I have never been away from my family during Thanksgiving or Christmas. I love the traditions of our family!
This year however, I will be in Thailand for Christmas, and I was in Tanzania for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, I could handle, but I knew Christmas was going to be hard-especially without a tree, snow, AND family.
On the race, I’ve often wanted to just go home for a day to see everyone, and just go home for that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you walk into your house-smells good, looks familiar, tastes familiar. Ahh, home. (I love the race and would not go home if they paid me but you know what I mean)
Well, we found out in Tanzania that we were going to celebrate Christmas as a squad on December 2nd. I was not sure what to expect and none of us were real excited for it at that point.
We get to Nairobi for debrief and we have a few days to get settled and go into town. First day, we decided to go to Art Café to find the internet.
We walk into the shopping center and we see Christmas trees and stockings, Santa pictures and it feels like home, I start getting really excited about Christmas!
Then we ran into an angel, outside of Art Café, her name is Naoma, one of the girls in the group found out was an American! She was so sweet, she was going to help us find the internet, she was just the nicest woman-she offered us a ride and she was asking about our trip and was just really genuine and good natured.
We decided not to go with her (not because she was a random person) but because we wanted to EAT at this placed that looked delicious! I sat around with my friends and we enjoyed our food and enjoyed the company-it was so nice, we called it our Christmas. Little did we know…the story does not stop here… the angel comments on Emily’s blog and gives her contact information and says we can come over to her house!
We get real excited because she was so nice and she stated she had internet, a Christmas tree, and a fireplace and a washing machine!!!! So we make plans to go visit her for an evening, meet her family and eat dinner. She even offered to let us spend the night.
We walk into her gorgeous home and it was my dream of coming to America for a day coming true. It smelled so good, it looked so familiar and she had OREOS AND NUTTER BUTTERS on the counter for us to eat, and chips and salsa and licorice. Then she had soda (from the states) for us to drink. I cried, yes, I cried- I could smell the Yankee candle burning, it looked like Christmas, it smelled like Christmas, she even collects willow tree, which all the women in my family have-and I heard the Lord tell me how pleased He was with me, and how this was a blessing from Him. Yeah, I cried. This poor woman had crying women in her living room because we were all so excited, happy, and blessed to be there. It gets better!
I was able to Skype my nephew with her computer, I was able to take the most amazing shower ever-with scolding hot water, she had Christmas music playing, a lit up tree, and her husband Dwaine lit a fire in the fireplace. We enjoyed Chili with cheese and sour cream, salad, corn bread and HOMEADE chocolate chip cookies. We chatted with each other, she wanted to learn about us and our organization, and she really just wanted to bless us and love on us, which she did. I also had clean laundry that actually smelled clean, I didn’t have to hand wash my undies!!
We were able to meet their beautiful children and she prayed for us. Oh what a night. My sister who often thinks I’m crazy, was again amazed- random woman from the mall, turns into my friends and me walking into her house- eating all her snacks, using her internet/computer, using her shower, eating her dinner and then taking all the leftover cookies with us and taking some wrapping paper which turned into a great friend and a true blessing. I’m learning how to receive! Praise the Lord.
O’ Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining… it is the night of our dear Saviors birth! <3
