Christmasing

Hello, faithful readers! I'm in a dream-- somehow I've found myself in my little room at home on the Kansas prairie. To be honest, I haven't wanted to come back to Topeka. Of course I want to see my family in my first Christmas with them since 2007, but I don't get excited about my hometown. I actually sort of dread coming back to this place. Topeka is safe, dreary, and depressing, to be honest. Things are also different, since the last time I spent Christmas here. My dear, sweet Grandma's gone, people are out of work, and I've seen and done a lot since then...

But on the positive side, there's so many things to be thankful for. First of all, by God's grace, I finished my first semester of grad school! I even got good enough grades to keep my scholarship, which means I'll continue on with my degree. I also did some crazy things to celebrate, like sledding down amazingly steep Indiana hills, which Kansas sure doesn't have. Then Andrea came up from Florida for a couple of days, and we got to walk through the snow and have a grand old sisterly time together. Then we drove the 10 hour-long drive home, with a stop at the Kansas City airport to pick up Andrea's Chinese classmate, Sarah.

In a couple of days two more Chinese students, Mandy and Maggie, will also be joining us. They have become two of my Mom's "daughters." So I love how it is my first American Christmas in a while, but it will still be very Chinese! Please think of all of these dear girls. We've already had some great conversations with Sarah. Sarah doesn't know about the Son, but she is already open. She is my "Mei Mei," or younger sister and has quickly become a part of our family.

I'm just incredibly thankful that Mom and Andrea thought of inviting these girls into our home. This is the first Christmas for all of them, and Andrea thought it would be so neat to share the love of Christ with them by inviting them into our family. And another cool thing about Sarah is that she is an exchange student from Harbin Engineering University, where my former teammate and roommate from China, Jodi, is now teaching! What a small, small world.

I'm leaving you with a couple of pictures, but I'm sure I'll have more of my Chinese little sisters in the coming days. Have a blessed week!


My gorgeous, but freezing campus!


Campus/Narnia


Baby Andrea, the Floridian, in the snow


Reading by the toasty fireplace at school