Giving thanks

Despite what the title of this post suggests, this is to be a belated reflection on a Christmas moment, and not an even more belated Thanksgiving reflection! :) I was actually inspired to finally write something again after reading Bishop Margaret Payne's blog, which reflects on her recent trip to the Holy Land. She was here representing Bishop Mark Hanson on a trip through the National Intereligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East (NILI). It is always uplifting for me to hear others share their stories after a visit here - and I am grateful to Bishop Payne for her gentle communication of difficult subjects.

But what does this have to do with Christmas? Well, I was reminded by a fellow YAGM's blog post, about a moment on Christmas Eve that was particularly meaningful to me - and I thought I would take a moment to share some reflections on it, even though Christmas has passed...

Christmas Eve took my fellow YAGM and I all around the cities of Beit Jala, Bethlehem and Beit Sahour. We started together with dinner and fellowship together at the Shoffner's home in Beit Jala (our YAGM coordinators), moved to Bethlehem for worship at Christmas Lutheran Church and an evening of hanging out in Manger Square, and then finally ended up (circa 12:15am on Christmas morning) in Shepherd's Field. Amazed to find it open at such a late hour, we enjoyed taking our time strolling through the well-manicured pathways and listening to the sounds of carols and prayers in many different languages coming from the groups of pilgrim's scattered throughout the site.

We paused for awhile at a fountain and Laurie read the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. You know it as well as I do: "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus..."

But perhaps I differ from you in one small thing - the voice I always hear when these words are read - for I cannot hear the story from the second chapter of Luke without thinking of my Bedstefar (grandfather) and the many Christmases I had the joy of listening to him recite this story from memory, while the rest of my family quietly hummed Silent Night. In those moments, as I stared at the twinkling lights of the tree, I was repeatedly struck by how grateful I was for a family that so dearly loves and cherishes each other. The Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke will always be a reminder for me of the absence of my Bedstefar, but also of the love of family and friends. This Christmas was the second Christmas without Bedstefar - and it was also my first Christmas away from all of my family. Or was it?

In that time at Shepherd's Field, I was struck by the realization of the family I have in Jerusalem - something I was not at all expecting upon my arrival. The YAGM have become my sisters, fellow Global Mission staff and many other volunteers have become aunts, uncles and cousins. Together, we grieve a loss in our community or celebrate the joy of a new birth. Together, we navigate the trials and tribulations of work that can be harsh and sometimes overwhelming.

Before I came here, I heard someone say that people who are here (Israel/Palestine) for a week write a book, those who are here for a month write an article, but those who are here for much longer simply don't know what to say. If you look at the frequency of my blog posts over the past five months, you will find that this is probably pretty accurate. There is a lot that I have left to say, a lot that I want to communicate to you about "the situation" here in Israel/Palestine - but often it is a daunting and arduous task to put into words the few coherent thoughts I might have. I hope that in the coming weeks I will get out a few more posts than I've been able to do recently, but before I dive back into all of it, I wanted to take a moment to lift up those who have meant a lot to me already this year - my Jerusalem family - and maybe in future posts I can help you get to know some of them better as well.

I am very excited that my mom, dad and godmother Danette will be visiting at various times in March and April - I am excited for my families to meet!