I love Christmas time. I look forward to it all year long. And, in fact, I have been known to fall on to my pillow on Christmas Night thinking "its only 365 more days" ( know this is a little Elfish of me). I love the celebration and I love the food and I love the family. But most of all, I love reflecting on God's faithfulness. I love the pull on my heart during the entire Christmas season to look back on the year and realize how much God has done. I love looking at the manger and thinking of all the things that would not be possible without it. I love the songs and smells that remind me of a special season where we are turned in a special way toward the King.
Now, I know that we, as Christians, are to remember God's gift every day, but there is something about setting aside a month and really dwelling on it. We change the way our homes look and we eat special foods (in our home we eat the 'Death by Breakfast' casserole that is so good, and yet so bad, that we only eat it once a year). And along with all these exterior changes should come interior ones as well.
And so, as I said before, I like to reflect on the year, and on how faithful God is.
Here are a few events that highlight God's faithfulness and perfectly timed provision for us...
1. Robert was granted a fiance visa to come visit my family for Christmas (this is not an easy visa to get!)
2. My family loved Robert
3. Robert proposed to me in front of 130 some people
4. All of my students passed their English National Exams
5. I got to stay in Rwanda for a bittersweet last five months
6. We were blessed with the amazing generosity of Sam Smith, who made our visa application process HAPPEN
7. Robert applied for, and was given, a fiance visa (which is a miracle) (the other miracle is us surviving the trip to Kenya to get the visa. Not an awesome trip)
8. We had a beautiful wedding celebration in Rwanda and were so blessed by our family and friends there
9. We came to the States to start a new chapter
10. We lived with our friends, the Kleinschusters, who provided us with everything we needed
11. We began attending Redemption Hill Church, which has now become our Church Family.
12. We had a perfect wedding with the people we love (5 who came from Rwanda and 2 from Germany)
13. We had a beautiful honeymoon in Hawaii
14. We got an apartment
15. We had odd jobs to keep us for the months of transition
16. We got to witness my sister's engagement to our dear friend Adam
17. I got a long term substitute position that I will have for at least a month
18. Robert passed all the English as a Second Language tests at J Sargeant Reynolds Community College and will get to start as a student in January!
These are just a few things, i could not list them all. God has led us through at just the right speed to show us how He wants us to trust Him and love Him, regardless of what we can see.
Thank you Lord for these gifts, and thank you for the ultimate gift of your only son.
Amen
Amen!
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