First of all, it is not cold here! This is really awesome . . . but it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving. Or at least Thanksgiving in Nebraska. On the positive side, flowers are blooming and it is super pretty!
Thanksgiving was always a time to have lots of people at your table. My dad used to be the Chief of Police in our small little South Dakota town and he would always invite his police officers to join us. Later we usually had Thanksgiving at our house because Don would have to work on the Friday after. We would sometimes have some of my family and some of his family. It was about making the table bigger and having a huge meal together . . . but it never looked like this!
We had almost 50 people at our Thanksgiving table in Guatemala this year. The girls and I baked some pies the day before and we figured out how to make homemade French fried onions. The kids requested the traditional green bean casserole but we couldn't buy the onions here. It was fun and felt like 'home' to cook together. Even on Thanksgiving morning it was fun to cook with everyone and share the day together. However, later the kids all said that they missed being at Meema's house (my mom). It wasn't 'cozy' - in their words. Hard to be cozy with that many people!
We did manage to stream the Nebraska/Iowa game the next day. As I was dozing, I mean, watching the game and laying on our couch, I had this thought of 'now this feels like Thanksgiving' . . . until Don had to go to see a patient in clinic. And then the Guatemalan furniture guy from town drove up to our apartment with my Christmas present from Don. (Yes, it was a little early but better than late, right?).
Today we pulled down the Christmas decorations from the attic. We had packed one large Rubbermaid with our favorite decorations and brought it in the camper with us. When we got here we stuck it in the attic right away because Christmas was so far away. But here we are.
Christmas will definitely be different this year. My family is coming but we will be celebrating in Guatemala City since they arrive on Christmas Eve night. The kids are super excited about some of the things that we have talked about doing, but it will certainly be a different way to celebrate.
As we opened up the Rubbermaid, it 'smelled' like Christmas. We pulled out some lights and decorations and then we got to this.
My mom, my sister and I all have the same Nativity set. It is one of my favorite things about Christmas. It made our apartment feel like Christmas . . . and home! But I realized that 'home' was not really about the place. It is about the memories and the people. The familiar.
We are making new memories and traditions. We are deepening relationships with the people that we are living and serving with. It is sometimes hard to move forward and accept the changes but it is also such a blessing to experience the new and different. We feel so blessed to be in this place that the Lord has called us to. We have our moments of sadness and times of missing our family and friends, but we love the people that we are getting to do life with here.
The funniest thing reminded me of 'home' this morning. Don hung a shower caddy in our bathroom yesterday. It immediately made me feel like I was 'home'. Our shampoos, soap etc. have been sitting on the edge of the tub since we arrived. I think that made it feel more 'temporary' like we were just visiting or at a hotel. The shower caddy feels like I have a place where all of my stuff belongs and that feels like 'home'!
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