Merry Christmas!!!

Well to be honest it does not feel much like Christmas at all. There are no Christmas trees, no lights on houses (that would be mud huts here) and there are no Santa’s laps to sit on at the mall. But then again what is the real meaning of Christmas? I have always felt like I have tried to keep Jesus at the center of Christmas, but being here and having the birth of Jesus really be the center of all the kids talk about and sing about reminds me that He is the focus. We have been teaching the kids Christmas songs to perform to their parents on Christmas. Last Thursday we learned "Do you hear what I hear?" While they were singing I really felt the true meaning of Christmas and for the first time I really listened to the words of the song. We are also reading an advent story to the kids every night. We have been reading about the prophets that foretold the birth of Jesus. I guess not having all the things that remind me of Christmas, I am able to focus on the true meaning without having all the commercialism get in the way. We were able to get every child a good pair of shoes and socks, underwear along with a TV and some DVDs. We are so excited to give them their gifts, we know they will be so thrilled to get there own pair of new shoes.