Christmas with friends

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with friends! On Christmas Day we gathered with a lot of friends to celebrate Jesus!

One friend led us in a wonderful devotional time! We read through many old testament scriptures as the kids opened a boxes inside of boxes. Each one showed that Jesus was a very anticipated gift!

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Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a really special time with friends. Some American friends just moved really close to us...walking distance! We had Joseph's favorite meal, chili, for dinner. This really made it special for him. 

I have really missed Christmas Eve candlelight services in the States. So, we got some candles and sat outside. We read the Christmas story and sang Christmas carols by candlelight. It was the kind of moment that I wanted to pause, rewind, and play again. What a special time with good friends! 

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Christmas in the desert

It hasn't really felt like Christmas to me here. It takes a lot of effort to make it feel Christmasy. Everywhere we go we don't see, hear, and feel Christmas like the States. We don't hear the music or see the lights on houses.

Actually, we see the opposite. Our Arab friends are wearing black for mourning. There are black flags and banners hanging in the village because of the mourning time. It's a little hard to feel festive when our friends are mourning.

So, in order to feel Christmasy, we went out to the desert and took some Christmas pictures. We've been listening to Christmas music in our house and car. Also, the kids have been playing with the nativity set and pretending to be the different characters in the story.

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mourning

Our Arab friends have been mourning since the end of November and it will continue through January. They are mourning the deaths of the family of their prophet Mohammed.

The first 10 days were a very intense time of gathering together to listen to readings. The men would march through the streets broadcasting a lamenting story of the martyrdom of Hussein, Mohammed's grandson. There was a drum too, which really added to the mournful feeling.

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blending in with the locals

The first 10 days of Muharram are very important. No one eats their meals at home...everyone gathers together and eats rice and meat together. There were many evenings that I spent in the village with the ladies. It was a great time to get to know people!

I had to wear this Abaaya. Actually, this is a specific kind of Abaaya that my friends call a Difa. Everyone in the village has one of these.

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fun in the rain

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've blogged. These last few weeks have been so crazy busy, but also very fulfilling. Mostly because of Muharram and Ashura, we've been very busy with people who live in the village close to us.

In some ways it seems like this time has gone by in a blur...kind of like Joseph in the running picture! haha!

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