December 26, 2011
The holidays are the most difficult while so far away from home. Families are so steeped in tradition and ours is no different. It was hard to find a new tradition when we lost both Michael’s parents and mine. We were forced to develop our own traditions for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Easter this year was going to church here in Shanghai, but everything we usually do at home were missing. The grandkids even lamented about not having this or that with MawMaw. That was the first realization that this year was going to a series of broken traditions for us.
Thanksgiving was proving to be ‘just another day’ until we were invited to join some of our new friends at the Baobei's Family Style Thanksgiving Dinner held at the Sheraton Hotel. Baobei is a charity organization that support children born with Spina bifida and have been abandoned because they are not ‘perfect’. We had turkey and dressing… albeit not exactly as we would have at home, but pretty good. It was a chance to do something for Thanksgiving with new friends… we are all serving as surrogate families for each other.
That is one thing that is universal here… we are drawn together as an expat family. We connect on a level that we don’t in our home countries. The friendships are deep and transcend age and backgrounds. If you want to go somewhere or do something, a friend is always just a phone call away.
We live in a multi-national environment. It was funny yesterday… we were having dinner at Element Fresh in JinQiao before going to church. As we sat there, I heard Italian, Spanish, Chinese, English, Finnish, and German being spoken around us. It really drives home the point… international!!
Christmas was probably the hardest for us. I had started buying things to take home to the family for Christmas although it would be January 6 before we go. The kind of things I can get for a fraction of the price I would pay in the US for the same items. I cannot wrap anything for several reasons… space and customs being the main ones.
I brought no Christmas decorations from the states with me… in retrospect; I should have brought at least one thing… something that reminded me of home. I went to the Metro Store (a big box store) to get some paper plates. There in the very front was an area of Christmas stuff. On impulse, I bought a 2 ½ foot tree that was already decorated… one of those table top numbers. At least we would have a little tree. And then I found myself picking out a little Santa thing to hang on the door! That would at least put a little Christmas in my house. I wanted a manger scene, but they are scarce and I was not able to find one.
I hosted a Christmas party for our small group on December 16. A small group is a church group where you can meet with a smaller group of Christians for fellowship and worship/bible study once a week. Not like a regular bible study that lasts on 6 or 8 or 12 weeks… this is an on-going group that meets weekly. The party was lots of fun and Daniel even brought a blow up snowman… crazy! We borrowed an electric piano from our neighbor upstairs and Daniel brought his guitar. We had a few Chinese come and were able to tell them about Jesus and what Christmas really is all about. Although you see many Chinese decorate, they have no real understanding of the meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it. They think it is about Santa and presents.
This is our core cell group… from the left: Christine and her husband (Malaysia) , Marguerite (France), me, David (Christine’s son), Laurie and Elina (Finland) Joseph (Hong Kong), Daniel (France).
The snowman was a little tired… he was leaning against the wall!!!
Lots of food and fellowship and carols… really made Christmas more wonderful. Michael unfortunately was absent as he had to travel to Malaysia on business. I was not able to go as the Giving Tree Ceremony was during that week. I will focus on that project in a separate blog post… promise!
Our church, AGIF, sponsored a Christmas Eve Candelight Celebration at the Parkyard Hotel. It was wonderful… carols and a whole program surrounding the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I managed to take a few pictures… enjoy!
Pastor Nate Showalter opened the program…
These are our friends Lester and Cheryl… they are from South Africa.
This is a real musical family… They are members of the worship team. Every Sunday we get to enjoy their music.
This is Jodie… she and her family are for New Zealand.
The children from Thanksgiving Church sang for us.
We learned the meaning of the various items we associate with Christmas such as the wreath.
This is Agnes and Oscar… They are from Venezuela, South America. Agnes was in my Jonah Bible Study.
These are our special friends Brook, Lin and daughter Baya. Brook is from Pennsylvania and Lin is from Beijing. Brook and Lin were really involved in the Giving Tree… could not have done it without them!
This is Christina and Arune. They are from India. Christina was another Giving Tree helper that I could not have managed without! She and I will be going to the South Bund fabric market this afternoon. I am going to order a backup outfit for Jason and Dennell’s wedding. We probably will be checking out the commodities market too. She is so much fun!
This is Marguerite… she is a lovely woman from France. She is funny and charming… we get along like peas in a pod! They got us involved in the small group we joined.
This is Marguerite and Daniel… our friends from France… They have been in China for 14 years.
Last but not least… Michael and I… our first Christmas in Shanghai! We are so blessed to have these wonderful friends away from home… and so many more that I did not have a chance to get their pictures.
Even though I miss my family… and Christmas on the ranch in Mabank, Texas is a far cry from Shanghai, China… we were able to make a Christmas for ourselves here… a very different Christmas, we focused on charity and helping others that are much less fortunate. We have been blessed in infinite ways… God unfolds his plan for us every day.
Sometimes you must be stripped down to be renewed… coming to this place has done that to me. I often ask ‘why at this stage in my life am I here…in China?’ God had a plan for me and it has taken this long journey of life to prepare me for this or to wake me up… which I am not exactly sure…perhaps a bit of both!
God bless and hope you have a prosperous and joyous New Year… a new year… a chance to start anew. Reevaluate your life… make adjustments … refresh… put God first in your life and all the rest will be right!
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