Merry Christmas everyone! I'm going to keep this short, since I don't have photos yet (I used Nathan and Adrianne Penner's camera again), but Christmas today was a lot of fun. Of course, all the kids were up before 6AM, waiting for our parents to let us out of the secure bedroom area into the living room. Per tradition, we started with stockings and then took turns opening presents one at a time, taking breaks for cinnamon rolls.
Putting on our new Christmas Clothes, we headed off to church. Around here, the Christmas services are short and sweet, allowing families to get back home to prepare Christmas lunch/dinner. It was our first time actually listening to our new pastor, Justin, since he's been away on vacation, and we enjoyed hearing his sermon on God's Christmas Gift to Us.
After a little fellowshipping after the service, we did head home to prepare to host four families: two of Dad's co-workers and their families, Nathan and Adrianne, and our neighbors. We had a large lunch/dinner (we really only had two meals today), and then we spent time talking and listening to stories. One of Dad's co-workers, Faith, is Zimbabwean, and she was able to talk about her life there as the economy dropped, inflation took hold, and government lost control. I say the government lost control, but the people didn't. People survived by bartering, by selling Zim dollars for American dollars/South African rand, by become self-employed entrepreneurs. 70% of the population of Zim is self employed.
Nathan and Adrianne also shared their story with our other guests, about Adrianne's brain surgery, and their marriage, and how the church came together. We had heard it before, but we picked up more details this time.
Once our guests left, we skyped the Taylor's back home in Gig Harbor, catching them about 15 minutes before they headed off to church. They'll call us back after church, cause Christmas just isn't the same without talking to the Taylor family!
Hopefully I'll have the pictures by Wednesday, at which point I can post them!
Putting on our new Christmas Clothes, we headed off to church. Around here, the Christmas services are short and sweet, allowing families to get back home to prepare Christmas lunch/dinner. It was our first time actually listening to our new pastor, Justin, since he's been away on vacation, and we enjoyed hearing his sermon on God's Christmas Gift to Us.
After a little fellowshipping after the service, we did head home to prepare to host four families: two of Dad's co-workers and their families, Nathan and Adrianne, and our neighbors. We had a large lunch/dinner (we really only had two meals today), and then we spent time talking and listening to stories. One of Dad's co-workers, Faith, is Zimbabwean, and she was able to talk about her life there as the economy dropped, inflation took hold, and government lost control. I say the government lost control, but the people didn't. People survived by bartering, by selling Zim dollars for American dollars/South African rand, by become self-employed entrepreneurs. 70% of the population of Zim is self employed.
Nathan and Adrianne also shared their story with our other guests, about Adrianne's brain surgery, and their marriage, and how the church came together. We had heard it before, but we picked up more details this time.
Once our guests left, we skyped the Taylor's back home in Gig Harbor, catching them about 15 minutes before they headed off to church. They'll call us back after church, cause Christmas just isn't the same without talking to the Taylor family!
Hopefully I'll have the pictures by Wednesday, at which point I can post them!
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