Merry Christmas... in Asia?

Merry Christmas to all of you! Bonne Noel as they say in Khmer (yes, It's stolen from the French who brought it over!)

It's Christmas Eve morning here as I write, and we're going to be preparing some food for a traditional dinner tomorrow. I'm sure that's what most of you are doing too! Receiving visitors and company? Sounds great. We will have 5, single female staff members over for dinner tomorow, so that will leave Dean with 9 women around his table! Lucky guy!

Christmas in Asia is a stretch at best, but you have to hear this funny story that puts it all in perspective. This past tuesday, I phoned our orthodontist, as Julia's retainer had broken and was in need of repair. The Malaysian doctor that attends to us (and trains the Khmer dentists at this office) was already gone for Christmas, so I asked if there was anyone else on staff who could repair the retainer. Yes, another dentist could look at it. "You can come in on Saturday at 2:30."

While I was desperate to get this fixed before we left for holidays, I had to step back a minute. Saturday?? Wasn't I busy that day???....
Ha ha. "No, sorry, We can't come saturday." Can you imagine? Openning presents christmas morning, going to the orthodontist in the afternoon, having turkey dinner in the evening! Now that's some dedicated doctors, willing to sacrifice their Christmas day to help us fix a retainer! haha. (They obliged to see us on Thursday!)

So, aside from all the Christians here having a great old time preparing to celebrate christmas, life still goes on as normal. We see more kids on motos, dressed in red santa suits and dresses, and the christmas tree decorations are in the stores, but otherwise, same, same, as they say here.

Finally, the girls and I had to head to the "mall" yesterday to finish up some "last minute shopping." Wouldn't you know, by a display of Boston Books (a north american bookstore company here in town) there was a Santa! He was a Khmer Santa, sitting there on a makeshift throne, just sitting there, not doing a whole heck of a lot, expect waiting for the odd person to come by with a child and he's give them a candy! Did I mention he was just sitting there? No long line-ups through the mall, no other decorations, just a brown skinned Santa, looking bored out of his skull, probably mortifiably embarassed at his profession for the day! It was hilarious.

Maya saw him first, but of course, refused to go and visit with him. She did want to look from a cautious distance, though. "Is that the real santa??" What a question! No honey, sorry!~ That's a Khmer Santa. It was too cute. It was kind of like seeing the "black" Jesus picture on the walls of churches in the deep south, in America!

Well, Blessings to you all. Enjoy your family times and celebrations. We will miss you but enjoy our "family" out here and our break from school. I leave you with some devotional words that I read that really resounded with me. In fact, my personal Christmas wish and new years resolution are all pretty much wrapped and summed up below... All I want for Christmas is an entire filling!

"Even as believers, we often make it our first aim to find out who we are, what we desire, what pleases us and makes us happy. Then we bring in God in the second place to secure this happiness. We do not discern that God must have us at His disposal even in the most trivial details of our life to manifest His divine glory in us. We are not aware that this entire filling with the will and operation of God would also prove to be our highest happiness."
-Andrew Murray