merry, merry, merry...

So I started painting these Christmas cards to send out, since I couldn't find any here. I got four of them done before deciding that it was just taking way too long. So I decided just to scan it in (the color was much better on the original!) and post it here so you can pretend that I sent you a hand-painted one this year!

I have to confess that today I really felt bummed about Christmas. Decorating has always been one of my favorite things and I really, really miss all my red and white ornaments, my candles, tons of greenery and white lights and the big snowflakes that I used to hang by swirling wire in the dining room window. I miss hearing the Salvation Army bell ringers, the myriad Christmas programs around town, Christmas candy everywhere (well, that's probably a good thing) and seeing lights everywhere. I miss putting a red velvet bow on Cat's collar and lighting luminaries on my sidewalk.

But in the midst of missing stuff and being sad, once again God came through! I was having trouble figuring out what to get the boys for Christmas—it seemed like everything I thought of had already been taken care of and nothing was working. But Sandra met me a a local toy store and after a lot of looking we managed to find some fun things. The store was even having a "buy one, get the second at half price" sale, so that helped so much. I won't talk about the horrid wrapping paper that they used or the sloppy way in which the lady wrapped them. Oops. I guess I just did!

Anyway, what at first looked like pretty bleak prospects for gift buying actually turned out so well. It's definitely not like America—if you're picturing a nice big toy store like Toys-r-us or FAO Schwartz, or even just Wal-mart or Target, forget that notion! No, this toy store was probably not even as big as two toy aisles in Wal-mart! After looking and sorting and getting a little discouraged, all of a sudden, we started uncovering little treasures; it was like God had hidden them just for us. After leaving there, we had one more thing to pick up (a certain DVD) and were headed to a different store when we went past a place that I knew had pretty good wrapping paper (no Christmas designs, of course) so we stopped, and they had the DVD we were looking for as well! It may not seem like a big deal, but when it's 1:45 on a Friday afternoon and stores are starting to close for Shabat, not having to walk that extra way carrying all our stuff was a pretty sweet gift!

If you're thinking that I procrastinated with my shopping this year, you're right. It just hasn't felt like Christmas at all to me and I couldn't muster any excitement about it. But today turned out really good. We dropped the gifts off at my apartment and then headed to the souk for some last minute groceries. While we were there, it started raining and I walked all the way home in the freezing rain. But the amazing part is how much I enjoyed it—I just felt so thankful that God had provided for us today. Sandra's been feeling so homesick and waiting for a package from home with presents for the boys and it hasn't come yet, so she's worried that it won't get here on time (I'm asking God that it will be there on Christmas day— I think that God is a splendid gift-giver and He delights in giving His children good gifts at the perfect time!)

I had a lot of fun re-wrapping the gifts tonight and trying to see if I could invent new ways of making bows (some were successful, others... oh well). It felt a little bit like home again. I'm looking forward to Sunday now. I hope you are too.

Merry, merry, merry Christmas, Y'all.