The Holidays (Part 3: Christmas)

The holidays are officially behind us and we've taken down all the Christmas decor and slogged our way through the first week of school after the break, but I still want to post about our Christmas in Chogoria.

It was wonderful to be back in Chogoria for the holidays this year!  There are some wonderful traditions around here and we were thankful to be a part of them.

We also have our own family traditions that developed because of living in Kenya, and it was great to enjoy those traditions again.  We are firmly committed to having a real tree, and we found a wonderful branch from a cedar tree again to serve as our Christmas tree.

Beneath the tree, the boys made and sprinkled fake snow as a reminder of the winter weather in the Midwest.  They love this tradition and it adds a nice touch to the tree.

Oh, and we found a few chameleons on the day we decorated for Christmas.  Christmas and chameleons!

We left Chogoria for a few days because our WGM Kenya team has a December field meeting every year, half of which is actual meetings while the other half is fellowship and a Christmas celebration.  This year during our worship service, the missionary kids performed a nativity musical and Kai and Asa decided to be a part of it.  It was their first time doing something like this and I was so thankful they could participate.  They were wise men, along with the Roberts boys, who are good friends to our boys.  Asa had a speaking part and did a great job.  Kai didn't want any lines but was happy to be a part of the choir and to act as a wise man in their scenes.  Our homemade costumes served them pretty well too!

After the worship service, we always have a tradition in which all the kids receive a gift from an anonymous friend, presented to them by Santa.  The kids love it and look forward to it every year.  This was our family's first time being at the December field meeting in person since 2019 because of Covid and HMA, so it was particularly nice to be there again.

Back in Chogoria, the palliative care team at the hospital visited all of the palliative patients at Christmastime to provide a gift and prayer.  We have not gone with the team before because I didn't think the boys could handle being out all day, but this year we decided to join them for one day and see how long the boys could last.  (The team goes out for five days, all day long, making the rounds until they've visited every patient on the list.)  Three of us moms took six kids, including my three boys, and the kids lasted for two visits before we knew it was time to head home.  It takes a lot for our kids to visit with strangers and be asked lots of questions and be prodded and poked as a white child in rural Kenya.  I was proud of them for going out of their comfort zone.  And visiting with these patients in their homes provided good conversation with our kids afterwards, explaining why these people are sick and why they can't come in to the hospital every time they need help, and why our hospital goes out of the way to bless them.  I was particularly glad that our boys could experience one of these visits (which actually happen every month, but more spaced out than the Christmastime visits) because some of our ministry funds go toward paying the costs to keep these monthly trips possible.

Although I'm not posting pictures of the patients, I have to share these photos of the view at one of the homes we visited.  These are tea fields with Chogoria town in the far background.  We live in such a beautiful region!

Also, tea fields are prime for kids to play in.  They'd play hide and seek all day if we'd let them!

Another tradition is caroling on the wards.  We pick a handful of songs and visit several wards to sing and cheer up the patients and their families who find themselves in the hospital at Christmastime.  It's a joyous occasion and people love it.  Fun fact: Feliz Navidad is a crowd favorite in Kenya!

On Christmas Eve we gave the boys a new pair of pajamas, as always, and I'm so thankful they fit!  These boys are growing like weeds and it's not a guarantee that something I picked up or ordered months ago will fit them well when the time comes.  I'm so thankful they do!

We set out scotcheroos for Santa and Caleb wanted to leave a note with them.  I love this tradition and hope the boys never outgrow it!

Grandma Horn brought some stocking stuffers across the ocean, which was much appreciated since we didn't have much to put in their stockings this year.  And she brought new books!  It was a bookish Christmas this year.  Almost every other gift that was opened was followed with the exclamation, "It's another book!"  It was wonderful for this reading family.

In the afternoon we had a community potluck for those of us who were here.  A lot of people take their annual leave in December, and many of the others travel to be with family during the actual holiday, so there aren't many of us left.  But of course we don't want anyone to be alone on Christmas, so the annual potluck ensures that everyone has a connection with community on Christmas.  The only people around this year were the expats (from America and Burundi and Congo and Uganda) who couldn't leave the country and be with their families.  But we're our own kind of family and it was a lovely time of fellowship and food!

The holiday season was full this year, and I admit to being tired at the end of it all, but it was full of goodness and love and light and friendship and Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!  We don't take it for granted that we can freely worship the birth of our Savior and celebrate together with the Body of Christ.  What a joy and a privilege!