We Followed the Star

"Following the Star" was the theme this year for our annual Christmas party on Sunday, December 20. We invited several of our Indian friends, made dinner, sang Christmas songs with JP leading on guitar, and told the Christmas story. This year, JP focused on the very important wise men, 3 special gifts, and 1 amazing star! The evening was full of laughter, discussion, and love.

This year turned out a bit different as 3 of our closest families were not able to attend due to sickness in the family. But we knew that those who were supposed to come would be able to and that is just the way it turned out. We were very thankful that 4 new friends (P*, her husband and son, and Neill) came to the party, and seeds were spread in new hearts as the Truth of the Holidays was shared. It was the first time that P*'s husband took initiative to get to know us more and was a bit more responsive as well as her son. Neill had been working all day long, but wanted to come to the party so he came directly from work. In response to JP's guitar playing, P* shared that she has been thinking for awhile that she would like to learn how to play and asked if she could start taking lessons from him. Meeting regularly is quite difficult and we are excited to see what this avenue may bring.

That same morning, I had been reading in Acts 4. After Peter healed the lame man and was threatened by the Sanhedrin to NOT share anymore, he responded, "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard ". We felt that the sickness among our friends was the enemy's way of trying to keep the Truth quiet. And so we responded, "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard". On Tuesday night, we visited the Sh* family at their home. Christmas Eve day, we took time to deliver a plate of cookies to a new friend in our building as well as 2 failed attempts to our neighbor. Then, we spent Christmas Eve night at Dean and Sarah's. It was truly magical as we shared the story and were amazed to see the responses. "Why did the star do this? Why is all of this so important?". We know that the story was taken in as 2 different families voluntarily repeated what each gift meant in order to remember it. We also learned that the head teacher at Sarah's school is a follower as well as the fact that someone at Sarah's son's school gave him a book about the Most High and he had been begging Sarah to read it to him. As we drove home, we lifted up our friends as well as many other contacts we have for the future in sharing. Then as we returned, we stepped out of the elevator and our neighbor was standing outside. We rushed in, grabbed their gift, and went back to deliver it. In response, they had a gift for us and JP talked with the husband, Haman, for at least 10 minutes. This is truly a blessing as Haman has been a harder person to befriend and get to know. He shared a lot about himself with JP, shared how he doesn't have many friends, and, later in the conversation, made the suggestion that he and JP start working out together. We learned that they are from Jaipur, Rajasthan which is very close to one of our GC cities. AMAZING how He moves and works.

This Christmas, with Sawyer bundled up and by our side, we followed the STAR as it guided us to the families and friends to whom we were to offer gifts including the gift of a story that offers Peace for All. It was magical, miraculous, and one of the best Christmas' ever!