I find myself in front of the computer with a few extra minutes and no "have to do's" waiting to be done.

Yes, we are in our house and it is as wonderful as I expected it to be. It is modest but all newly painted etc. It is an old shotgun faux victorian in the central ward in Newark. Most of the buildings on our block are new 3 family condos and our little house had been looking very seedy, thus the remake. Most of the work was done by my husband and lots of skilled ( and a few less skilled like me), very committed and generous volunteers. I will truly try to put out some pictures soon.

The Christmas...uh oh, the doorbell...be right back. That was one of our school moms and she had locked her pocketbook in the school's garage. I was able to help her to find it, thank the Lord. That is one of the reasons we are so well situated across the street from the school.

As I was saying, the Christmas season has been rushing by me so fast. We moved in 2 weeks ago tomorrow and actually put up our (artificial) tree the next day. I have of course been teaching with Christmas music since the last week in November. Last weekend we were at a camp in Pennsylvania which is owned by our ministry. The ministries in Newark and in Chester, PA brought families to spend the weekend making Christmas memories. There were crafts for children and women, the chance to cut down live Christmas trees and then decorate them, cooky decorating, and gingerbread house decorating. You should have seen us all try to get people, luggage, presents and gingerbread houses all home again. Ours was the only one that fell apart on the way home. (o: It was a lovely time.

Claire will spend Christmas in the Phillipines...did I spell that correctly? It is hard for us all to have her gone, especially for her sister. These are the things that remind us that the season is not about us, it's about Jesus. And it's not just about a baby, it is about a Savior for the whole world.