last year at Christmas, and we have become substitute family members for one another. We have been through hard times together, cried together, laughed until it hurt together, prayed for one another, challenged one another, fought for one another, and traveled the world together. That means something to me. I don’t need anything for Christmas, and frankly i don’t have room in my pack to carry any gifts anyway! But my gift will be this feeling right now. This contentment and joy that has been shaken up many times but always settles to the bottom, not going anywhere. We’re making memories tonight, right now, in the Philippines. Next year we might all be back home in our old familiar surroundings, doing Christmas the way we know how to do it, but right now we are living this as it happens. None of us have ever been in this exact situation, and we never will be again. So, I’m choosing to look around the room and let my eyes rest on each person, listen to each conversation, and know that I am right where I am meant to be.
I pray that wherever you are right now, you feel the same way this Christmas.
