I am infinitely amazed

Being infinitely amazed, so do I give infinite thanks to God, who has been pleased to make me the first observer of marvelous things, unrevealed to bygone ages. Galileo (on first seeing the sky through a telescope)

Even though I know that, unlike Galileo, I am not the first observer of the marvelous things I am seeing, I am still infinitely amazed at the way the grace of God daily tunes my heart to sing His praise, the way He is ever at work in my life, even in the way I view the holiday season.

To understand how great my Christmas Eve and Christmas were, you must go back to Sunday, which was just awful. Really--I cried on the phone to my sister, Cathy. It was that bad. No one here celebrates Christmas, no one said, "Merry Christmas" to us at church, in fact, no one even said anything to us at church. (Not that different from some Southern Baptist churches in the states, right?) Anyway, it was just terrible. By the time we got home, we were all grumpy. Then we fought. Then we decided we just shouldn't be here. Then we decided we should be here, but we definitely didn't have to like it. You get the picture.

Christmas Eve, we got up (all feeling better after some sleep) and went for breakfast and to Build-a-Bear workshop. Each of the kids got a new animal and an outfit, and we just had a wonderful time. The workers were just as excited as we were, and they even wished us "Merry Christmas" as we went out the door. Then we went to a party at our friends' house with three other families. It was wonderful--great food, sledding for the kids, laughing for the adults, and then a candlelighting service where we sang all the great Christmas carols my soul had really missed. Then it was home to bed for the kids and a night of wrapping gifts for me.

Our kids slept in on Christmas morning (I know--what's the deal with that?), so we didn't start opening gifts until after 9 a.m. But we just kind of meandered through our gifts, letting them play with something if they wanted to, taking a break in the middle for some cinnamon rolls, not feeling like we had to rush in order to get someplace, because we weren't going anywhere. We had wonderful gifts--I'll write about mine later--but more than anything, we had fun together. No fighting, crying, or whining--for the first time in the almost three months we've been here, no one cried all day. No one fought. In fact, they were gracious to one another, thanking each other for presents and stopping to watch the others open theirs, taking real joy in someone else's pleasure. On what can be the greediest day of the year, my kids acted like people you would want to know. What a pleasure. Then we spent the rest of the day talking to our friends and family around the world, including video chats with Prague and the Middle East, and a wonderful video chat with my family in St. Louis and Indianapolis at the same time! What fun to see my parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews ( and their cats). I didn't go overboard for Christmas dinner, choosing to just make things my family really likes, and not worrying about having fifteen dishes on the table. It didn't take me all night to clean up, and I got to enjoy my time with friends and family. What a great day!

We've learned a couple of really important lessons, not just for people on the mission field, but just in general. First, I had underestimated the importance of toys. Until yesterday, when there was pleasant conversation in my home as they played, I had not realized how few toys we brought. The kids were so thrilled to have actual things to play with that they forgot to fight and be miserable and unhappy. Hmmm...I'm not sure I could have fit more toys in the bags, but it might have been wise to try. Second, the key to enjoying "big" days may be to have almost no expectations at all. We didn't have an agenda for Christmas day, we didn't have any expectations of what it would be like to celebrate Christmas in a country that doesn't, so we just kind of went with the fun. It was hard to realize that no one around us was celebrating Christ's birth, but it was also a pretty good reminder of why we're here.

Today, unfortunately, it's back to language lessons and our normal grind. But we're looking forward to having toys for the kids to play with, and we're so grateful to have had the funds to provide those toys. Who knew that the key to happiness was a baby doll and a set of legos? Wherever you are, I pray that you also had a tremendous Christmas day, enjoying the blessings God has showered you with. Blessings to you and yours!
His,
Kellye