Christmas morning was filled with opening presents, laughing, and enjoying each other's company. We had some other expats join us for dinner and it was a special day of Skyping with family and enjoying time with friends. Katie went back to Sofia to celebrate with her roommate and her family and Erin and I ended up staying for another day to enjoy being spoiled by our hosts and to do some more sightseeing in the mountains around Plovdiv. We went to see Asen's Fortress and a beautiful monastery in a town called Bachkovo.
Christmas Eve started early and cold and my friends Erin and Katie and I made our way to the Sofia bus station. We were invited to spend Christmas with our teammates who live in Plovdiv, a 2 hour bus ride away. After some seating confusion and half of the bus helping the Americans figure out what was going on, we arrived in sunny and warm Plovdiv. It ended up being in the upper 60s (F) and sunny, so we spent the afternoon with our host walking around the city. Christmas morning was filled with opening presents, laughing, and enjoying each other's company. We had some other expats join us for dinner and it was a special day of Skyping with family and enjoying time with friends. Katie went back to Sofia to celebrate with her roommate and her family and Erin and I ended up staying for another day to enjoy being spoiled by our hosts and to do some more sightseeing in the mountains around Plovdiv. We went to see Asen's Fortress and a beautiful monastery in a town called Bachkovo. The temperature started dropping on the 26th and when Erin and I got ready to head back to Sofia on the 27th, snow was in the forecast for Plovdiv and had already started in Sofia. I got to take some pictures of the mountains on the way home and it was fun to see the transition between the green grass in Plovdiv and the snow in the mountains. It was a great Christmas and I am so thankful for the friends God has given me in Bulgaria! I'll be honest, Thanksgiving this year was very hard. I missed my family, my friends, my familiar surroundings, and Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant." I also did not know my teammates very well. I was feeling isolated, lonely, and like I'd never really know anyone on my team (even though I knew that friendships just take time).
It's amazing what one month can do! We had our team celebration on the 18th and my roommate, Katherine, and I got to host. It was a great party. I was mostly past the uncomfortable new kid phase of moving and started feeling like a part of the family. God blessed our celebration to me because He showed me that He was giving me a family here in Bulgaria. It was fun to see the excitement on the faces of my new friends when they opened their Secret Santa gifts and to share in a time of singing and reflecting on Jesus' coming to "make His blessings known far as the curse is found." Every year our ESL team hosts a Christmas party. This year we wanted to offer a variety of crafts and activities along with eating delicious food and having English conversation practice. We introduced the idea of tacky Christmas sweaters by having a station for people to decorate their own clothes with Christmas decorations. We also had an area to create snowflakes and had the people tape them to one of the windows and an area set up for people to paint ornaments and hang them on the tree. Of course, we included a photo booth with Christmas props and had fun doing silly poses. At one point we had several consecutive shots where a few girls jumped in until we had an all girls photo and of course we made the guys do an all men photo!
One of my friends told me that she hadn't painted ornaments or done anything like that in a long time. She said that even though it reminded her of being a kid, it was nice and she actually found it relaxing to do something with her hands while she chatted with people around her. I heard the same thing from the snowflake making area as well! About halfway through the party we broke into groups and each group had a part of the Christmas story. My group read about the wise men coming to visit the new King. I loved listening to the groups discussing what they had read! After we read sections, everyone was given a role (I was a sheep) and we read the whole story. While my friend Lydia narrated, everyone who had a role had to come stand with her and do whatever action was appropriate for that part of the story. It was a lot of fun to participate and to be the photographer! “Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.” Proverbs 14:4 I heard before I left for the mission field that becoming a missionary is like pouring Miracle Grow on your sins. So far, my experience has been that I haven’t developed more sins; I’ve just seen my sins more clearly. I have always been a people pleaser. I’ve always cared more about my own comfort and ease than that of those around me. I’ve always been bossy. I’ve always been judgmental. In thinking about this verse, I realized that I’m an ox. Oxen are strong and cause a great increase in revenue in terms of pre-machinery farming, but they also cause a mess. We’re the same. God uses us to do a lot of work, but we are all messy. I’ve found that as I seek to serve God more, He’s shown me more of my mess. It would be easy to grow discouraged, after all, how could I ever hope to point people to Jesus if I am such a great sinner? But God has not left me to grow mired in the dung of my sin. He is cleaning and using me and I am thankful for the opportunity to see His mercy as I seek to work for Him. How can I point people to Jesus? By pointing myself to Him. I need Him just as desperately as any other person. |
Elisabeth CarySharing the love of Christ to make known the hope of Christ in Bulgaria. Archives
November 2018
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