We journeyed through the waiting period of Advent and now we celebrate and honor the season of Christmas. Last year I preached on Epiphany weekend and I started my sermon by gauging when folks take down their Christmas decorations --- in my family, we keep using Christmas dishes and keep all of the Christmas decorations out until we celebrate Epiphany. I'm not sure how common this is. Perhaps we follow the church calendar for our family's tradition because my dad is a minister?! Whatever the reason, it's a tradition that my husband and I carry on. So we're still enjoying our Christmas lights, nativity scene, my favorite 80 year old singing Christmas tree (it was my Grandmother's when she was a child), and our friends' and families' holiday greeting cards which hang in the kitchen.
This time of year is one that is typically slow for students. There's a break from classes and deadlines. But this year, I'm not taking much of a break. I worked as a PRN Chaplain at VCU Hospital on Christmas Eve and am doing that a couple more times during break. I worked at my internship 3/5 days of the first week of my holiday break. And our Christmas plans included the day-trip to DC to see family, which is always well worth it, but also an exhausting day because of traffic. I'm also in job-applying mode, which takes a lot of time and energy. But it's an exciting time to discern and learn where God might be calling me!
We hosted family for the first time for Christmas, which was a lot of fun. Charles' Mom came to town on Christmas Eve, we ate dinner, then went to Ginter Park Presbyterian Church's 9pm worship service. We stayed in our pajamas all of Christmas day as we talked with each of our families in England, Grenada, Nigeria, Oregon, Texas, Florida, and DC and enjoyed my mother-in-law's cooking. On the 26th we drove into the DC area and spent the day with Charles' Dad and his siblings. We're grateful for the love of family and friends always, and especially during the holiday season. I know that the holiday season is a particularly difficult time for some folks, especially those who are hospitalized, so we hold them close to our hearts.
Here are a few photos from December:
