We’re celebrating our third Christmas season overseas. Yes, last year, we left the festivities a little early for the most epic Christmas trip EVER to celebrate with our families, but I still count it as we were here for some of the pre-Christmas holiday gatherings.
Every year, the discussion comes up in our circles about “traditions”. Do we keep some of those alive and well on the mission field or create new ones? For us, it’s hard to say. Besides keeping Jesus as our focus throughout the season, most other traditions seem up in the air.
Let’s be honest. I’m still not used to how it “feels” to be in the tropics even after almost 3 years of living here. The calendar glaring a mid-December date with temperatures in the 80’s and people on Facebook are posting snow pictures throws me. As I type this? Rain is pouring from the sky. My middle child declared a couple of weeks ago, “It’s starting to feel like Christmas!” Who knew sweat, sleeveless and sunscreen would make great Christmas memories?!
One tradition is that our center shuts down for two weeks over the Christmas/New Year holiday. No store to buy groceries, no hardware counter to buy parts for the honey-do list, no flights for aviation...the place shuts down, except for Christmas church services. Even though there’s some prior planning involved to make sure we don’t go hungry, I love this aspect of the Christmas season here. Many of the Papua New Guineans who live and work here use this break to travel back to their villages to be with their families. The break is much needed for everyone.
We still put up a traditional tree, this year, “the leaning tree of Brewer” as opposed to our Charlie Brown tree of 2013. In 2012, when we were packing up to move here, I remember thinking “Why would I ship a tree all the way to the other side of the world?! I’ll just use something REAL that I find there! After all, there's got to be something to use!”
And then, that first Christmas, with no Wal-Mart even remotely accessible, you regret your decision not to ship a “normal” tree and realize a banana tree really belongs outside. In the ground and certainly not positioned in the living room on display.
I wish I was kidding with that entire line of thought. I am not.
That’s when you find someone giving away their second-hand (or third-hand?) tree and it finds a corner in your house. Our poor leaning tree has already fallen once this season (on its own no less), but we’re thankful we can string our lights and ornaments around it.
Every year, the discussion comes up in our circles about “traditions”. Do we keep some of those alive and well on the mission field or create new ones? For us, it’s hard to say. Besides keeping Jesus as our focus throughout the season, most other traditions seem up in the air.
Let’s be honest. I’m still not used to how it “feels” to be in the tropics even after almost 3 years of living here. The calendar glaring a mid-December date with temperatures in the 80’s and people on Facebook are posting snow pictures throws me. As I type this? Rain is pouring from the sky. My middle child declared a couple of weeks ago, “It’s starting to feel like Christmas!” Who knew sweat, sleeveless and sunscreen would make great Christmas memories?!
One tradition is that our center shuts down for two weeks over the Christmas/New Year holiday. No store to buy groceries, no hardware counter to buy parts for the honey-do list, no flights for aviation...the place shuts down, except for Christmas church services. Even though there’s some prior planning involved to make sure we don’t go hungry, I love this aspect of the Christmas season here. Many of the Papua New Guineans who live and work here use this break to travel back to their villages to be with their families. The break is much needed for everyone.
We still put up a traditional tree, this year, “the leaning tree of Brewer” as opposed to our Charlie Brown tree of 2013. In 2012, when we were packing up to move here, I remember thinking “Why would I ship a tree all the way to the other side of the world?! I’ll just use something REAL that I find there! After all, there's got to be something to use!”
And then, that first Christmas, with no Wal-Mart even remotely accessible, you regret your decision not to ship a “normal” tree and realize a banana tree really belongs outside. In the ground and certainly not positioned in the living room on display.
I wish I was kidding with that entire line of thought. I am not.
That’s when you find someone giving away their second-hand (or third-hand?) tree and it finds a corner in your house. Our poor leaning tree has already fallen once this season (on its own no less), but we’re thankful we can string our lights and ornaments around it.
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| How many people does it take to put the star on top?? One strong one to lift, one tween to hold the unstable tree and one Christmas loving 5 year old. |
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| The finished product looks much better with the lights on. In the dark. |
Lest you think I'm overly obsessed about the fake pine tree and it's upright position in the house...
We've never done this before now, but hope to continue the Jesse Tree. For 25 days you read a passage of Scripture and hang a corresponding ornament. A group of 25 of us selected a day and made 25 of that ornament. Then we gathered on November 30th with all our finished ornaments and each took one of the 25 home to start the countdown the next day. The kids are loving it so I think this is one tradition that will stick.
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| Table full of hand crafted ornaments |
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| I chose Day 8, the Joseph's coat of many colors |
As is our new “normal”, we rarely gather with the same people every year due to furloughs or vacations of us or our friends. This year, plans are already in the works for a dinner, a brunch and maybe a lunch leading up to the days before Christmas. Rest assured, there will be a ridiculous amount of amazing, homemade food and we’ll count our blessings for these friends that double as family.
The tradition of the “golden ticket” is alive and well this time of year. The “golden ticket” is the way the Post Office lets you know you have something BIG waiting. Which to kids translates into a BOX of awesomeness from someone who loves us!
I’m so very grateful to our friends and family back home who took the
time to plan, buy and ship Christmas presents here for us. That process
is not easy, especially when I’m not exactly sure what sizes these
growing kids are or what’s “in” these days. Not to mention, the cost of
getting a box here is at least twice the cost of the items inside. We
are so very thankful that you thought ahead of time...about us. It’s
humbling. Our Christmas morning will be amazing because of you!
Remembering WHO we celebrate and WHY will continue to be our focus regardless of where we are or what else happens. So we don’t have a set of traditions in the tropics, but maybe being flexible with our plans, with who’s here and what’s happening at the given time becomes something we look forward to every year.
Along with the tree falling down.
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