¡Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I hope you have had a fun and relaxing holiday season. Mine has been full of new adventures! While I missed many of my own family's traditions, I have loved seeing how the holidays are celebrated in another place by another people.

The Christmas season here at the Casa Hogar was full of chorus concerts. The children performed several times for local churches, schools and other organizations, and even took one weekend "tour" to Nayarit, a city about 8 hours away! They got to stay in host homes in sets of about 3, permitting more personal attention which they so desperately need. All of the staff wanted to go on the trip, so I stayed behind with the 12 younger children (ages 4-10) who are not in the chorus yet. This was a challenge, but I had the assistant director's wife's sister helping me, so we did alright. All the children survived (haha) and got more one-on-one attention as well, so I think it was really a perfect arrangement. Throughout the season, many people from the community also came to help the children celebrate Christmas; these groups put on clown shows, brought piñatas and gifts, etc.

On Christmas Eve we received a last minute invitation to sing at a church's Christmas Eve service. We went and during the sermon, the pastor said, "Everyone should do something good for somebody...my wife and I are going to invite the children of the Casa Hogar for Christmas Dinner tonight." So that was the first we had heard of it, but we went and this pastor and his family treated the children like little kings and queens. The food was fabulous and the children were so happy to be in a real home for Christmas. (Mexicans consider Christmas Eve, or Noche Buena, to be the most important part of Christmas.) Then we went back to the Casa around 11:30pm and started the bonfire. After all the children had used up their own alloted firecrackers, the adults began blowing up old toys; this was the entertainment until we finally went to bed at 3:30am. Needless to say, that was a funny and new experience. (In the States, I have always gone to bed early and awaited new toys from Santa, but in MX, we stayed up late blowing up old toys. haha.) Christmas morning we slept in, and when I finally got up, I opened my package from my parents and then we had our normal, routine morning. I went down to the missionaries' house in the early afternoon and had lasagna with them, and then watched their little girls open gifts for a while. Afterwards, I went back up to the Casa and we had a fabulous Christmas dinner cooked by our Assistant Director who is quite the chef. He made cream of broccoli soup, a creamy type spaghetti, and chicken in gravy. Christmas night, I revealed the tent castle and all the girls had a PJ party! We had a very fun night of music, games, popcorn, candy and laughter and I finished it off with one of my family's traditions, reading the Christmas story to the girls.

It was a very happy and joy-filled day for me, which is a small miracle. As I wrote before, I had some anxiety about being away from my family, my traditions and essentially, my whole "world" for Christmas. I am a sentimental person and the holidays are always a very special time for me. I mean, we are talking about the girl who cries during The Christmas Carol play when the family sings, "Together, together." But God was so faithful to me and gave me all the comfort and familiarity I needed. He taught me of a Christmas different from what I have known previously, one that is not about gifts, but about relationships and quality time, two things that are so valued in Mexican culture.

As I sat in a Christmas Eve service in some random Mexican church, where I didn't know a soul and couldn't sing along to the carols because I didn't know the words in Spanish, I realized the great sacrifice that I had made, and how much I missed my church, my family, my friends, my language. But then my focus turned to the four-year-old Lupita on my lap, her big brown eyes starting to close, and I knew God had a purpose for me. I realized that somehow this precious, beautiful child got left behind, was forgotten, and that this fact grieved the Lord. Not only did it grieve him, it moved Him to take action. He worked in my heart, moved me to abandon my own desires and used me to be Jesus to her, to kiss the top of her sleepy head and just love her like any sweet little girl should be loved.

Finally it hit me, that is the whole message of Christmas! Jesus left all that was comfortable for Him and put our needs before His desires, because we were orphans who desperately needed someone to scoop us up on their lap and kiss us on the head and assure us that we are loved. It was hard for Him, He missed His heavenly Father and the ways of heaven, but He left home to love us and create "home" for us. Not that I am anywhere close to sacrificing what Jesus has, but this realization did make me more grateful for all that He has done for us, His children. "How Deep the Father's Love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He would give His only Son, to make a wretch His treasure!"

After Christmas, my roommate from Mexico City, Erika, came to Morelia for 5 days to visit! That was a blast. She is such a blessing from the Lord. He has given us a bond of unity and we have so much fun together. We spent a lot of time with the kids and also had some fun outings to see Morelia. For New Year's Eve, we saw a movie ("La Duquesa") and then came back and had a late dinner of homemade pizza with the kids. The bonfire started at around 2am. We lasted about 30 minutes before going to bed, and the kids went to bed around 5am...more fireworks were involved.

Thank you for reading, and also for your prayers, Christmas cards and emails during the holiday season. They were deeply appreciated, and the cards are hanging on my wall! If you were praying for the labels in the drawers to stay up, God is hearing! I haven't seen any come off yet, which doesn't sound like a miracle, but trust me, it is. Now I am moving to the "Cuarto Grande" as they call it, the room full of way more clothes than you could ever imagine, to try to get it organized. Right now, it is chaos. So you can pray that I will make progress and establish a clothes system that is self-sustaining and effective. Also, I am starting Bible Studies with the older girls soon, so please pray for wisdom, enthusiasm from the girls and that God would reveal who He is. I hope you have had an opportunity to reflect on 2008 and thank God for His many blessings and that you have a fulfilling 2009! Please write me, by email or snail mail , and let me know how you are. Love!