Feeling like the Holidays!

The cold weather has definitely caused it to feel like Christmas way too early. The holidays have been a strange time for me ever since my parents moved back to Upstate New York. I worked retail and was never able to travel during the months of November and December so my Thanksgiving day was spent with friends and Christmas day was usually spent catching up on sleep before I had to go back to work the next day. With the month of December being filled with parties, friends and work, I never did much in the way of decorating or celebrating in a certain way. I have always wanted to have my own holiday traditions but I always envisioned doing it in the context of having a family. Since this is the first of many holidays I will spend as a single outside of the US, I decided I should start developing these traditions.

As November approached this year, I began to ask the Lord to work in my heart to bring an excitement for the coming holidays and to show me what I should do to celebrate them. I bought a small Christmas tree and a few decorations as a beginning step. I think normally I will wait to put it up until after Thanksgiving, but this year I was so excited after I bought it all I had to put it up right then. I have held off on the Christmas music until now and just this past Friday watched the movie "Christmas Vacation" with another American in my class.

God has been faithful to give me an excitement for the Christmas season. He has also provided a great way to spend it. I will be in Paris for Christmas and New Year's with two other single female missionaries. It has been a true blessing to have this opportunity.