A different kind of Christmas

So I have to say that is was extremely weird for me to be looking at Christmas lights with no snow. We went around Bogota looking at different Christmas decorations, and I quickly found out that Colombia really outdoes itself with lights. They were gorgeous!



So one of things I did around Christmas was help with a dinner for the parents of the kids I work with at Casa buena. It was a dinner to bless the families and share Christ´s love with them. The Christmas back home. I said singing silent night with candles. He quickly learned how to play silent night on the guitar and I sang it to the parents in English with lights off candles lit. It took everything in me not to cry. I was able to share with these poor families a peice of who I was, a peice of my home.

This is what Christmas shopping in el centro looks like. TONS of people and TONS of things to buy. I was truly amazed that I found anything is this mess!

So we spent Christmas with the Afandor´s family. We ate, talked, laughed and celebrated. It was a humble gathering but I enjoyed it completely.

This is the llama that I rode on in the midst of shopping. It was... an experience;)
There were also people dressed as Indians doing tribal dances. Not a usual holiday ritual for me.

Overall Christmas was amazing. I really missed my family, but I spent Christmas in a new way. I know that God puts me through hard times for a reason. I think this Christmas is preparing me for other times that I won´t be able to be with my family. It scares me but I know His plans are better than mine. I can´t wait to be home with my family but I know God has His purposes for me here now. I´ve been learning how to find little joys in life. I always wonder why some people are able to leave joy out of their life and still feel satisfied. I think it is scary for us to admit the joy that we long for. It hurts to realize we can´t always have that joy. But why can´t we? Why can´t we have eternal joy? The truth is we can . By living our life in a way that mirrors Gods second biggest gift to us we can have joy. Joy is a choice not a feeling. Although there will be times that life just feels empty or their are situations thats are difficult if we choose joy we are showing appreciation for the fact that we are alive. We are meant to love that fact that we can live. Its gift that has been given to us.

Joy can be ours. We just have to first make ourselves vulnerable by admitting that we want it.

¨The joy of the Lord is your strength¨Nehemiah 8:10