Santa is a Lunch Lady?!

Some of the more secular folks here are slowly starting to adopt a few of the typical Christmas traditions as a way to celebrate New Years.  In particular they sometimes give gifts, decorate a little tree, and talk about Santa Claus.  It's really weird.

Anyhow, you can't imagine my surprise when I got in the lunch line and saw this at the end...

Yep!  That's Santa down there serving lunch today!

Times are tight.  Apparently Santa had to get a side job.

Here's Lucy, with her dog, posing with two Santas and her classmates.  The Lunchman Santa still has on his plastic gloves.  And the other Santa is one of my forth graders.   I have no idea why he wore a Santa suit to school.  He must have the patience of Job because he kept that thing on all. day. long!  Again, the Santa thing is really weird here!  Ha!

More Accurate than Maury Povich

Callie came marching out of her room a few days before Christmas and with all the bravado of Martin Luther taped her "Christmas Schedule" up in the living room.  

Now, if you know me, you can rest assured that this little action is certain proof that this child is mine.  We can cancel our appearance on the Maury Povich show.  We do not need a DNA test anymore.  The proof is in the over-planning!

In other humiliating news... this is what I got in my stocking:

Should I be worried about my breath?  Ha!

Back At It...

Today real life set back in and we had to get up and out to school.  OUCH!  It was so hard!  The weather has gotten cold again and it was pouring rain.  Plus my mom sent us all flannel sheets.  So getting out of our warm cozy beds on a cold rainy day after a few days off was nearly impossible.

So, here are a few pictures to remind me of happier times! ;-)

Lucy posing with her beloved new bike, Shadow

Callie actually got a bike for Christmas, too.  She just got it several months early.

Yes, we still love living on the coast!!

What's not to love?!  It's beautiful!

That goofy kid in the red hoodie riding his bike on the wall perilously close to the edge of the river?
Yep, that's my kid!  He didn't fall in, though.

We walked down the coast and over the bridge towards town a bit.
There is a grassy park all along this area.  It is really nice.

This type of exercise equipment is everywhere.  It's more fun than the playground.

Although we can't figure out what this particular piece of equipment really exercises!

My boy

The girls collected a few shells and special rocks

We watched a para-glider come down off the mountain.
Can you find his yellow parachute?

We are so thankful for our new town and this beautiful day to enjoy it.

Christmas Day

This was the very first time we have ever celebrated Christmas alone, just our little family.  We've always had family or friends to celebrate with.  It was sort of weird and sort of nice.  I felt like I was forgetting something all day long!

We started by opening stockings.

 

Noah LOVES barbecue sauce so he was so excited to find this in his stocking.

Here is actual photographic evidence that I was present!  Ha!

After stockings we had our traditional Christmas morning devotion and breakfast: Gorilla Bread, breakfast casserole, bacon (!!!!), and fresh-squeezed orange juice.  It was yummy!  

While we were cleaning up, this little stinker went out on the balcony and found her Christmas present by accident!

She was sooo excited!  She has been begging for a new bike for a year!

As usual, our families spoiled us rotten.  They are so generous!

Footy pajama fashion show!

Callie was super excited about her new make-up set!

I will be prancing around town in these bad boys...

Gamma sent Callie some new mixes for her doughnut maker.  We were all excited about that!  Ha!

The soccer ball he's been dreaming of:

Justin got a head-warmer for under his motorcycle helmet.

And I finally got him the coffeemaker that he has been dying for.

Justin and I got new slippers.  Callie ran to get hers from last year so we could take a picture.  I'm sure our neighbors are hoping that these moccasins will help us to keep the noise down!

After awhile we went outside for bike riding and soccer.  The weather was beautiful- unseasonably warm with blue skies.

We talked with Justin's parents on the phone and spent the afternoon enjoying our gifts and each other.  I was cooking up a storm.  For dinner I decided to make prime rib.  Of course, I couldn't really get the butcher to give me a true prime rib cut, so I ended up with roast beef.  It was still really good.  With that I made creamed spinach, wheat rolls, and sweet potato casserole.

Callie usually makes a Happy Birthday, Jesus cake on Christmas day.  This year we decided to depart from our regular vanilla or chocolate cake and do gingerbread cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting.  They were super yummy!

After dessert we Skyped with my family.  Everyone was at my parents' house.  We got to see my new nephew for the first time.  It was fun, but the kids were exhausted so we had to cut it a bit short.

Being an ex-pat at Christmas-time is a mixed blessing.  It's hard to be away from family, but I think it' makes it easier to focus on Jesus... and food. ;-)

Time for a diet!  Ha!

Merry Christmas!

Colorful Christmas Eve

You better believe we were so excited when we got out of school on Wednesday!

I got permission for us to take Thursday and Friday off!  So, we went tearing out of there so excited for our little Christmas break!

These two turkeys came home and immediately turned into lazy goats!

Callie and I hit the kitchen.  I've realized in my time here that special and traditional foods are one of the main ways that we celebrate.  I always make Justin's Grandmother's Turkey Wild Rice Bisque soup.  I didn't take a picture of it, but I sure should have.  I managed to find some wild rice in a big market in the city last spring so I scooped it up knowing that I could use it for this soup.  (YES, this is how you have to think when you live overseas!)  The funny thing about this particular wild rice is that it turned my broth dark purple.  So, when I added the cream the soup turned pink!  It tasted great, but the color was a little off-putting!  Ha!

While I was working on dinner, Callie was working on Christmas cookies.  I made the dough earlier in the week (trying to spread out my duties since I was working up until the last minute!).  So she rolled them out and baked them.  She also did the frosting.  I was completely hands off (I'm very proud of myself for that!) so we ended up with some interesting colors!  In her defense, you have to use an absurd amount of food coloring to truly achieve the deep rich colors associated with Christmas!

After a lovely pink dinner we excitedly began decorating cookies.

We haven't really done much cookie decorating, so this was a new thing.  Grandma sent some sprinkles that were so fun to decorate with!

Really, who cares what color the frosting is when it tastes this good?!  Obviously, not Noah, who is licking it up!

Artists at work.

Here are some of our creations...

Callie with hers...

Noah with his...

And this picture of Lucy pretty much sums up where  her cookies are!  Ha!

We watched Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Polar Express while we worked.  It was such a fun way to prepare for Christmas.

Perspectives

I've just got one more bit to say on this topic.  If you're new to this thread start here and then go here before you read this one.

Have you ever seen Sleeping Beauty?  It's a classic.  When you watch it, your heart goes out to the poor king and queen- victims of a terrible curse.  And Maleficent... she's pure evil!

For Christmas Lucy got the Maleficent movie and it put a whole new perspective on the story.  Poor Maleficent!  She wasn't evil.  She was broken and desperate for revenge.

I was surprised to find myself rooting for her since I've always considered her the bad guy.

At the risk of doing something my brother hates and only talking about things on screen instead of real life I'd like to give another example.  

Have you seen the movie Life is Beautiful?  It is one of my all time favorite movies.  It is an amazing story of a Jewish man who gets hauled off to a concentration camp.  In the confusion, his son is taken, too.  In order to protect his son, the father makes the entire concentration camp experience a game.  Sometimes its Hide and Seek.  Sometimes its Cops and Robbers.  Throughout the movie the father is in a desperate situation yet the son is having a blast.

It's an amazing story of how perspective really can alter reality.

So what does regurgitating movies have to do with my point?

The world is really bad but God is really good.

I've come to the conclusion that this is true, but there is a third element to the reality.  It's me.  How do I choose to interact with the fallen world and the Holy God?  The two are in such juxtaposition that it's often difficult to believe that God is still good.

More often than not, it doesn't feel like God is good.  Life feels difficult and sometimes I am convinced that God has forgotten me.

This is where faith comes into the picture.  Regardless of how I feel, regardless of what my perspective is telling me, I choose to believe that God is good.  It may not feel like it.  All the evidence in my limited perspective may point to the opposite.  However, I know, that I know, that I know GOD IS GOOD.  

He is on my side.

He is trustworthy.

He will provide.

He will not scoop my up out of hardship.  Instead He will lovingly walk through difficult times with me.  He will grow me and guide me and teach me.

The Lord's perspective is large and long.  It spans time, space, and even emotion.  He is good and just.  Moreso, He is holy.

So, when everything in me is downcast.  When my heart wants to hide from the Lord.  When He feels so far away.  When I am broken.  When the task at hand feels impossible...  I beg Him for His perspective and I choose to believe that He is good.

Just like in the movies, the more I tell myself, the more I read His word, the more I go to Him in prayer, the more I open myself up to him regardless of how I feel or what seems real He is faithful to remind me that His perspective is broad.

Every story has at least two sides.

Instead of getting frustrated at people He can show me why they are they way they are.  We are all broken and the result of that brokenness can look very different from person to person.  He can put laughter on my lips when there's suffering and evil all around me.

I choose to believe.  All my eggs are in the Jesus basket.  It's a perpetual choice.  It is not based on my circumstances or how I feel.  It's based on who He is. 

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen."

Hebrews 11: 1-3

The Good News

We left off with the terrible truth that the world is a corrupt and evil place.  Always was.  Always will be.  If you didn’t read yesterday’s post, start there first.

So, if things are so bad and Satan rules this earth, where is God?

That’s the good news.  Yes, things are bad.  Yes, there is great suffering in this life.  Yes, nothing is fair. 

But... yes, God has a plan!

The funny thing about His plan though... He’s not going to slowly wrap things up into a happy ending.  This life will never be perfect and pretty and ready for a nice red bow or a standing ovation.

I’ve heard that Jesus came to change the world.  I think it may be more accurate to say that He came to change us and to be with us in that process!

There’s an essential difference.

Waiting for the world to change.  Waiting for things to improve or come to a completion will only cause more angst and frustration.  

Stop waiting!!  

Jesus is called Emmanuel- God with us!  God with us in the joys of life.  God with us in the arguments.  God with us in the car.  God with us at work.  God with us as we watch tv.  God with us as we mourn.  God with us on the internet.  God with us at dinnertime.  God with us at Starbucks.  God with us on the telephone.  In all things, at all times... God with us!

He is with us and He wants to change us!  He walked on this earth, experienced all the nuances of life.  He was God in the flesh, living, breathing, being ridiculed, having bad days, up until he gave Himself up for us.  Talk about a Christmas gift!!

So, today, and this year ask the Lord what He wants to do in your heart.  How He wants to change it.  Call to Him when you need help.  Practice the habit of thanksgiving and talking to Him all throughout the day.

He is Emmanuel, God with YOU!

Merry Christmas!!

You Think this is Bad?!

The Lord has shown me something this week and I’d like to share it with you...

I used to walk down the street in my old neighborhood and think, when they finish that building and clean up this neighborhood will be so much nicer.  Or, once they pave our street, then the block will be complete.  Of course, as soon as one construction project was finishing another would start.  As soon as they’d pave a street  they’d tear it up running cable.  Then they’d tear it up in another place to run a gas line.  It never ended yet I was yearning for a finish- a complete picture- all neat and in its place.

Once I finally realized that my neighborhood would never meet my definition of complete and give up on the idea I could just enjoy it for what it was... a process.

The Lord is showing me that this is what life is about.  I am so type A that it’s sad.  Nothing makes me happier in life than a nice long to-do list with every item checked off of it!  So, I find myself waiting until things are complete.  Waiting until they are neat and tidy and ready for a big red bow and a check on the list.

The unfortunate truth is that life isn’t like that!  It’s messy and difficult.  It’s hard and the world is chock full of evil and sorrow and suffering.

When we told people we were moving to the Middle East they shocking exclaimed, “But there’s so much unrest!  Is it safe?  Wait until things settle down a bit.”

Well,  the history books will happily inform us that this is settled down!  You think the world we live in now is a mess?!  Think about the world that Jesus was born into.

Wrath.  Slaughter.  Injustice.  Poverty.  Corruption.  Slavery.  No indoor plumbing!!

It was a rough time.  Why, shortly after Jesus was born every male baby was murdered!  I’ve been around here when the streets run with blood from sacrifices.  I imagine that the numbers were tenfold and the rivers ran red for days back then.  Jesus was born in a barn, for Pete’s sake!  I’d rather give birth in a taxi cab!

What I’m saying is that things were bad.  They always were and they always will be.  This world is Satan’s playground!  

And, if you’re like me, it’s time to stop waiting for it to get better because it wont!  I’m sorry to say it, but it’s true!

I’ll stop on that happy note (ha!!) today.  Check back tomorrow for the rest of the story...

Let's Cut a Cake to Celebrate!

One of the things that I like about this culture is the way they share in celebrations.  Since my work visa finally came through I knew it was up to me to share in my fortune with my co-workers.  

For similar occasions, like buying a new car, retirement, etc. the fortunate person provides chocolate or something sweet for everyone.  Everyone shares in the sweetness and wishes the person well saying, “may all your days be this sweet.”  It’s a really nice tradition.

So, yesterday I made a huge chocolate cake to take to school and pass out.  It was fun to celebrate the lifting of this burden that I have carried with my co-workers!

Her gün bu günkü gibi tatlı olsun!

Sunday Sneak Peek

Yesterday we went to Lucy's science fair.

I didn’t take any pictures, but the first and second graders were set up at tables around the room demonstrating science experiments.  The third and forth grades did more of a social studies project.  They have been learning about Japan.  The third graders dressed up in Japanese costumes and sang a song in Japanese.  The forth graders made Japanese art and writing demonstrations.  

Lucy was adorable as the elusive blonde Japanese girl.  She was the greeter at the door.

Um... yes, there was a sumo wrestling demonstration!

Date Night

Noah is a huge reader.  A few years ago we decided to read the Hobbit together and then see the movies as they came out.  Its our special thing and I love it!  Its sort of hard to connect with a teenage boy.  So, apart from playing video games (YUCK!!) I will do just about anything to connect with my boy!

We have been anxiously waiting for the release of the new Hobbit movie.  The last one ended with such a cliffhanger and we have been dying to see how they were going to tie it up.  

I was worried that they wouldn’t show it at our tiny theater or that it would only be in the local language.  Well, PTL they had one English showing a day.  Not only that, it was in 3D!  La-te-da!  We’re fancy around these parts!

So we went tonight and it was sooo good.  We went out to a very fancy dinner, Burger King, and did a bit of Christmas shopping.  Noah was so cute the entire time.  He was so excited but he was trying to contain himself and remember to be a gentleman.

We had the best time.  Of course, the movie did not disappoint!  I love this kid young man!