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Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Real Christmas
I started this Christmas season a bit annoyed with all the
cutesy, cozy Christmas songs and legends. It bothered me that the birth of
Christ is so idealized, and Jesus probably wasn’t even born at Christmas [unless
you subscribe to the theory put forth in The Star]. I still love Christmas because I have so many
happy memories associated with it, but living overseas in a developing country, I see a lot more people whose Christmases are sad and stressful.
Thankfully, in this country there is almost always plenty of home-grown food. There is also a strong
extended family structure. But life for the people here isn’t cozy or cutesy at
all. It’s raw, and real, and sometimes incredibly difficult and tragic. In the
past month, a number of very sad and upsetting things have happened around us. Our own family has experienced something very sad and raw which
resurfaced in the past week. We live in a broken, hurting world.
Last night, while singing Christmas hymns with most of the other
women on our mission center, it suddenly hit me that the most REAL thing about
Christmas, when we celebrate the coming of the Christ, the Messiah, at Advent,
is just that: We live in a broken, hurting world that desperately needs a
Savior. HE CAME into this world and lived a raw, real life here, suffered a
horrific death in our place, and yet triumphed when he rose again and ascended
to Heaven. And He’s coming back! He’s going to make everything right again. He
will deal with Evil – currently under a death sentence – by destroying it
permanently.
No matter when Jesus was born, Christmas celebrates the fact
that He WAS born! If not for that fact, we’d all be under a death sentence,
waiting for an eternity of destruction. He lived, He died, He rose again, He’s
coming back! For those who have accepted His gift of salvation, that’s the
ultimate reason to celebrate. It’s not cheesy. It’s not cutesy. It’s not cozy.
But IT IS REAL. And it is the most comforting truth possible.
- Rejoicing in that Truth,
Carrie
Cute kids this morning, wearing more Christmas clothes from Aunt Mickey!:
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Christmas Quints
Thanks to Aunt Karen, we actually have photos of our kids in their Christmas clothes! It's really hard to get photos with all the kids looking at the camera and smiling, so there are several you can "composite" in your mind. Happy kids! And happy Mommy, who was taking a Sunday afternoon nap as Karen snapped these photos and her house. ;)
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| I love how our kids enjoy the ornaments and can be somewhat trusted with them this year. I always played with my mom's ornaments, making up little stories with the various ones. It's one of my best Christmas memories as a kid! |
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| Seth asked to take this photo of Karen, and David plopped down in her lap so he could be in it with her! Pretty good!! |
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Gavin, Carrie, Isaac, Will, David, Marcie, Seth, & Grace Jones
