sinterklaas & avent reading 10.

Well, yesterday was Sinterklaas, the Dutch holiday that resembles our Christmas traditions, although a little different...I totally forgot about it until almost dinner time, but when I remembered, I wanted to do a little celebrating.  Since I used to live in Holland, my family celebrated Sinterklaas and Christmas.  I think I liked Sinterklaas better, maybe because it was a "new" tradition, maybe because it was Dutch and I always wanted to feel more Dutch.  You can look it all up in Wikipedia, but here are some of the traditions I remember/we practiced in Holland:

• There was always a huge festival [plural, actually] of Sinterklaas arriving from Spain on a big boat.  I remember my dad's workplace having such celebrations for the the kids of the employees.  Awesome!
• Sinterklaas would get from house to house on a white horse that was able to walk on rooftops...
• His helpers [Zwarte Pieten] would be the ones who would go down the chimney. Zwarte Pieten means "Black Petes"...not very PC, but it's Dutch, what can I say??  Apparently, they are black from going down all the chimneys, but there is variation on this tradition...
• You leave a shoe out by the fireplace and receive gifts overnight, and often sing songs as you do so...the only one I really remember was one that said something about Black Pete being stealth - that you could hear him, but you never see him...ninja-like ;)
• Everyone gets the first letter of their first name in chocolate [usually very big, very delicious letters of chocolatey goodness]
• You get a poem about you
• You get papiernoten [small cookie "disks" of gingery goodness] and other delicious snacks
• You get a few presents [I usually got a CD or book from Mom and Dad :) ]

I think the argument is that Santa Claus originated from the Dutch colonies that settled in America, and so my arguments for not celebrating Santa would hold here, too.  However, since this tradition was so dear to me during my time in Holland, I want to try to incorporate it somehow into our Advent celebrations.  So, last night, after I realized what day it was, I ran to the store, picked up some hot chocolate and ginger cookies, cut out some wooden shoes and wrote poems for J, Marieke and Ryan.  It was kind of lame, but fun just the same, and I surprised everyone with a mini Sinterklaas celebration when I went to campus to drop off dinner :)  I wrote poems that incorporated the letters of their names, and reasons why I am grateful for each of them.  I think this might be tradition in our family, and would have nothing to do with a man on a horse.  But I think anticipation is fun for kids, and so I think it would be fun to have a mini celebration in the middle of Advent - just an extra night of special snacks [homemade chocolate letters?!?] and cute poems to accompany our advent reading...or something like that.  We shall see :)  Anyway, just thought I'd give you that little tidbit for what is going on across the ocean right now, and here is the good stuff:

Matthew 1:18-25
The angel of the Lord comes to Joseph in a dream.

 

Now the birth of  Jesus Christ  took place in this way.  When his mother Mary had been betrothed  to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child  from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling  to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.  But as he considered these things, behold,  an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and  you shall call his name Jesus,  for he will save his people from their sins.”  All this took place  to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name  Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). 

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Happy Tuesday!  Continue to pray for J as he studies :)  Much love to all.

baby, it's cold outside...?? & advent reading 9.

Well, this morning has to be one of the most idyllic mornings I have had since being in Grenada.  I'm sure my husband would disagree seeing as of right now he is in the middle of his Anatomy exam, but my morning has been quite wonderful.  

First off, [and although this didn't happen this morning] I was able to Sykpe with these dear, dear sisters in Christ [missing Jessi] last night while I was at Marieke's apartment while she packed up stuff to store at our place - so everyone got to "meet" :)   

It was SUCH a blessing and joy to my heart, I started crying at first, then I realized how ridiculous that was - but I felt like I was there in the living room with them, although they were wearing sweaters, drinking tea and eating Christmas cookies, and I was wearing a t-shirt, drinking cold water, and snacking on some homemade popcorn ;)  I am so grateful for technology that maintains connections across the world!!!  Love and miss these women! :)

Then I came home, made J's lunch that he took today [another quiche - his request :) ] and then headed off to bed.  

Now read this:  I woke up COLD this morning!!! What a GLORIOUS feeling!!!  I actually felt like I may have needed another blanket :)  We had to leave the house by 6:50am to get J to campus on time for his exam, so I made him Nutella oatmeal [another request - see how I cater during exam time?? He knows it, too...haha!] and a hard boiled egg, and we were off!  I dropped him off, went to the gym, printed off some pictures using his color printing credit that doesn't roll over into next semester, and then drove the car back home where I took a very refreshing shower.  Now I am blogging, eating MY oatmeal, and drinking some cocoa tea [that has currently replaced coffee - I think I'm off coffee for good now! :) At least for a while...we'll see...]  

So anyway - doesn't that sound like a wonderful, productive, refreshing morning?? Especially considering that it is just now getting hot outside, and I am inside?? :) :)  I'm hoping many a morning is like this over break ;)  So now, dear readers, I am off to read a bit of the good Word and rejoice in the Savior that allowed for this morning to happen :)  Then I have some projects to work on for Christmas, mainly...fun times!  Here is the advent reading for today if you are following along:

Luke 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel’s annunciation to the virgin Mary of the Incarnation.

 

In the sixth month the angel  Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named  Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed  to a man whose name was Joseph,  of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings,  O favored one,  the Lord is with you!”  But  she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for  you have found favor with God.  And behold,  you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and  you shall call his name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of  the Most High. And the Lord God  will give to him the throne of  his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob  forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her,  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of  the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born  will be called  holy— the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her  who was called barren.  For  nothing will be impossible with God.”  And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant  of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And  the angel departed from her.

Much love from Grenada Isle :)

avent reading 8 & happy sunday!

Luke 1:5-25
The birth of John the Baptist is foretold to Zacharias.

 

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,   of  the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.  And they were both  righteous before God, walking  blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.  But they had no child, because  Elizabeth was barren, and  both were advanced in years.  Now  while he was serving as priest before God when  his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot  to enter  the temple of the Lord and burn incense.  10 And the whole multitude of the people  were praying  outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of  the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and  fear fell upon him.  But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for  your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and  you shall call his name John.  And you will have joy and gladness, and many will  rejoice at his birth,  for he will be  great before the Lord. And  he must not drink wine or strong  drink, and  he will be  filled with the Holy Spirit,  even from his mother’s womb.  And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and  he will go before him  in the spirit and power of Elijah,  to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and  the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

And Zechariah said to the angel,  “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”  And the angel answered him, “I am  Gabriel.  I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.  And behold,  you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”  And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in  the temple.  And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in  the temple. And  he kept making signs to them and remained mute.  And  when his time of  service was ended, he went to his home.

After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,  “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me,  to take away my reproach among people.”

I LOVE this passage of scripture - God's power manifested even when men are doubting and sinful.  I pray everyone has a great Sunday worshiping our great God, refocusing our lives for the week to serve and honor Him with everything.  Continue to pray for us!  Much love.

thoughts about santa...

This was taken from the book Treasuring Christ in Your Traditions by Noel Piper, which I previously mentioned I read last month.  It was excellent, to say the least.  She included a lot of thought-provoking insight to family traditions, the most insightful being Christmas.  J and I have already thought about this issue, but she lays it out so clearly, I thought I might share it here as well.  She has also been posting segments about Advent on her blog [some of which I have already shared here] and this one was posted today...so read and ponder...weigh and question...come to your own conclusions, but remember that in all things Christ should be glorified above all else.  Let me know if you have any thoughts regarding these things!!

"I’m not on a campaign, but I thought some of you might be interested in the way we think about one of the very visible “symbols” of the season.

For several reasons, we chose not to include Santa Claus in our Christmas stories and decorations.

First, fairy tales are fun, but we didn’t ask our children to believe them. On the contrary, they’re a good way to learn the difference between real-life and make believe. Second, celebrating with Santa and manger will postpone a child’s clear understanding of what the real truth of God is.

It’s very difficult for a young child to pick through a marble cake of part-truth and part-imagination to find the crumbs of reality. We wanted our children to understand God as fully as they were able, at whatever age they were. So we tried to avoid things that would inhibit or distort that understanding.

Third, think how confusing it must be to a straight-thinking, uncritical preschooler. Santa is so much like what we’re trying all year to teach our children about God. Look at the “attributes” of Santa.

• He’s omniscient—he sees everything you do.
• He rewards you if you’re good.
• He’s omnipresent—at least, he can be everywhere in one night.
• He gives you good gifts.
• He’s the most famous “old man in the sky” figure.

But at the deeper level that young children haven’t reached yet, he is not like God at all.

For example, does Santa really care if we’re bad or good? Think of the most awful kid you can remember. Did he or she ever not get gifts from Santa? What about Santa’s spying and then rewarding you if you’re good enough?

That’s not the way God operates. He gave us his gift—his Son—even though we weren’t good at all. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He gave his gift to us to make us good, not because we had proved ourselves good enough."

last minutes & advent reading 7.

Wow!  Well, I am finally home for good after a long day full of events!  This morning around 9am I decided to join the SO group going to Lasagese Beach - a beach I had yet to venture to - and it was very pretty.  Lasagese has a little darker water, but it is set in a cove-like location, and the water is very shallow for a long time.  I packed my lunch and headed to campus where I also dropped off J's lunch, and then a bunch of us headed out.  It was nice to finally see, and good to get directions for when our visitors come :)  I had a pretty wicked headache, though, so when we got back [around 2pm] I completely passed out on the sofa and didn't wake up until almost 4pm!  [I guess it was a much-needed nap!] At this point, I ran to the store, picked up some last minute dinner ingredients, made dinner, and also threw together some cookies for a girls' hangout tonight with Natalie and Marieke.  I went to campus, ate dinner with my man, and then Marieke and I headed over to Natalie's house.  We ate cheese, apples!!, crackers, cookies, and had a lime drink concoction while we watched Gnomeo and Juliet :)  It was cute, and a good time - we chatted about our proposals and how weird it is that this term is almost over, and then Marieke dropped me and some of her stuff back off at my house so we can move things in once we get into the new place.  It was a very full day indeed, and I think I am about ready to go to bed :)  Tomorrow will be full of some Christmas projects and bagel making for the week...interspersed with cleaning and laundry, I'm sure.  And then this week will be last minute hangouts before everyone ventures home, and J's finals!  Wow - times flies!  

Hope all is well with everyone reading this!  Continue to enjoy the winter season for us!  Much love.

Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort ye my people.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and cry to her

that  her warfare is ended,

that her iniquity is pardoned,

that she has received from the LORD’s hand

double for all her sins.

A voice cries in the wilderness:
"Prepare the way of the LORD;

make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,

and the rough places a plain.

And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,

and all flesh shall see it together,

for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry!”

And I said,  “What shall I cry?”

All flesh is grass,

and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades

when the breath of the LORD blows on it;

surely the people are grass.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of our God will stand forever.

Get you up to a high mountain,

O Zion,  herald of good news;

lift up your voice with strength,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

“Behold your God!”

Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,

and his arm rules for him;

behold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

he will gather the lambs in his arms;

he will carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead those that are with young.

some adventures & advent reading 6.

So yesterday, Marieke and I were planning on going to Bel Air to sing Christmas songs with some of the kids there.  But before we did that [in the afternoon], we ventured over to the Special Education School [where our girls attend] for an art gallery/sale of things done by the kids.  I got some really cute Christmas gifts there, and I am glad that I was able to support the school as well in the meantime.  Sometimes it hits me more than other times that I live in [basically] a third world country.  As we were walking through the school [aka cement walled rooms back to back with a little play yard] I realized how drastically different this place [and education, and everything else really] is from the states [and you can say, "Duh!" if you want, but sometimes you just forget, you know?  Especially once things seem "normal" and you've been adjusted for a while.]  Almost all the classrooms had a TV and M's teacher was just sitting in the classroom watching it while the kids roamed around.  I'm assuming this lack of structure was due to the fact that the art sale was going on, and parents and friends would be in and out throughout the day anyway, but I'm also wondering how much teaching really goes on there...I think that no matter what "level" the kids are, they are all grouped by age, so that ones who may learn better in a different class are still stuck with other students who can't function at as high of a level.  I don't know if this is true, but based on our girls' abilities to read/write/do math I'm thinking this might be the case.  I think in a lot of ways, Grenada is very young old country.  I think they are just beginning to figure out how things should be run, and it's going to take a long time for significant, helpful change to come about.  I think a lot of this needs to happen in the educational system.  According to word on the street, teachers only need an Associate's degree to teach, and if they have had basically the same education as the kids are getting now, the system isn't going to be effectively growing.  Lots to think about, but to sum it up:  I was glad to be able to stop by yesterday, and I think it helps build the girls' trust in us more and more when we show up to things that we say we are going to show up for.

After this, we went back to campus to eat lunch and practice our Christmas songs.  This led to an extensive time of goofy recordings, and unfortunately, I thought I was able to attach music to the blog, but it appears that I can't...??  I may make some blank YouTube videos and link them that way.  Anyway, I'll just say that a lot of laughing and singing happened on the tracks - fun times.  And then we ventured to Bel Air.  Thankfully, Marieke has been gifted with the ability to play guitar, without which we probably wouldn't have been able to capture as much attention [and even that was iffy, especially with the little ones] but it was fun, and the older girls definitely LOVE to sing, and sing LOUD :)  Both of our voices were hoarse by the time we left, but it was a good time - I'm glad we were able to do that before the Christmas break - singing is good for the soul :)

I've been having a rough time as of late.  Just pray for me and pray for my hard working husband - finals are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday next week!  So close, but he still feels he has a lot to cover, so pray for grace for the both of us, and just patience and focus for me - not to look at myself/situations, but to the Lord, who is working all things for His glory.

Love to all.


Malachi 4:1-3
The Sun of Righteousness, the Daystar, shall arise.

For behold,  the day is coming, burning like an oven, when  all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.  2 But for you  who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise  with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.  3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.

happy december! & avent reading 5.

Wow!  Can anyone else hardly believe its December??  I mean, I guess since the weather hasn't changed since the summer for all of us here in Grenada, it makes a little harder to believe...but seriously, this year FLEW.  Who knew Term 1 would be over so fast and Christmas break upon us?  When I think about how long we've been here, it really blows my mind.  Next term we will no longer be the "newbies" - we are experienced Grenada inhabitants now!  So strange.  Also strange is how normal everything seems to feel, and even felt after only a month or so.  We wait on buses to tote us around.  We get the food we want...sometimes, when the store is well stocked.  We have our own little patterns for the week...aka orphanage, Bible studies, etc.  We have relationships with people who were born and raised here, and continue to learn more about the culture every day.  I still wish I could be working, but its been good to provide consistency for my husband while he works really hard at school.  And speaking of school, finals are NEXT WEEK!  It totally hit me YESTERDAY that that was the case - so please keep him in your prayers - he has a LOT of material to cover!  But he's been working so hard!  Well, beyond my continue battle of the bugs [little tiny jumping things and "sugar ants" - gah!!], not much else is going on here, and I am ready for J to be done with school for a bit, even though I think break will fly by too, since everything else has already...Hope everything is well stateside!  We miss everyone!  And for those of you wishing to keep up with advent readings, here is one for today:

Micah 5:2-4
The glory of little Bethlehem is foretold by the prophet Micah.

 

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are too little to be among the clans of  Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to be  ruler in Israel,

whose coming forth is  from of old,

from ancient days.

3 Therefore he shall give them up  until the time

when she who is in labor has given birth;

then  the rest of his brothers shall return

to the people of Israel.

4 And he shall stand  and shepherd his flock  in the strength of the LORD,

in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

And they shall dwell secure, for now  he shall be great

to the ends of the earth.

Much love.