[Disclaimer: What follows is the summarized rendition of my Christmas Eve & Day here in Thailand. Whether or not you have time (or interest) in reading all of it, know that I'm wishing you a very merry Christmas. Enjoy!]
Merry Christmas from Thailand!
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
These words from Isaiah 9 scrolled across the screen at ECB during the Christmas Eve service. It was a timely reminder, that in Christ the yoke that burdens us has been shattered. I love that image. The image of Christ not only coming as a baby, but as a warrior, destroying eliminating shattering the bar across our shoulders. The bar of "good works." The bar of self-righteousness. The bar that is so high that "all fall short" (Rom. 3:23).
The evening was full of Christmas songs and Scripture, culminating in the candle lighting and a challenge to not only be the light, but also to carry and spread the light of Christ to the dark places and nations. Since LifePoint did not have a service, a lot of the LifePointers went to ECB to celebrate Christmas Eve. Among them, were Noo and Aom, who joined us for a chicken-pot-pie feast beforehand homemade by Claire!
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| [Claire, Noo, Aom and I at the ECB service] |
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| [LifePoint at ECB!] |
After the Christmas Eve service, Claire and I went back to the BSC guesthouse to do a little pajama swap. I got Claire a cute pair of multi-purpose pajamas, and she got me Batman pajamas... complete with some polka-dotted shorts from Second Chance, a ministry to help provide employment for the women in the slums of Klong Toey.
Our division of labor this year was that Claire would take care of Christmas Eve, and I would prepare Christmas morning... so while she was dreaming of dancing sugarplums, I was wrapping, baking, and preparing for the morning! Here's the decorated living room (yes, the walls are pink, and no, they will not be staying pink for much longer!):
And no Swauger-run Christmas morning would be complete without Jewish coffee cake and a bacon-egg casserole! Claire also had made a request for fresh coconut milk, and, since this is Thailand, she got her Christmas wish :)
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| [Table decorations provided by Aunt Tammy!] |
Christmas morning was so much fun! Claire and I exchanged gifts, and opened packages sent from friends back home. Claire surprised me with handwritten notes collected from people in America and Thailand... which was incredibly sweet and I loved having the letters to open over the course of the morning! After we ate, unwrapped and cleaned up, we met up with Meleah (an IMB journeyman and friend of ours) and headed over to the Lapos' for brunch!
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| [Me, Claire and Meleah riding the Airport Rail Link to the Lapos'] |
So many of you sent notes, packages, emails, texts wishing me a Merry Christmas... Thank you! You really helped make this Christmas (my first one away from home) special and memorable.
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