2010

Our two and a half weeks of Christmas vacation end Thursday. It will be difficult going back to an early wake-up alarm, especially since the weather is quite cold, and crawling out of a warm bed at 6:15 isn't fun. It's always an adjustment for the teachers and students.

In the weeks before Christmas, Abraham and I went to Huejotzingo on Saturday as well as Sunday to help the kids make piñatas and practice their reader's theater of A Christmas Carol. The actual performance on Dec. 20th was far from professional, but it was the first time any of the kids had done anything like a reader's theater. The man who had agreed to read Scrooge didn't come, so Ken read his part. A few other more minor characters also didn't come, but Abraham and I read their parts.

After their performance, we read the Christmas story from Luke 2, and then it was time for breaking the piñatas. We had four small ones, and every child had the chance to beat on them. Every time one broke, there was a mad scramble for the candy and tangerines, and everyone collected a satisfying stack of sweets.


On the 24th, Abraham and I went to the home of his sister and brother-in-law. It was the first time for either of us to participate in a posada, and actually, we only semi-participated. The custom is to carry a plastic Jesus to different houses and sing at the doors, asking for a place to stay. When the singers reach the final verse, those inside the house open the door, letting everyone enter. Once inside, they sing another song to the plastic Jesus, recite some 'Hail Marys', and then they kiss the plastic doll's feet. Abraham and I stayed outside, along with a few others.

At 11 p.m. we returned to Nora's house to eat the Christmas feast. Very late at night, we drove home. On Christmas day, we woke up late, talked to my family via skype, sang some carols, and drove to my mother-in-law's house for dinner. Again we stayed out late, returning after midnight to our home.

We learned some sad news that night. There are two unmarried young women in the church who are pregnant. Because of who they are, their pregnancies have the potential to cause problems in the entire church. Please join us in prayer that this situation will end up bringing only good to Dios es Amor.

We welcomed New Year's at our home, hosting my mother-in-law, brother-in-law, a friend, and her son. We ate a late dinner and then settled down to watch a video. It was a few minutes after midnight when we finished the video, so we missed the official transition, but we each ate twelve grapes anyway. Our guests stayed the night in our living room and left late afternoon Jan. 1.

May God bless you in this new year!