The Seven Puffs...Trying To Live By Faith: And We're Back....

Sorry for the long hiatus. I wish I had a good excuse. But all I have is that we were really, really busy...and then I forgot my password-thus, a slightly new address (took out the "the"). Yes, this time I wrote it all down so it doesn't happen again.

So instead of trying to go back and tell you all that has gone on in the last month, I thought I would share where we are now, and then hopefully have time to do catch up in the weeks to come.

I have just recently acknowledged that it is Christmastime. Besides the fact that I am still wearing shorts (and getting bitten by mosquitoes), I have no decorations, no stockings, no Christmas tree. I have been listening to some Christmas music due to my sirius app, and my children's school acknowledges Christmas since it is a Christian school. (In fact, next week I am going to attempt to juggle three holiday parties and a chapel performance in two days) But since we will be headed back to the states three days before Christmas, I didn't bring any of my own decorations because I knew this fact, and because Hong Kong decor is not quite my style-I haven't bought anything new. So, to me it doesn't look like Christmas or feel like Christmas. But, I have been convicted a lot, lately, that this is not the attitude I should have.

First and foremost, Christmas is not about how I feel or what I see. It's not about having a Christmas tree, or stockings, or going caroling with friends, or putting lights in the windows, or all those things that I associate with Christmas. No, it's about Christ. Plain and simple. So I have a choice...do I focus on what I don't have this Christmas and wallow in my self-pity because things don't look normal...or do I focus on the greatest gift given...God's own son. Yes, I struggle that this is my last "first" Christmas with Sarah, and my kids don't have matching outfits and we haven't taken pictures in front of the tree, and I know about all the gatherings that I am missing at home. But when all these things that I enjoy are taken away, it allows me to zero in on what is the key to finding the real joy, peace, hope and love this Christmas...Jesus.

It has also reminded me how blessed I am to have a wonderful family. My children amaze me everyday...and while Christmas doesn't look the same to us this year, we have each other...which has been the theme of this transition to Hong Kong. And in an age where we are reminded of the brevity of life everyday, I am incredibly thankful for those special little people that are such a big part of my life. I also couldn't be more thankful for a wonderful husband. While Andy has been working long hours in his transition to this new role, I am so blessed that he has "stepped out of the boat" and followed God's call for us to come to Hong Kong, even if it meant that a lot of the people that we know and love would not understand. I am so grateful for such a godly leader of our family....and cannot believe that this past fall marked 20 years that we had that DTR conversation in which we both knew we would be together for the rest of our lives.

So a couple noticeable observations of Christmas in Hong Kong. First, I have yet to see one "Happy Holidays" sign. Isn't it funny that everything here says Merry Christmas, yet I'm not sure how many people here really understands what that means? Yet, we come from a country that was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs, and every year there is more and more push back to Christmas. Quite ironic.

Another note this year is that Christmas parties are a HUGE deal in my kids' school. I am inundated with so many texts about party details for Emma, Josh and Abby's class parties, I honestly cannot keep up. Now a lot of it is that many of these families only have one child, so these parents go all out with the food prep, craft, and gifts. But some of these food spreads rival some wedding buffets that I have seen, and needless to say, I try to sign up for bringing juice :)

So this past month, as I have been reflecting on this season and what these last four months have meant to us, we have watched our smallest little one turn four months, our son lose both front teeth, "King Abigail" get ready for her class play, and my older two rely on the Lord and become closer friends. I will blog later this week on my family's trip to the Philippines and getting some extra "help"...that's if I have time between our class parties, Christmas shopping and packing for coming back to the states next Saturday!