A, It’s hot. B, there is no family. C, there’s no familiar… can you still have Christmas? Since getting accepted to the World Race, and actually deciding to do this, I have sort of dreaded Christmas and have seen it as a sort of speed bump to finally get over while on the race. Despite the anxiety that came with knowing I would not be with my family or experience the usual Christmas, I have had a great one, and I basically wanted to share what a World Race Christmas looks like. What a Christmas looks like that could have only been in my dreams…
On Christmas Eve, my heart was a little broken because I knew that I was going to have to be without my family for the next day and a half. Christmas Eve night, we made a dinner of spaghetti and all sat down together (my team and another one that we’re living with this month). There we were, 12 strangers enjoying something that neither felt like Christmas or looked like the usual, mainly because it 80something degrees outside. As I sat there eating, laughing, and talking about our own traditions, I felt absolutely thankful for what I have been given.
After playing white elephant with some hilariously cheap and ridiculous presents (we are broke after all), singing Christmas carols by candlelight and talking late into the night, I collapsed into what was probably a four hour night sleep. I woke up on Christmas morning to teammates making breakfast – banana pancakes, bacon, and eggs. We then exchanged our stockings made from t-shirts which was hilarious and very interesting (some filled with rejected white elephant gifts). My team exchanged gifts with each for our secret Santa-I got a bracelet, a dark chocolate bar, and an IOU for the note cards no one could find. We dressed in a hurry and in true Christmas fashion, hurriedly made a few dishes and rushed around until we all left for another team’s house to have Christmas lunch. Lunch was HUGE and so good. We had chicken, lots of veggies, salsa and chips, and more dessert than I can tell you about.
At the end of the day, we went to our ministry to have a party and help decorate for Sunday and then back home. Upon returning home and not eating a thing because we were so full, we all attempted to talk to our families. Mine put my head on our big screen and all sat around to wish me a Merry Christmas. I loved this more than I can say. I do have the best fam in the whole world…
