Holiday reflecting

I'm alone. All four of my little sisters have left, and Mom is being productive at work. Today our last Chinese friend, Wei Wei, made her exodus from Topeka. Mom's two Chinese daughters, Mandy and Maggie, left for California a few days ago to travel. Andrea somehow is in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She will be there the rest of this week for a Campus Outreach conference.

When I first arrived home for Christmas break, I was really thankful to be celebrating the holidays with my family. But that quickly gave way to cynicism. In China I wasn't with my family for Christmas, and you wouldn't have noticed it was Christmas just looking around.

Christmas there meant telling your hundreds of eager students about the true meaning of the season. It meant performing ridiculous, but fun dances in front of a school audience of thousands who would cheer even if you just stood there. It meant a lot of rain and no snow. It meant having small parties for your closest friends and students. It meant creating new memories and new traditions. It meant that Christmas wasn't focused on giving presents, but reveling in the gift of friendship and the birth of a Savior who was actually from the East and not the West.

So Christmas in America was at first exciting, but it got old quickly. People just looked stressed and burdened. There was cheer in the air, but most of it felt false and forced. The stores were packed. I tried to avoid shopping, but sometimes I'd find myself in Target mostly just staring at the mayhem, rather than buying anything. People at church looked tired and antsy at the same time.

But thank the Lord for my new Chinese sisters who stayed with us. I was trying to love them, but they certainly showed me love. They reminded me yet again of what Christmas is truly about. Sure, it was exciting seeing them decorating the tree or opening their stockings on Christmas morning--all things they had never experienced before--but it was even better just being with them and spending time with them. I tried to be a good elder sister, and learned to respond to "Jie Jie" (older sister) instead of "Laura." My name's hard to say for Chinese people anyway.

We did sisterly things like putting on eyeshadow and watching dumb, girly movies. I even walked inside "Victoria's Secret" for the first time in my life...and then I walked promptly out with the word "scandalous" swirling around in my head. We talked about boys, and of course they are eternally concerned that I don't have a boyfriend at my advanced age of 24. But there were plenty of times for solid conversations, awesome meals with other friends, and going to church together.

Now I have to figure out what to do with my life for the next week. Maybe I'll think of some New Year's resolutions, which I'll share in my next blog. Now I'm leaving you with some of my favorite pictures from the past couple of weeks...


Big happy family making jiaozi.


We ate awesome, authentic Chinese food just about every day.


With my original baby sister.


Waiting to open stockings on Christmas morning.