It's Christmas!

What a different Christmas season this has been!

I go home TOMORROW!

It doesn't feel like any other Christmas.... but it has been a good season!

When I think of the Christmas season I think of....

Family.
Joy.
Music.
Laughter.
Food.
Games.
Baking.
Friends.
Togetherness.
Warmth.
Snow.
Ease.
The Christmas story.

This season has been full of tears, homesickness, and seeing a lot of pain.
It showed me a lot of stuff about God that I had never known.

This season I looked at Christmas in a totally different light.

I didn't go Christmas shopping... bake tons of cookies... sing at the top of my lungs.... have loads of people over... and cuddle with my little siblings.

But...

I have seen God's redeeming work in womens' lives.

I have come to a point that I couldn't go on and saw Him carry me.
I have loved... like I have never loved before...

I love my family and have longed for them.
I love the residents here... oh, how I love them.
I love the wonderful Staff and Interns that God has placed here.
I love Heaven... I LONG for Heaven!
I love God's redemptive work.
I love His PLAN! The one that I can't understand... but don't have to.
I love God in a new way

I love Christmas... always have.
I love all of the things that I didn't have this year... but it was really special to think about what Christmas REALLY is about.

The fact that I have a relationship with my Savior is all because of the baby that was sent to earth.
A baby with a tragic yet beautiful purpose...

The fact that GOD REDEEMS because Jesus paid for our sins!
The fact that I can rest in Him and bask in His love because His Son tore away the veil that separated us!

Normally I am surrounded by people who I love and who love me.... This season I was carried by THE One who loves me.

I'm thankful for the last month. I'm thankful for a Christmas season that didn't "feel" like Christmas yet showed me what it is all about!
I am so excited to be going home tomorrow... I can't even explain HOW excited because it still doesn't feel real... but God knew how important this time was.

"Oh holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth."