Christmas

For Nat King Cole, it's not Christmas until "chestnuts are roasting on an open fire." For all the Dutch here in Amsterdam, it's not Christmas until "olliebollen" are in the fryer. And for me, it's not Christmas until I'm sitting around a table, decorating cookies with my family and Sarah Britt.

I guess that means it wasn't Christmas for me this year? Don't get me wrong, it was really challenging to enjoy myself around Christmas when all I could think about was being away from my family. But being away from home brought on a whole new way for me to look at Christmas. 

A week before Christmas, I was walking through Dam Square on my way back from buying myself some new gloves (I left my only pair at the doctor's office.). I have walked through Dam Square many times, and every time I walk through, I notice a man standing off to the side, begging for change. He always has a little mini-version of the large painted organs that are played throughout Amsterdam. His organ plays automatically while he shakes a cup for change. He's an old man, who hunches over and his eyes are swollen closed. Every time I walk by, I always try to put a few coins in his cup. This particular time though, I was just in a rush, so I hurried by him. But as I was walking away, I noticed that his organ was playing "Little Drummer Boy". 

I just thought about the lyrics as I was walking the rest of the way home. I have no gift to bring, that's fit to give the King. I kept thinking about it, and thinking about it more.

 I have no gift to bring, that's fit to give the King.

Here I am, in too much of a hurry to put my spare change in a poor man's cup, and grumbling around about how much Christmas is going to suck without my family.

 I have no gift to bring, that's fit to give the King.

Christmas! It was Christmas time! It was then that I realized that I needed to take a different approach to Christmas. It's not about me... it's about Christ! After all, it's not called Me-mas.

Shall I play for you? On my drum?

On Christmas eve, we hosted a caroling party with guests at the hostel. We passed out free hot chocolate and sang carols with guests. I was filled with this overwhelming joy that I can not even describe as we giggled out the lyrics of "Deck the Halls".

After our caroling marathon, a few of us went to a midnight mass. We invited along a few guests, so we were two bikes too short, and it was much to far to walk. So, I volunteered to ride on the back of someone's bike, so that a guest could ride mine. Thankfully, I was blessed enough to be able to ride on the back of a Dutchie's bike, which means I was safe. 

The midnight mass was in an Anglican church. I have never attended a service like that, but taking communion at midnight was really a great experience. The church itself is over 300 years old, so the architecture was also something fascinating to add to the overall experience. I didn't have my camera with me, but here is a photo taken with my phone of the church from our balcony seats.

In Amsterdam, there are extremely strict laws about preserving historic buildings. Basically, every building in the city that was built before a certain time is not allowed to be torn down, but must be renovated. So most buildings that were built before 1930 have staircases of death. Everyone was trying to preserve space. This is how I had to get to my seat....

After church was over, we rode back home through the city. While there were still people out partying and roaming the streets, like there are every other night, that night it was unusually quiet. I suppose it was a "silent night." I decided that I would take advantage of the silence and sing some Christmas songs. We probably looked like quite the sight- me on the back of a bike, riding through the rain on Christmas eve, singing Christmas carols at the top of my lungs.

I have to say, it was the most fun I've ever had on Christmas eve. I saw a few people smile as we drove past, and some people even said, "Merry Christmas". The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. Right?

On Christmas morning, I woke up to a house full of community members, awkwardly walking around the house with nothing to do. For the most part, everyone was spending Christmas away from home for the first time. We all came to the conclusion that we should make a Christmas breakfast, so a few of us made french toast and fruit salad, and we all ate together as one big family.

I may not have had my real family on Christmas, but God gave me a pretty great Shelter family to spend it with.

Since the hostels could not close for Christmas, we had Christmas dinner at the hostel with all of the guests that were staying that night. As part of the program, we showed a video that I put together with some of the staff members for the enjoyment of the guests. 

I hope you have as much watching that as we had making it! I am sure that all the guests got a good laugh out of their receptionist parading through the city with a bed sheet in her jacket.

Throughout the week leading up to Christmas, I received a few packages in the mail from family members. For some reason, this year, receiving gifts was so much more meaningful after they had been sent through the mail. I really appreciated every gift so much more, and the thought that went into them.

By focusing more on how I could make Christmas special for others, God made Christmas more special for me.

Then, He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum. Me and my drum.