From Friendship Circles to Whoville

The month of December was, quite honestly, a blur.  A beautiful blur, but a blur nonetheless.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks so.  But now that Christmas is past, I have a bit more time to reflect on some of my holiday activities at Dundonald Methodist and DFCI, and I thought I’d share a couple with you.  But before I begin, a warning: this account contains an alarming number of Christmas dinners.  And by “dinner” I mean the whole shebang: turkey, dressing, potatoes, Christmas cake.  Thankfully, these dinners were not all consumed on Christmas Day—they were mercifully spread throughout the month of December.  It was like having five Thanksgivings in one month minus the American football and pumpkin pie.  Another turkey dinner might have killed me, but, let’s be honest…it wouldn’t have been a bad way to go.

Since we’re on the topic of food, let’s start off with the Friendship Circle Christmas Dinner.  Every week, I get to spend an hour and a half with a group of seniors/pensioners from the church.  The Friendship Circle (which has also epically been referred to as The Circle of Trust) meets on Tuesday afternoons to share conversation, tea, and biscuits.  There’s often a special speaker or activity, and there’s always a good hymn-sing involved.  Our last meeting of 2010 was the annual Christmas dinner, complete with turkey, Christmas crackers (thus the paper crowns), and a visit from Santa.  Oh, and I should have given this warning earlier: this account contains pictures of me dressed as one of Santa’s elves (who, if the hat is any indication, obviously has some relations in Whoville).  This is possibly more alarming than five Christmas dinners in one month.

Next came the Christmas Party for Sticky Fingers, the mums and tots group that meets at the church every week.  There was a lot of great food, some good laughs, and—you guessed it—another visit from the North Pole crew.  The Christmas magic never stops.

Me and Kelly, youth worker extraordinaire and reluctant wearer of
reindeer antlers.

Then there was the Christmas dinner with the Sticky Fingers mums.

And possibly another Christmas dinner with the DFCI staff.

We also did a couple of special Christmas activities for the afterschools clubs.  The first was a trip into the city to experience Follow the Star, an interactive version of the nativity story.  The kids got to knock on the inn door, listen as Mary and Joseph told their story, and watch as the wise men made their journey to Bethlehem.  We all laughed as the shepherds kept confusing us with their sheep, and some of us might have been a little intimidated by King Herod raging around his throneroom…until he appeared after the play with cookies and juice to share.

The second event was a Christmas activity afternoon, where we gave parents a chance to finish their last-minute shopping while we entertained their kids with games, cookery, crafts, drama, a DVD, and a visit from Santa.  I was on cookery duty for the afternoon (Some of you are laughing.  Stop it now.), so with the much-appreciated help of my fellow YAV Miriam, I spent a few hours introducing the kids to the American Christmas tradition of decorating the sugar cookie.  It was a bit of a sugar surge, but a general success overall.

The month came to a close with a couple of firsts: trying mince pies and Christmas cake for the first time, and joining my first Christmas choir. 

December may have been a bit of a whirlwind, and this Christmas season was different from any other that I’ve experienced, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  From laughing with the Sticky Fingers mums to eating shortbread with King Herod and a group of 4-year-olds, I am so thankful for the experiences I’ve had, the people that I’ve met, and the friendships God has given me here.  And I’m thankful to you for praying for me and following my (often sporadic) updates about my life here.  I am honestly really excited to see what the new year will bring.