Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Two Nights...two stories.

Last night Aaron and Karen, Jonah and Matthew came for our annual Christmas party. Yes, it is a few days early, but I will be leaving to visit Philip over Christmas so we needed to carve the turkey, share in the cookies, and open gifts before I went.

The house was indeed filled with the scent of evergreen and peppermint (along with the turkey and trimmings) as we all gathered in my dining room. How blessed I am to have Aaron and his family in my life. Karen has become my good friend as well as daughter in law. (She also is amazingly gifted in the gifting department.) Matthew and Jonah were happy over trucks and tractors and things that bump in the night. I was thrilled over the artistically designed tea kettle for my kitchen..a striking black and white retro design with a red wooden top. We all had a wonderful evening.

Today, after a full day of school and rehearsals for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, I found myself (along with the V-Day committee) at the home of the Women in Transition. This organization will become the recipient of our work at the end of February. Already we have worked a couple of months putting together our V-Day celebration here in Angola. The women at the house cooked dinner for us. We sat around the kitchen table all evening talking about the home...what caused to women to come there...how they are recovering. I left knowing that we had chosen the right recipient for all of our hard work.

Two nights..two stories.

Spring break in St. Pete...

  Adam and his pups! The late-night flight is full. Everyone is heading out for spring break. Students and teachers, moms and dads, kids and...