Our Christmas

This Christmas was full for us.  Full of many good things, and mainly full of the love of God.  We had a few surprises, like Sonora hitting her head and needing stiches and Malachi being sick Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but in the end we were thankful our situation wasn't worse.  We were sad to miss our church's Christmas Eve program, but we were happy to all be together.  It was a rather rainy day (a little weather detail for me to rememeber).  

Christmas morning, the kids got up to check in their stockings. After breakfast and a little rest we packed up and headed to our friend's home for Christmas dinner.  Malachi didn't get to enjoy the meal, but finally kept down some potatoes and in the late evening had enough energy to play with his friends.  The good food, great company and the sound of a full house made for a great day.  And in the evening we were able to talk to nearly all of our family.    I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well.  

I thought I'd share with you the fullness of this season.  It was full of . . . 

. . . waiting and reflecting on the gift of Christ

. . . sweets and baking

. . . decorating

. . . gift making

. . . special sweet moments

. . . pets to care for (two birds, one turtle and five fish)

. . . lots of pictures with Sonora wearing this bandage

. . . sweet gifts from sister to brother

. . . keeping surprises

. . . sickness and rest

. . . smiles and delight

. . . wonderful friends

. . . fun and games

. . . humor and laughter

. . . tradition (thanks Becky for always making this little treat happen)

. . . and for this little girl, it's been a season full of lots of sugar!

Hard at Work

Everyone was quiet and working hard!

A Season of Waiting

I've been thinking about how Christmas and Easter are both holidays that build up.  They are a season, not just a one day holiday.  And I've been reflecting a lot on the birth of Christ, reading the prophecies  fortelling his coming and I get this sense of waiting. . . of expectancy.  And then someone shared in church about how at Christmas we talk a lot about Jesus's coming as if we were waiting for his first coming too, when in reality he has come and now we are waiting for his return.  I thought about that and realized how Christmas is a bit of an excercise of remembering, treasuring and hoping all in one.  We remember how the Israelites were waiting and
expecting a savior and we remember our lives as well before we received the gift of Christ personally.  The remembering of the goodness of God to follow through with his promises brings us to treasure His wonderful goodness, namely His goodness in Christ Jesus, saving us from our sin.  And the treasuring of His goodness in my hearts springs such a hope in me for all the situations in my life that can feel hopeless.

So, as we sing Christmas carols around the tree, or read from the Gospels the coming of Jesus with the angels and shepherds and wise men, or we help the kids prepare a gift for someone special with anticipation of the receiver's joy, I am reminded of the fullness of the gift of Christ.  These traditions (singing, nativity sets, reading the story) are full of meaning but only if you take the
time to really ponder it.  There is much more relection needed at
Christmas than we tend to give ourselves to.  And I realize the very traditions that were meant to help us reflect can actually stand in the way if they are merely keeping us busy.

There is nothing like small children and the job of raising them to make you have to answer the questions of why you do the things you do.  Why the tree?  Why gifts?  There is a lot of meaning in all these little things we do and as the kids have started asking it's been good for me to put it into words and ponder anew their meaning.
I'll take gift giving for example.  The wisemen gave gifts.  I for a long time thought of the tradition as coming from that.  And it may have.  I suppose there are different opinions as to the origion of the traditon.  We've been talking about Jesus as the greatest gift, and reflecting on the giving and recieving relationship, and the joy of both giving and receiving.  Kids have a way of bringing back meanings to things you've done so long you can almost lose the meaning.  Also, living in a country where Christmas is not celebrated  has made me conscious of the meanings behind our tradtions.  I never used to put so much thought into why we do the things we do at Christmas and Easter until I came to Turkey, at least not in this way.

As this will be our last Christmas here, I'm writing this mainly for
myself.  It isn't a profound reflection but a personal one.  I want to remember the beauty of our Christmas's here.  They have become very meaningful and a real season of renewing for me.  Next Christmas will be so special in that we'll be with our families again, and I hope as purposeful in meaning as our Christmas's have been here.

Christmas Show

This week Malachi and Sonora had their school Christmas program.  Sonora's class sang and danced along with the first graders to several songs in different languages.  One was in Spanish and one was Latin I think.  I love this picture above showing her class singing "O Come All Ye Faithful".  They did a great job and Sonora was all smiles and giggles on stage.

Malachi's class worked together with the older kids to put on a musical.  It was called Christmas in Reverse.  They told the Christmas story going back to Adam and Eve and our need for a Savior.  Malachi had a speaking line telling of how after the prophet Malachi, God was silent until the Savior appeared.  He spoke his line so clearly and projected his voice so well.  We were really proud of him.   Here, the second grade "angels" are waiting to get on stage.

Here Malachi and his classmates are singing one of their songs telling the story of Christmas.  It was a beautifully done show.  Again this year I had tears in my eyes as I took in the truth of God's wonderful plan told by the mouths of children.  Well done, Malachi and Sonora!

Battling Dust

For everyone keeping a home clean, dusting is a required chore.  Some places in the world are more dusty than others.  My mother-in-law winters in Arizona, a desert region, and she claims she dusts more than in Kansas.  Well, I don't know where Istanbul ranks for amount of dust, but it is pretty bad.  I can dry mop our laminate floors every other day and get a visible pile of dust bunnies.  Nearly every visit with neighbor women here includes at least a two-minute conversation blurb on how the home cleaning chores are endless.  A large part of that is due to dust. 

This morning I saw my across the kitchen window neighbor lady battling dust.  She first shook her bedspread out the window,  then her pillows, her towel and lastly, her pajamas.  I don't know how much dust settles on pajamas but she must have thought it was worth it because she vigorously shook them out the window. 

Last week while having tea with some neighbor women, my friend lamented at the amount of dust kids kick up when they are playing inside.  I wonder if that is part of the problem.  Our children bounce around on the couches for a few hours every day.  What can you do but let them kick up the dust--there is no where to play outside in the winter rain. 

So, I keep sweeping and mopping (probably more than I ever dreamed I would do in my life) and try to think of all the positives that come from it like. . . . helping Aaron's allergies, being able to relate to my neighbors and add to that redundant two minute cleaning conversation blurb, having something to keep my hands busy and yet my mind is free to think, the opportunity to shake things out the window (it's kind-of fun--something we don't do in the States).  This morning I was shaking the hall rug out the window and the strong wind nearly ripped it from my hands.  I have always thought what a bummer that would be to drop a rug out the window and have to go and retrieve it.  Just a side thought.

Fall/Thanksgiving

Malachi's class on a Fall hike

A picturesque scene from the Belgrade Forest

Malachi's 2nd grade Class

Sonora making name tags for our Thanksgiving meal (thanks Aunt Phyllis)

Preparing the Turkey

Our Thanksgiving meal with our friends.

Istanbul In Pictures

A few weeks ago I had the chance to meet up with my two good friends for a girls get together.  Usually in the Fall a Women's conference is organized for those needing some time of worship, teaching and fellowship.  It didn't happen this year so we decided to get together for fellowship anyway and we met half way (more or less), on the European side of Istanbul.  It was fun to hang out and catch up, be a tourist in my own city, and to lift each other up in prayer.  The time went by too quickly.

I wanted to post these pictures because I think they capture just a sampling of the wonderful art and culture of this old city that one would see as a tourist.  We strolled through the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar just taking our time and we had a few experiences that we've never really taken the time for--like allowing a rug seller to give us his best sales pitch.  It entailed some tea, some time and a very educational experience in the history of rug making here in Turkey. The store owner was good in sales and I see how some people not intending to buy a rug walk out with one--they are beautiful.