Holidays in Kenya

 I realized I never had time to put up pictures for Thanksgiving. We were blessed to have 29 people to celebrate with. Along with the interns and Rebecca Johnson (that is what we had called her because there are 3 Rebekah's which can be very embarrassing when we are introducing ourselves while standing right next to each other.) We had the famous Amy Owen, the Germo family, the Giessman family who originally are from Germany, the media team which includes Drew one of our former interns, Josiah, and Harrison. In the beginning of this week there was much unrest in our time so we had 18(including our family) of the 29 people spend two nights in our home as we waited out until things calmed down. Normally that would be chaotic with that many people with that many different personalities but we all knew that it had to be the way it was and to make the most of it. I actually really enjoyed it. You could almost pretend that we had planned a vacation to all stay at the same place together, cooking together, no work, just relaxing, it made it even better. We were always safe and we always had food to eat. On Thanksgiving day we really had more to think about and be grateful for, not taking even the little things for granted.

 Unfortunately I did not take any pictures on Christmas day. Up until this day I was baking a different dessert (whether it be cookies, or seven layer bars) each day. We would bring it to our neighbors and they enjoyed it so much. This helped me get into the Christmas mood as much as I can considering the town we live in treats this day as any other. This was the first year I did the advent calender with my kiddos. Each day we read a different name of Jesus. He is the

Alpha and the Omega,

Savior,

Creator,

Good Shepherd,

Bread of Life,

Wonderful Counselor,

Prince of Peace,

Lamb of God,

King of Kings,

Light of the world,

Son of God,

the Way, the Truth, and the Life,

Lion of Judah,

Mighty God,

Redeemer,

Baby Jesus id God,

Teacher,

Messiah,

Our Father,

Master,

The Living Word,

Healer, 

Immannuel,

Jesus.

We were able to bring a turkey from Nairobi to cook for Christmas. We had 9 Kenyans over and 8 of the 9 had never eaten turkey before. We talked about some of our cultural differences. A few days earlier they had asked if there was anything they could bring and Jason wanted to know if there is any holiday food that they would only cook around this time. For Kenyans, meat is expensive and eaten only on special occasions, so normally a family would have chicken stew and chapatis on Christmas day. Since we were having Turkey we thought it would be most helpful to us to come hours before we would eat and help with the cooking. This made everything go smoothly and was fun to be able to talk while we prepared. Kenyan men are usually never found in the kitchen and never have to serve themselves. When we have people over, I am the one who is asked for a cup of water even if Jason is more "available" to get it. (Often times I am in the middle of taking care of the young-ins in some way). We felt free to be able to talk about this and come to the understanding that once Jesus becomes Lord of our lives, some traditions can be put away so that we can serve one another and treat each other like Christ. The best way we can explain this is by living it out. Our marriage is the best representation of Christ's love. All this sounds like basic knowledge but in a deeply rooted culture it means changing a way of life that has been past down from many generations. It is important for me to learn this lesson for myself. Just because "stubbornness, or speaking whatever comes to mind(even if it unkind)" runs in my family, does not give me the right to conduct myself that way. The Bible is my standard in everything I do and say. I mess up often and continue to ask for the Holy Spirit's help to quiet my mouth. :) We had such a nice Christmas, being able to share it with great friends who have the same love for the people in our town.

My Christmas Decorations.

Last but not least I wanted to show pictures from me making my own egg-less cookie dough and adding that to vanilla ice cream. I was craving this the other day and just googled what to do. It was a success!