Impromptu Christmas Photo

It's Snowing!

We attended a really fun "Christmas Around the World" Party at Andy's work tonight. It was actually fairly chilly. They had lots of food from different parts of the world and the focus was on Asia this year! So fun! They had dumplings and noodles and Chinese Acrobats and Japanese drummers! They even had a Navity/petting zoo area! We got to pet a donkey! They even had fake snow! Jack was obssessed!

A tribute to our Life Group

One of the neat blessings of this year is the program we are participating while we transition back to the US. It's been a TREMENDOUS help to have so much input into our lives as individuals, as a couple and as parents. We're a part of a group that meets weekly to hear from God's word on different topics. We also have the privilege of hearing from one another and sharing parts of our life stories. It's been such a blessing to hear from people who have lived all over the world what God has done in their lives. One of my favorite parts of this year is our life group. Our larger group is divided into small groups, called Life groups. Our life group meet every other week to process life together, to pray together, to eat and laugh and share very openly and intimately what God has and is doing in our lives. This group is just incredible. We have so much fun together and they are a huge part of our lives this year so I wanted to introduce them on our blog!

Daniel, far left is a UNC grad. He and Andy carpool to work together! He is loyal and witty! Christina, bottom right is a sweet and tender friend. Jodi, bottom middle lived overseas for 11 years. She's sincere, full of life and fun! James and Alex (Green sweatshirt and black vest) lead our group along with Jodi. James is kind and funny and has played a huge part in God leading us back to the US. Alex is incredibly insightful and has "carried my burdens" this year. Hiroko, far right, is from Japan but speaks English better than I do. She brings the fun factor up about 5 notches in our group with her awesome sense of humor. She is a breath of fresh air. Erin and Brett, both in red in the back lived in China for 10 years! Though we didn't know them there, it's been really fun to get to know them now. We have lots to talk about and joke about since we both lived in China! Erin is my work out partner. Basically, she makes me go workout and I am grateful. She is laid back and kind and delightful. Brett is sincere and has a great sense of humor. He also keeps us laughing.

This group has been such a big part of our lives this year! We are so grateful for each new friend!

It's cold here, sort of

I took this picture on the way to the post office this morning. It's starting to get cold here. Well, cold by Florida standards. You know, like down in the 40's at night. We are loving the cold and excited to wear our winter gear. By the time we walked the 1/8 mile to the post office I was stripping off my winter stuff. Ok, it's not really cold here.

Our Christmas Tree

Here is our Christmas tree from last year:

Although it was fake and the middle strand of lights was a little dim, we loved our tree. We got it when we returned to China after getting married. As you know, Kathi Huffman is quite particular about her Christmas decor. Andy follows in her footsteps. Although we like real trees, he and I prefer traditional Christmas tree look over the tree being real. And since we couldn't find any trees that looked remotely like the perfectly shaped Frazier Firs that we grew up with, we decided to stick with fake. But fake in China can be tricky too. Most fake China trees are pretty sparse. So after looking high and low, we found the perfect tree. The only problem with it was that it was COVERED in fake pine cones and fake snow. So my dear husband spent several hours clipping each and every last pine cone off the tree. Then he beat each branch and got as much snow off it as he could. We were left with a great looking tree, lightly dusted with snow. Andy was left with a pounding headache from all the fake snow he inhaled. I'm not sure why I am telling this. I guess all this to say, that tree was meaningful to us because it was with us all of our married years in China and we loved the way it looked, despite the fact that it used all the power in our apartment to run the lights. HEHE. So even though it was fake, it was hard to say goodbye to this dear tree. But leaving it was made easier by the thought of getting a REAL tree this year. And here it is, in all its glory....drum roll please.....

I know I know. It's ugly. And not real. And 4 feet tall. What in the world happened? I'm not sure exactly but I'll just say once we got it up, I cried. Actually, we are going to be out of town for two weeks at Christmas so that was the first strike against getting a real tree. And the second was just how busy and overwhelmed with life we have felt since making this transition back to the US. Andy first mentioned that he thought we should "go simple" this year and surprisingly, against my nature, I readily agreed! That's so not like me. I like big and bold and fun and complicated. Not simple! But this year I just went along with it. Even though I was sad not to have a real tree, it was nice to just decorate simply this year. We only used ornaments that have special meaning to us so it's a fun tree to enjoy! I was kind of sad about how little it looked so I put it up on stand to make it look a little bigger. HEHE. Maybe next year will be the year when we get that perfectly shaped real tree. My favorite part of the Christmas season so far has been reading Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus, an Advent devotional book. It has really helped me to understand more of the goodness of Jesus as I reflect on different aspects of his coming to earth. Andy just plugged in our pre-lit tree and said, "It doesn't look that bad." Oh, Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree! How ugly are your branches!!!!!!

Perfect

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

You know those times where God just works something out and every detail is just so perfect that you know it's a gift perfectly crafted by your Heavenly Father who knows you so intimately and loves to lavish you with exactly what you need? OK that's a long sentence. But you know what I mean. Something that's just so perfect you can see God's intimate care for you in every detail. That's what our weekend with the K's was for Andy and me. From the flight only costing 13.99 plus taxes and fees to having the treat of staying at Andy's parents beach home! My parents got to come down and keep EG and Jack and I think all parties involved had a great time.

The beach was beautiful and quiet. It was sunny. We laughed and cried and prayed and ate and played cards and watched movies. It was the perfect amount of time to be have deep conversations and fun too! Matt and Laura are our dear friends from China. We laugh that God sent us into exile together out in this little town where we lived for the past 3 years. We learned lots of lessons out there doing life together and both of us have learned a lot about how to be a friend. A lot of the people from our town actually thought our two families lived together in one apartment! Although we didn't go that far, I would say we lived such interdependent lives that we are as close as family. I treasure this sweet family. God is writing an incredible story in their lives and we've had the privilege of sitting on the front row and watching it for these past few years.

As if that wasn't enough, God put the icing on the cake with an unexpected trip to NC. it didn't work out for us to fly from Wilmington, so we drove with Matt and Laura to Chapel Hill where we met my Grandparents. They picked us up and we spent the night with them so we could fly out of Greensboro the next morning. I would have never guessed how life-giving those 12 hours in NC would be! We ate NC BBQ on the way to meet my grandparents. Ahh, what a treat. And it snowed in NC that day so we got to drive through rural NC and see a winter wonderland and look at lots of Christmas lights. Andy and I often talk about how people are connected to places. I will be forever connected to North Carolina, like the Israelites were to their land, I imagine. It brings life to my bones just to be in my hometown.

And we spent a sweet late evening and early morning with my grandparents. We had sausage biscuits courtesy of the Breakfast King, my grandfather! What a sweet sweet gift from the Lord. Andy and I drove to the airport in a winter wonderland, just praising God for his goodness to us. We even crossed paths with my parents at the airport and got to catch the details of how their weekend went with our kids! I left my house a mess. It was my parents so I felt only mildly ashamed! HEHE. But I came home to a clean home, laundry done, doors and drains repaired, bathrooms clean, microwave not gunky anymore. It's the little things. Well, and the big things. This weekend was full of little and big gifts from the Lord all wrapped up in a perfect package for me and Andy to receive!!!

Christmas 2010

Each year we purchase an ornament for our kiddos. We hope these ornaments will mark each year and help them reflect God's faithfulness to our family We'll pass them on to them once they have their own tree! This year's ornaments....

Moving to Florida is a HUGE part of their stories. God has led us here. We see that it's his perfect provision for our family to be here for this season. We aren't sure how long we'll be here but we are looking forward to seeing his plan unfold as we enjoy flamingos, palms and lots of sunny days!!!!