What Goes Around

This is our first Christmas in America many years.  It has been weird.  I can't believe how many presents people give and get.  And people seem to have gotten crazy with the yard decorations.  You can't say "Merry Christmas" without offending someone, and you can't not say "Merry Christmas" without offending someone else. I found myself sad this morning as I was thinking about how different this year was for my family.  We usually go to Christmas Eve service at our church and expect it to be a little odd at times.  That's what you get in a third world country.  The speaker system will do weird things or the electricity will blink on and off or the times we have to go through security checks to enter the service.  And then we usually would go out to dinner somewhere with some friends.  Finally we arrive home and move our mattresses out to the front room by the Christmas tree with the familiar ornaments and we watch Elf in our pajamas. ...

Sometimes you hear people tell stories of how God provided exactly what they wanted and they didn't even ask.  You know the stories, how someone won a car and it was the purple mustang that they had always dreamed of.  Well that isn't how God provided for us, but He still has provided what we need plus more. We were able to move to an apartment this week.  It is more expensive then we would like for a one bedroom and not in the exact location that I had hoped for, but it is our home now and I am thankful for it.  We already have it full of stuff too, which is surprising since six months ago we only had six suitcases worth of belongings.  But Steve's grandma is now in an assisted living place so she had to get rid of her stuff.  So we have all of grandma's stuff.  Not exactly my style, but again, I am very thankful for all of it. We have all the pots and pans and dinnerware and furniture and pictures for the wall.  We have a hair dryer, some j...