I hope that all of you had a very merry Christmas, celebrating Christ and enjoying the many traditions and excitement that comes with this special holiday. We had a great day, for which we are very thankful. We had a little time together in the morning to spend as a family. We had a small breakfast, read the Christmas story (to a very wiggly and squiggly little girl), sang, and exchanged gifts. It was a very fun and sweet time with just us three. Then, we got on the computer and were able to video-chat with Eric’s family in Pennsylvania. It was really sweet to get to talk to them and share a little bit of our Christmas excitement. Of course, Noa opening her gifts was pretty entertaining to watch 
Here are some photos:
Hmm… I think Daddy was a little bit more excited about his gift than in helping Noa open hers…
At 10:30, our friends Ai, Chizuka, Matt, and Tim came over for brunch. We had a great time with them: eating, playing games, exchanging real gifts, and then having a pretty cut-throat round of white elephant gift exchange. Noa surprised everyone at the end when she chose a bag of coffee beans for herself, giving up the Japanese children’s book that Tim then claimed for himself.
Mid-afternoon we headed over to my parents’ house to play and eat and be together some more. We had a great time with all of them, and it was very special for me to be with my family once again for Christmas. Noa had lots of great fun with her uncles and aunts, and then headed to bed in the pack ‘n play while we continued playing and chatting til late in the evening. It was a great day and I’m so thankful for the chance to celebrate our Lord, and to just enjoy the gifts he’s given, especially in the people he has put in our lives.
On Christmas Eve, amidst a bit of chaos as Eric made home-made eggnog and I finished wrapping gifts and preparing for the brunch (I was a bit stressed out) I told Eric that its not as fun being a grown-up on Christmas as it is being a kid. He just laughed at me. I thought about that more into the evening and the next morning as I got up early to bake. I realized that I wasn’t having fun because I felt pressure to “make Christmas special”. I think this probably mostly comes from this being our first Christmas in our own home and it being Noa’s first that she’s really actively participating in. I also wanted it to be really special for Eric because its hard to be away from his family at this time of year.
Anyway, sometime mid-morning I was able to let it go and be content to just enjoy whatever the Lord brought our way that day. And he is SO GOOD. I couldn’t have asked for a sweeter time with my husband and daughter (throughout the whole day), nor a greater time with friends and family. More than that, though, God is good because he invented Christmas. As much as I tell myself all the time how “Jesus is the reason for the season,” I was still so caught up in the frivolities of the day, and not the true joy of knowing Christ, God born as a man to save sinners, to save me! God is so good because though Christmas is a joyous celebration for us, it was a tragic and painful separation for Father and Son. But still, he chose and ordained it out of a great mercy and loving-kindness towards us. At our team prayer last week, my dad was saying just how crazy it is that we don’t celebrate more (both at Christmas and all other times) the advent of Christ; for truly, it is a joyous miracle. This last few days, I have thought of that a lot and pray that the Holy Spirit would work in my heart to make me celebrate “Christmas” often… Not with the pressure of making it “happen” and making it special for my family, but because its already happened through the power and love of God and its already incredibly special without any of our extra trimmings. “GLORY TO GOD in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill to men on whom his favor rests!”
Noa has just loved having our Christmas tree up. She loves the lights, and trying to touch and pull on ornaments, and I think she really liked the gifts underneath the tree, especially once she realized she could open them Here are some photos of the tree and Noa enjoying it.
This is random, but its for Auntie Carly:
She bought this for Noa at a consignment shop last year and Noa has finally been able to wear it. I wish I had a picture of her smiling in it, but its still pretty funny, don’t you think? Thank you, Carly, for this coat and bonnet that not only keep her warm but make her look so stinkin’ cute too
Well, Eric finished up school on Friday for the next two weeks, and we have had a great Christmas season so far, celebrating in many new ways with many new friends. However, we are realizing that we need to pace ourselves a bit, as there is so much to do and so many great opportunities at this time of year. All three of us are quite sick and our house sounds like a coughing chorus. I took Noa to the doctor on Thursday morning because she was running a pretty high fever and was not herself. She is doing significantly better now, though she’s still coughing a lot, like Eric and I.
Tomorrow is a big day for the congregation at Toke (the church plant we’ve been attending) as we will have our first ever candle-light service in that town. I am particularly hoping that some of my English students who live there will attend. Please pray for this service, that God would be glorified as we celebrate Christ’s birth in a town where there has never been such a celebration. Also, we would ask for you to pray for our family. We are pretty worn out physically but are longing to be involved in several events over the next few days. Pray for strength when we need it, and discernment for when to stay home and get well. Here is a picture of our sick girl who has been quite the cuddler these last few days. Pretty much all she’s wanted to do is read books and snuggle. 
Right now (hoping that we will all be feeling much better), we plan on spending Christmas morning as a family at home, joined for a late brunch by two guys on our team and two Japanese girls who are good friends. In the afternoon we will head over to my parents’ house to spend the rest of the day and have our Christmas feast. We are excited as this is our first Christmas as a family to be in our own house on Christmas Eve and Morning, and to have some time with just the 3 of us on this holiday. We will so miss our family far away! But we’re so thankful for the gift of each other and that my parents and several siblings are close by to join for part of the day.
I probably won’t get around to posting again til after Christmas, but be sure to check in for pictures late in the week.
We so appreciate you keeping up with us and especially for your prayers for our family and Japan. May you have a very Merry Christmas, as there is so much to be joyful about! May the miracle of Christmas – God becoming man to save sinners, Light finally coming to a dark and waiting world – truly bring merriment in your hearts and homes.
“God rest ye, merry gentlemen, let nothing ye dismay. REMEMBER, CHRIST, OUR SAVIOR WAS BORN ON CHRISTMAS DAY! To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray. O tidings of comfort and joy!”
Merry Christmas!!
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This actually wasn’t our Christmas party; this was Sunday morning at the once-a-month sunday school Christmas party at the church plant we’ve been attending. On Friday they asked us to come a bit early so Eric could dress up and surprise the kids. I didn’t know Santa visits Sunday Schools, but hey! I think the funniest part was how freaked out Noa got by the whole thing. She was crying so hard anytime she even looked at him. And when Eric came back out later in his normal clothes, she just clung to him as if she’d been through a nightmare. It was pretty cute.
Last night we hosted the young adult’s group Christmas party at our house. This house has a lot more space than we use and we were so thankful that the leadership took us up on our offer to use it for any events. I think it was a big success and lots of fun. It was great too, because we had a lot of new people, including several non-Christians. Enjoy the photos!
This is what 37 people leave in our “genkan” when they come in… makes for keeping the house so much cleaner at a party! I love Japanese culture!
Well, here are two photos that I stole from Jon and Maggs’ e-mail. You will have to check out their blog for more (theiversons.blogspot.com). Hopefully they will post some soon.
Isn’t she just the cutest?
Annie has the same name as our Grandma, her great-grandma, who went to be with Jesus 10 years ago. What a special blessing for her that she gets to carry the name of such a wonderful and beautiful woman of faith. I am so excited that Jonathan and Maggie gave her that name.
