The Wittz End: Christmas time!

I really love Christmas time. It has such a different feeling here than in the States. Every year I do my best to create the same feeling I had growing up. I play the Christmas music all day long because any shops I go to in town there is no music to be played. I decorate our two trees and tape up our mini stockings on the wall. Nancy Germo gave me a beautiful poinsettia table cloth that I have on our dining room table and have our banana leaf nativity set as the center piece. I get in the baking mood and do all the different kinds of cookies that I can with the ingredients that we can find here. I have a few crafty books and the kids and I try to make it our goal to do one Christmas craft a day. Righteous is the only one who has spent Christmas in America, 1st when she was 3 weeks old and 2nd when she was 1. For the past 6 years we have been here in Kenya. In so many ways I think, my girls have no idea what they are missing out on. We rarely buy them any presents, this year they got 1 new dira (a local dress). We try to make their birthdays special and they always get many gifts when visitors come throughout the year, so for our family it is not necessary to have a lot of presents. We are always sure to ask them what is significance of Christmas day. We are so far removed from the commercialism that the answer is to remember Jesus, our Savior, being born.

This year we all went to the farm on Christmas Day. Jason had gotten a phone call earlier in the morning that there was a problem with some of the water pipes that were laid the week before. I didn't mind one bit getting into the car and driving through the sandy roads to check out the situation. We were together as a family. We had gotten to watch the Nativity story that morning and talked about it while we were driving. We passed a caravan of donkeys, some carrying women and immediately thought of Mary traveling to Bethlehem. To get to the farm we have to go through a security check at the bridge. We were able to buy sodas for all the police officers who had to work on Christmas Day, over 14 of them. Once we got to the farm we walked the whole way to the river to inspect the damage. It wasn't as bad as Jason thought which was a relief. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the car and headed home. Our day concluded with a movie, reading the Bible, and honey glazed turkey.

The following day we got together with several families to have a meal. Jason brought our ping pong table from out of the garage and everyone took turns playing. Many people in our town have gone home to the villages where their relatives live. It was a blessing to come together, for those who have remained here. Even though I am so far away from my loved ones in America, I am not left wanting. The friends we have made here throughout the years have become like family. I hope you had a wonderful day in the way you celebrated this season.