Cause Imma needin' some Christmas

Dearest darlingest family, first things first...you all look like you had the best time ever at Grandma's birthday party.  I can only hope that you all had a great time and that you felt an aching crater in your hearts as you realized that there was something missing...and Sam of course:)  But it's all good.

This last week, I finally got to see the beautiful Gent that everyone always talks about.  I'm going to be honest in saying that probably half of my week was spent getting lost ...the thrills of whitewashing (means two new missionaries in a new area). 

BUT you know what?  It's getting better and by Sunday evening we were starting to get the hang of it:) So, Thanksgiving was a success!  We had a lunch and a dinner appointment that day, so needless to say, I was just as full here as I would have been at home, so no harm, no fowl (get it? fowl?  haha).

But seriously though, I was fuller than a stuffed turkey. We had dinner with some awesome members and then Zuster Karlson and I went back to good old Nederland so that I could go to MLC (Mission Leadership Council) on Friday in Leidshiedam at the mission home, where we also had a Thanksgiving lunch. So, I would say I'm properly Thanksgiving-ed out.  And now I'm ready for Christmas.  I've taken to spending my evenings listening to Christmas music and making paper chains for the entire house.  It will be a winter wonderland:)

Mission Leadership Council

The real reason I love Christmas so much is because it's the one time of year (most of the time) where the world just takes a break, we all hold our breaths for a little bit, dreaming of things we wouldn't usually dream about, turning outward instead of inward. The Christmas spirit that everyone talks about is the spirit (of Christ).  Anything that invites us to do good comes from God.  Everything about Christmas should bring us back to Christ and His birth. The love that God showed for us by giving us His Son.

Though one of the most famous verses in Christianity, few people I think, truly grasp the message behind: "For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son..." 

In Romans 8 it says, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord"....Our Father in Heaven manifested that love by sending us a Savior.

That's why it's  my favorite time ever:)  It's a privilege to serve my God and to manifest my love to Him in my own small and simple way.  

Liefs, Zuster Dobler