Wednesday December 19, 2012

 "Luke 2:19 tells us that “Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart,” but how often do we walk away from December 25th with merely a handful of good memories, sweaters that do not fit, toys that will be put in a toy chest? What if we were to return to this most basic essence of Christmas—to the simplicity, power, and awe of Jesus’ first moments in human form? What if we were more interested in cultivating wonder at the love and generosity of God than at our gifts, decorations, or even beautiful church cantatas? What if we took the time to truly worship the infant Messiah of the first Christmas and made room in our hearts to receive Him?

True to His nature, God had fulfilled His promise to provide a Messiah, and the first Christmas, albeit supernatural, was actually quite simple. It was a day to praise God that He hadn’t forgotten His people—that in His goodness, He had sent the salvation so desperately needed by humankind." The First Noel, In Touch Magazine Dec 2012

December is supposed to be the end of the rainy season, and the start of the dry season, in Trinidad...well, someone needs to tell the rain that! It rained very hard last night, but oh how good it sounded on the metal roof. Have you ever been under a metal or tin roof during a heavy rainstorm? It beats any seat by the ocean any day!

Most of the day we spent in downtime...we were not expected to go visiting by the second new location, in preparation for the Christmas Treat Thursday, until late in the afternoon. So we all got some good rest!

I have a confession to make...on the way home last night from the Christmas Treat at one of our newest locations, I started to think about the next one at our other new location. (You recall in my blog post last night I said this was going to be the hardest of the new locations) Over the last few weeks we had not spent a lot of time in the village area meeting the kids and parents, and announcing the Christmas Treat. In fact, we have had some "technical issues" trying to get all the people involved to allow us to use the covered area of their home. For this treat we were going to have to rent a tent and chairs. My thoughts were, due to all the rain we have had, and the rain expected today, we may not be able to get the word out about the treat Thursday. Right before we were to leave to go visit this village, I asked Suresh if we were really being good stewards of our money by making the investment in this treat given we are not sure what to expect. It is not that I do not want to do it, just we have not had the time to invest in this area. He said that the tent people were already out and may already have the tent setup. But he understood what I was saying. I told him if we get there and the tent is not setup we will not have the treat. (Not that I was putting a fleece out or anything! :) )

When we arrived at the location the tent guys were there but had not started to put the tent up...they had the poles laid out. (Maybe half the wool was wet! :) ) We asked them to hold off until we talked to the lady who owned the house. Well, the next is nothing but God, Part 1. The lady told us that she would promise that 30 + kids would show up Thursday! She said that she had talked to some of the parents already. (It does not hurt that many of them were related to her!) We decided to have the treat as planned! We asked her if she would walk around the area with us since no one knew us, and she said she would be glad to.

Sidebar: The house she lives in has a few rooms underneath and in the back that she rents out. To the far back of the home was a nice covered area, just what we need for Sunday School at this location. She said that we were welcome to use it each week! Otherwise we were going to have to buy a tent and have the extra time each week to setup and tear-down ! Nothing but God, Part II!

What happened in the next 30-40 minutes was incredible! We were able to visit several houses, with lots of children, and in that short time had recorded 40 kids that are coming Thursday to the Christmas Treat. Nothing but God, Part III! We had a chance to play with some of the kids and even gave one little 4 year old girl a little gift for her 4th birthday that was today! WOW...the treat is on!

At one of the homes, the mother was the principal at a local school. We told her about our new puppet ministry and she told us to call her after the first of the year and we could come do a small assembly! Nothing but God, Part IV!

This location is different from the other three. Most of the people that live in this village are very poor and renters, whereas in the other three locations the people own, or are paying for, their homes, and most have fairly good jobs. I feel like this location, once we get going after the first of the year, may be the best one! I am so looking forward to the treat Thursday!

Oh, by the way...on the way home the Father whispered to me, Mike, oh, ye of little faith! " “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God’s Decree. “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think." Isaiah 55:8-9 (The Message) Yes, Father!

Until I bring the awesome news about the Christmas Treat tomorrow night....good night!

Christie & Mike