Blonde hair and Advent decorations...

I don't think anything that profound has happened since I last blogged. I guess I'm feeling like I've somehow found a comfortable place, as far as work goes. I'm hoping to tweak my schedule though, to focus in more on being with specific students. Right now, I help the middle school English teacher on Mondays and Wednesdays. This is great, but it means that I end up with only like, one period a week with some students and that she never knows how to truly use me. I'm thinking I'm going to switch and be present for all of the classes with one or two grades, but then spend the rest of my time in kindergarten. I hope this improves how I'm being used in the classroom and build stronger relationships with specific students.

I have found that this one little girl on the bus, named Lydia, has taken a fancy to my hair. I don't think I mentioned it before, but she's four years old and is in the middle kindergarten class. I usually wear my hair up—not as high as I normally do at home though—and so the kids don't really see it down. I wore it down the one day and she came back and petted my hair for the twenty minutes of our bus ride together. She came back the other day and we somehow started playing this weird game of passing an invisible object from her hand to mine. It was really sweet! It's really nice to be consistently recognized by some kids, because I feel like about half of the kids I interact with have Alzheimer's. It's seriously like being in 50 First Dates with them sometimes! I just mean by this, that some kids totally run up to me and hug me or kiss me or greet me or whatever. Then, there are plenty of other kids, who I've specifically played with and had conversations with, and I say hello or good morning to them, and they just look at me like a deer in the headlights. I'm so confused by it. I've pretty much focused on it being amusing though, much like one of my favorite Adam Sandler movies.

I think it's important to talk here about the beginning of Advent for me. I think it's strange being in a place where there's no major anticipation for holidays. Now, let me clarify: there's no anticipation for MY holidays. I recognize that I'm saying this as an American, who had no Halloween celebration and an awesome Thanksgiving celebration, but only with internationals. Meaning, I went to work on Thanksgiving and it was a totally normal day for everyone I was around; whereas, in the States, there's a buzz or a vibe with that day. So, Advent started on Sunday, which is way more important than usual for me, because it's the preamble to Christmas. I'm living in the Christmas capital of the world, so Advent's a big deal. I helped decorate the Church of the Redeemer, which is the Lutheran Church in the Old City of Jerusalem (my post office, if you've written me). There are three congregations there: Arabic, German, and English-speaking. The Arabic and German congregations both worship in the main church, while the English-speaking congregation worships in the chapel. The Arabic and English congregations worship simultaneously, while the German worships after the Arabic. It was really cool to help decorate the church. The pastor there, Mark Holman, and his wife, Marcia, have been an AMAZING blessing to me and other volunteers while we've been here. Kendra, one of the girls in my group, was asked to help with the Advent Planning Committee for the church. I volunteered to help her decorate on Friday, because I knew she was going in. We ended created a really cool (I'm somewhat biased) backdrop for the first Advent service. It was neat to be able to create church decorations and feel like we could do whatever we wanted with them. It really created a sense of pride in our worship space, which I hadn't felt before there. I think I've felt pride in Zion, my home church, because I've been there so long, but also because I've spent many a Sunday acolyting, reading, or just waiting for my mom after church and hanging out there with my siblings, debating on where we can convince her to take us out to eat. So, why do I care about some cloth or pine branches? I think because not only does it "dress" the church to prepare for Christmas, but it reminds me to get ready. I feel like half of the holidays are in the anticipation of what is to come. That is, Thanksgiving was lacking, despite the AMAZING time I had celebrating the actual feasts (yes, I had two). It was obviously lacking in the sense that my family wasn't there, but it was also lacking in the prep work. I didn't see paper turkeys hanging on people's doors. There were no fall leaves or snow, which I guess was pretty standard for turkey day at home. There wasn't the hustle and bustle of buying vegetables and bread and a lifetime supply of butter and milk, which I usually help my mom with. I know that my writing here isn't very good, so I apologize in advance. What I'm getting at, and maybe it's cheesy, but Advent is that time to prepare yourself for Christmas. I don't just mean buying presents, but I mean feeling like Christ's birth is right around the corner. I like that anticipation. I like reminding myself that I am a Christian and I am trying to prepare myself for Christ's birth, or our memorial of it.  

Advent is one of the easiest ways to mark Christmas is coming. My home church uses the three blue candles and then one pink candle for the last Sunday. I love when the pink candle is lit, because we've built up that anticipation with the blue candles. I know it's coming. I know that Christmas, Christ's Mass, that is, is near. I love it! I'm living in Bethlehem, which if I'm going to miss Christmas with my family, I better "Go big or go home." I'm pretty sure I can't go home, and Bethlehem is the epitome of "going big" for Christmas. I guess in all of this rambling, I encourage you to look at your church or home or family or whomever, and look for that anticipation…the excitement for something great to come. It's sad, but strangely inspiring to spend holidays away from home. I miss my family and friends, which I'm sure is obvious through my last blog. I'm glad though for trying something new. Spending the holidays away from home, means that I get to pick and choose how I want to celebrate. This isn't saying that I WANT to throw out family traditions, because BELIEVE me, I don't! It's cool though to think that I get to go to church on Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, where I will have spent the day watching Palestinian scouts march in the Christmas parade, playing Christmas carols on bagpipes. I'll get to wake up and eat hummus and pita, if I want. Breaking out of the normal for me, has made me feel things more intensely. I don't have many examples to site here, but I consider Thanksgiving. The night we spent with all of the internationals had a warm glow in the room, candlelight, and just this amazing happy vibe flowing through the room. I don't think I've ever felt that warm and cozy on Thanksgiving at home. There are completely different feelings there, for sure. The sense of newness reminded me that when I go home, that will be "new" too. Feel the anticipation in yourself and look for meaning in what you're doing.

Let's pray!

Dear God, 
Thank you for new friends here. Thank you for the patience that you've given me to handle "newness" in lots of ways. I pray that you be with Paul and Anne still, and with those others who are struggling. God, help me and those around me, physically and in spirit, feel the anticipation of Christmas. Prepare us to be ready for Christ's birth a new way. Watch over my family and friends and give us, all of us, energy when we feel weak and tired. I ask all of this in your Son's most precious and holy name, Amen.

Much love,
Meredith