Friday, December 2, 2011

Christmas Time is Near!

 Just a week and a half away...I can't believe our Christmas program is already coming up. I wanted to try my best to get these kids prepared for the best Christmas program ever! :-) When I was younger, the Christmas program was always the highlight of the Christmas service at church. I love the feeling you get remembering and celebrating Christ’s birth.

We have been working on our Christmas program for almost 2 months; learning our lines, songs and dances, sewing costumes, painting backdrops. It has definitely has been a busy and overwhelming. At times I have wished that it would just be over so I could get a little rest between all the sewing, fabric dying, hot glueing, painting and homework. However, today when we were finishing up the last backdrop, a huge relief came over me. Along with that, rehearsal for the play went perfect yesterday! Where there were bad attitudes of "this is ALL we EVER do", they were replaced with good attitudes of "this is almost here, let’s work hard and get things done".

I have had the privilege, lately, to stay extra late to work with 5 of the older girls on a ribbon dance. We finally finished the choreography yesterday! As they were rehearsing, they looked like they were trying to remember each step and it wasn't flowing together very well. It looked more like work than dancing. So I stopped the girls and we talked a little bit about the music, "Star of Wonder", by Sufjan Stevens. I asked them what the song was about and Thalia answered "It's a Christmas song about the Christmas star that the Reyes Magos (Wisemen) followed". Then we talked a little about what Christmas was, what we were celebrating with our Christmas program, how the different people went to adore Christ the night that He was born and how dancing is a form of worship. I told them to put in all of that emotion and dance for the Lord. The last time we practiced our dance....it looked AMAZING! I am sooo in awe of how much talent these girls have! They are good at EVERYTHING! :-) But maybe I am biased....

Today after we finished up the last backdrop, Mami Ines asked me for some help cutting Edison’s hair. They had messed up a little bit and they weren't sure how to fix it. I went down to try to teach them how to blend in the lines. I thought of the very first time I came to Casa de Fe in March of 2008. Ines was there helping me cut hair the very first time. Just thinking back on all the time I've spent with these kids and these people in Shell gave me this overwhelming, blessed feeling, That same feeling you get when you think of your family and all the memories over the years. The ups and the downs. I can't say enough how thankful I am for this family. Even the teenage attitudes. :-)  I never knew that so much love could come from one small organ that fits inside your body.

God exceeds my expectations everyday. He fills me with so much love so that I know how much I am loved by Him. No matter if I give Him a bad teenaged attitude, His love for me never changes. His love is bigger than this great love that I have inside of me. That's so incomprehensible! But I am so grateful for all of it...and for everything He has done for me...and for my family...here and in the States.

:-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I forgot to mention that on Thanksgiving Day we were in a parade! I will post some pictures below! We got to dress up in traditional Quechua clothing and do a dance from a town called Otavalo. That was another thing that we practiced A LOT. Everything turned out great! While the older kids and teachers did the dance in the parade, the younger kids got to choose what they want to be when they grow up...and they rode in a float dressed as their chosen profession. We had a doctor, nurse, vet, firefighter, baker, ballerina, military, pilot...ect. Everything turned out so cute!