The Christmas Celebration

 It's just a few days after Christmas, but a time of rejoicing still in the air.  The Lord has arranged for me to be able to be on the internet and able to share a bit with you all.  

Leading up to Christmas, I spent 2 weeks, plus, being pretty sick.  Not real sure what it was, but I'm about over it now.  And I really praise God I was feeling so much better by Christmas.  The Sunday before Christmas, we had a special concert at English Bible Fellowship.  Our "normal" piano player, Enoch, did a special service and did a fantastic job of bringing some great music for us to celebrate with.  We had a small group, since most missionaries were stateside and the Haitian community were at their own special services.  But we had those who the Lord brought, and it was awesome.  Savanah thought she should be the one leading, but she did settle down finally and enjoyed the music with the rest of us.  She is growing up so fast!!  This is her "Sunday before Christmas dress".

 

On Christmas Eve, we had Vero, Abbie and Sammy here with us.  And we opened presents.  We had a great time with them.  But neither Savanah or Sammy wanted to open their presents.  They would put down the package and go to the toy bucket and get a toy.  Vero helped them open them, and then they played with their presents, but no way would they open them, themselves.  This year we let Abbie decorate the tree.  And of course, having 2, two year olds here a lot, had to use only non-breakable ornaments.  And then Savanah would UN-decorate the tree, and put some of it back on.  The two special gifts these kids enjoyed were the truck (musical) that Sammy got, and the kitchen set that Savanah got.  They would dance and dance to the truck, then play "cook and eat" with the kitchen set.  They had a ball.

 Abbie had a ball with her presents, too.  And she got to hand out the gifts again this year.  She is now 8 going on 18.... growing up way too fast. 

 She is so good with the little ones.  They love playing with her.  She loves being a little mother to them.

 We had a great, messy time.  There is Sammy with his musical truck (it also lights up).  Kids and a mess are just a part of Christmas.  And we had a good time with them that evening.

 This is Sammy and Savanah dancing to the truck music.  The video is too huge to put on here, but they sure did enjoy dancing together.

Then came Christmas Day.  God has blessed us so much with good friends.  We had Prit, Dana and John Adams over for Christmas dinner.  They are some of the neatest people.  They have been missionaries here in Haiti as long as we have.  We have watched their children grow and it's so neat that the Lord has kept them so strong through all the trials and tribulations of living in Haiti.  Prit is a gifted pastor/teacher.  Dana is an exceptional music leader and their son John is following in both of their steps.  A precious family to be sure.  The time and fellowship with them was a blessing from the Lord for us.

Now we are back into "every day mode".   Since I have not been able to get on internet much, I've been working on other things now.  Don's time is divided in so many ways.  Delivering water, sand, and gravel, plus working on Vero's house, and trying to keep things running here at our house has kept him running in circles.  And then there is working at the airport with MFI.  We have cut back on teams, but not on work.  Never much time to simply sit and relax.  Well, with a two year old that wouldn't happen much anyway. 

Speaking of that 2 year old.... there was to be a meeting with the Prime Minister on the 24th, concerning the adoption process.  We are waiting for word on how that went.  So please, keep praying.  Pastor Cebien has a team in and is out in the countryside, so have not had contact with him since this meeting took place.  We know it's all in God's hands, but continue to pray and believe He will work things out soon.  

The biggest holiday for Haiti is coming up.  January 1st is not only New Year's Day, it is the day of independence here in Haiti.  So they combine Christmas, New Year's and Independence Day all in one.  And the main thing of the day will be Pumpkin Soup.  If  you've never had it, you are missing something REALLY special.  They make a huge pot of it on the 1st, and have it on the stove all day.  Anyone who comes to visit, gets a bowl.  Since we don't usually go anywhere on that day, we have ended up with at least a couple of pots brought TO us.  What a treat for us.  And it's special that we are thought of by others, who know we won't get it, unless they bring it to us.  

Something that means a lot to me is how Haitians celebrate Christmas day.  They may not give gifts or have special meals... but they have something much more important.  They have special services with special skits depicting the birth of Jesus Christ.  They keep CHRIST at the center of CHRISTmas.  Oh that the world would do the same.  

We pray that Christ was the center of YOUR CHRISTmas.  And that you, along with us, were praising God for His incredible gift of His Son, TO US.  He may have come as a babe in the manger, but His real reason for coming was to bring a way for us to spend eternity with the Lord.  We pray you are in that place where you can praise God with us, for the salvation His Son came to bring for us.  

At this time of year we are praying you know the real reason for the season.  Not the decorations, fancy trees, presents or even a reason for new clothes and parties.  But to celebrate the birth of the Son of God, sent to save us from our sins.  We praise and thank the Lord for HIS GIFT TO US, Jesus Christ!!!!  

God's blessings to you and yours in this new year!!!