Merry Christmas!

As Jeff and I have both mentioned in previouse posts, it is a bit difficult for us to really wrap our minds around the Christmas season this year. We are still adjusting our minds to the holiday/weather connection we're used to . We don't have all the commercialism, running here and there, programs, parties, etc. We do have a small Christmas tree, paper chains, paper snowflakes our girls made, and Christmas music.
Still, something was missing. I tried to get graham crackers to make gingerbread houses with the kids, but only a small pack was to be found. I continued to wrack my brain trying to think how we make it "feel" more like Christmas for our family...then we went to church the past two Sundays.
We are so thankful for Port-au-Prince Fellowship! What great worship, where God is very real and present. What a good reminder over the past two Sundays. Why do we celebrate Christmas? We celebrate Christmas night as a holy night, but some don't. Some don't know the Jesus we celebrate. So be in prayer for those who don't know, reach out to those who don't know. When buying gifts for others, don't we buy something for 2 reasons? 1. something that person needs 2. something that person wants. So what do we give God for Christmas? Something He needs...us, our time, our service, our compassion for others. Something He wants...us, our hearts, our lives, our all.
So as we try to make it "feel" like Christmas, we ask ourselves. Have we given God our time? Alone? Just as Jesus spent time with God alone while here on earth and just as he hung on the cross alone with his father. Have we given God our time? even when it isn't convenient? I know I don't as much as I should and want to. So, I commit to this not just over the next few days going into Christmas, but regular time alone with God, not just when I can fit it in or when I find myself on my knees.
Have we given God our service and compassion for others? Others in need? I know we sometimes take for granted the condition of the kids in the Good Samaritan Orphanages because they are all in school and they all eat regularly. But truth be told, they are in an orphanage, without their mom and dad. They are in need. They soak in the times when we just sit with them and talk or sing.
Just two days ago, I sat with Kevencia and Phaline in their bedroom and Phaline asked me to sing to her. Now granted, Phaline is 20 years old. Feeling a bit intimidated, I said I would if she sang first. So she did. Then I sang. When I finished, Kevencia who had her head on my lap said "ancor mommie deb, ancor" . Isn't that something a 2 year old would say to her mommy? Again mommy again. Kevencia is 14. So it didn't matter that we weren't doing a task, as long as I was focused on them. Yes, we are "doing" a lot for them. But do we take enough time just to be with them? Being the task oriented people we are, with no agenda other than spending time and loving. That night, I realized, I had been so busy doing, it had been a while since I just spent that time for those in need.
So isn't this what Christmas is all about? I think I had tried all these years to say I was truly celebrating Christ's birth, but I was so busy doing all the American Christmas traditions, I didn't have time for it. I was always so exhausted by the time Christmas day rolled around, I couldn't even think straight. It has taken moving to Haiti for me to really truly be able to celebrate Christ's birth. To celebrate the child who came to this earth just to allow himself to be sacrificed for my sake and your sake.
We will give each of our kids 3 gifts this year representing the gifts the wise men brought for Jesus. But I hope we are giving them an even greater gift by giving the gift of time and compassion for others. Hopefully one day, our kids will look past all the "stuff" they've always asked for and just celebrate Christ.

Merry Christmas!
~Deb & Jeff
Colton, Kylie, & Brooke