I just wanted to wish all my readers a very merry Christmas!
I hope your holidays are SO happy and joyous and that you can spend them with your family.
Me, I would give anything to spend the holidays with my family... but since I can’t, I’ve decided to spend my Christmas doing something really fun...
I’m going to spend my Christmas at Osu children’s home. They’re throwing a party for the orphans who live there, and I get to help! I’m excited because I know if I’m with the kids, I’ll have a merry and fun Christmas. Of course, I’ll miss my family like crazy, but if I’m thinking about other people, I’ll be much happier than if I were sitting alone at a convent just thinking about myself.
This one time, when I was in Bosnia with some friends, I helped throw a St. Nicholas day party for some Croatian orphans at a castle in Medjugore. Nancy, the crazy lady we were staying with, gave all the girls garland for our hair and white sheets and told us to dress up like angels. She made us come out of one of the castle’s turrets flapping our “wings” and singing “Angels We Have Heard On High,” which was kind of awkward, but at least the kids loved it. We served the kids pizza and soda, while a man dressed up as St. Nicholas handed out the presents that we had wrapped the night before. We spent the afternoon playing with the orphans (some of whom really believed we were angels!). That was the best part of the weekend, and what gave me the idea to spend Christmas with the African orphans.
I’ve been suffering from holiday depression, which has NEVER happened to me before because I love Christmas (it’s my favorite holiday!) and I’m usually the queen of Christmas cheer. This year, just thinking about spending Christmas away from my family has literally been giving me headaches, and I’m liable to burst into tears at any given moment. Facing a Christmas alone has definitely been the hardest, hardest part about living in Ghana, and there have been moments when I wonder if coming to Ghana was a mistake. What was I thinking, spending Christmas so far away from home?
When I talked to the orphanage’s director on Monday, however, she told me that I would have very fun Christmas partying with the kids, and I finally became excited about this Christmas!
So, even though I’m thousands of miles away from my family, I think my Christmas will be merry. I really hope yours is, too!
4 comments:
Merry Christmas Kate! We love you and miss you like crazy! You are definitely making a difference in those kids lives and fulfilling one of the practical applications of Christmas: to make a gift of yourself to others. We wish you were here with us, but we take some comfort in knowing that you are spreading Christmas joy to those less fortunate. And you are with us in spirit too! We love you sooo much!
Dad
Kate- That sounds so amazing! I love reading this because you make me feel like I am sharing in your adventures. (and It's been neat hearing little updates here and there from Kara!) I don't know if I could handle all this craziness as well as you are! God Bless! and hope your Christmas is VERY Merry!
- Amy Victoria Reed the First. :)
Merry Christmas, Kate! Don't be blue...think about what N'Sync wants to do under the Christmas tree (and wish that Santa would be there to see!)
I love & miss you. Thanks for being an amazing and wonderful friend. You truly are a gift ;)
We hope you had a very Merry Christmas Kate! Thank you for the sweet card. As soon as I saw it I knew it must have been made by one of your students and I thought how cool-this was made by a child in Africa! Then I read your email about how excited the kids were that their cards were being sent to America and I really felt a connection to them. Please thank Blanche for making such a beautiful card. I show it to everybody who comes over!!
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