missionaryMAC

I saw a post on Instagram recently about normalizing holiday-themed parties in the slow, frigid (in the Northern Hemisphere), depressing Q1 months: a white elephant gift exchange in January, a cookie exchange in March, etc. Honestly, I'm down.   But...I'm also not going to say no to "Wanna host a kids party with me, the morning of the 16th? Mission kids (aka kreys) and sem kids?" and I'd been saving 5 boxes of clear glass globe ornaments for a Christmas ladies' craft night since the 2021 LAC regional conference .  Sounds like my idea of a merry and bright weekend, even in the midst of the madness that is December.  Tirzah played host to the more ~chaotic~ of the two gatherings. I helped her set out everything for the littles in our neighborhood to make ornaments, decorate sugar cookies, decorate a gingerbread house, watch a Christmas movie, and of course eat copious amounts of sugar that led to both extremes: passing out on the couch while watching said movie...

Before I even got back from El Paso , I'd gained a shadow! Sarah, a recent CUNE grad currently working as a special education aide at a Lutheran school in WI, spent just over a week in the DR as part of a new-ish program for individuals seriously considering future missionary service. "Shadows" do life with their missionary host(s); Sarah had three. She started with deaconess/nurse Tirzah and mom/wife/music teacher extraordinaire Becca, so I could unpack, clean, grocery shop, etc. but moved in with me on a Thursday.  I love to show off my host culture and city so we may have done a few things I wouldn't have if I didn't  have a shadow, but as a general rule the pressure was off to plan a full slate of outings and activities. Evidently this is what me not planning looks like (!?): Águilas baseball game (we won 10-9 in 11 innings!) Dinner party with the Naumanns Eye Dr. appointment Movie night ( The Star ) @ the Kreys' Grocery shopping Monthly Family Night at ...

Fun fact: I started this blog in September 2008, as I was preparing to deploy for my first  stint as an LCMS missionary, 18 months that turned into three years as the Servant Event Coordinator at Ysleta Lutheran Mission  (YLM) in El Paso, TX.  My first trip to YLM, in 2003, lasted just seven days, but I went home set on majoring in Spanish and being a missionary. I'd serve short-term four more times before doing just that from January 2009 through January 2012.  Oh sure, I've visited since: for YLM's 30th anniversary gala in October 2012, twice at spring break with the youth from my church, twice at Thanksgiving, and most recently, with a multigenerational group from my church plus an extra week to see all my people...in 2017.  Yes, I have people, including a goddaughter, and no, I hadn't seen most of them in six years. I also mentioned having spent multiple Thanksgivings at YLM, beyond the three that fell within my term. Our Father Lutheran Church (OFLC) in C...