Flash Mob, Turkish Style!

Here is a video of the flash mob my son participated in. This Turkish translation of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" fits the melody perfectly and has a great summary of the message.

I'm taking some time off until January 3rd to spend time with my family, to rest, and to reflect and set goals for the coming year.  

May God bless you richly during these last days of 2012.

Happy New Year,
Olive

The Most Important Gifts We Can Give

Every year I tell myself I’ll buy Christmas gifts early to avoid the last minute rush, and every year I find myself in the same place: out shopping the week before Christmas! Gift giving is one of my favorite love languages. I take joy in planning and trying to find gifts that will please my family and friends, but I can get so caught up in shopping that I forget the most important gifts of all.

What gifts can I give to Jesus for His birthday?

How to Have More Joy and Peace This December

December can turn into a treadmill of activities that leave your mind and heart too numbed to hear the words of the angel in Luke: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” 

The first week of December we had out of town visitors, our weekly English club, and went to a Christmas worship event. I had guests for dinner, and hosted a Women’s Christmas party at my house.  All were wonderful, blessed events, but I breathed a sigh of relief last Sunday and looked forward to a quieter, more restful week.  

Things didn’t turn out like I expected.

Holiday Traditions That Work for Overseas Families

“I was born in El Salvador, but I don’t speak Spanish.  I’m supposed to be both American and Salvadoran, but I didn’t grow up in either place. I grew up in Turkey, where I’m a foreigner.” My daughter said this just the other night when we were discussing Christmas.

December can be a bittersweet month for cross-cultural workers and their children.  Back home we know people are decorating their homes, listening to carols, going Christmas shopping, and rehearsing for Christmas choirs and pageants, but here in Izmir-on-the-Aegean, it’s business as usual.  In fact, the weather begins to gray, and early sunsets, combined with spiritual darkness, can make for a dim and gloomy month.

If you’re overseas, maybe you don’t feel much like celebrating. 

How to Enjoy Christmas for a Whole Month

After our Thanksgiving dinner, I’d no sooner packed our leftovers into containers for the fridge, when my daughter said, “Let’s put up the Christmas tree tomorrow!”

“What?” I said. “I need a day or two to recover. I don’t know if I’m ready for Christmas yet.”

Now a few days have passed, and I’m beginning to smile again as I think of decorations and candles.

At the same time, I have to admit that Christmas is a mixed bag for cross-cultural workers.

Thanksgiving Tree and Pumpkin Pie in Olive Country

Our living room is the only one in the building decorated with a pumpkin, pine cones, dried berries, and a Thanksgiving tree.  My tree makes me smile and reminds me to count my blessings as I count down the days to my favorite holiday.  We’re far from home. Except for a few scattered American friends, no one else around is celebrating, but I enjoy creating my own traditions. So this week we’ll have our traditional FRIDAY NIGHT Thanksgiving with friends we’ve chosen to call family: Turks, Mexicans, Brazilians, and ONE American!

My favorite tradition is our Thanksgiving tree with its paper leaves.  As guests arrive, we ask them to write down on a leaf what they’re thankful for. After dinner, everyone shares what they wrote, and together we give thanks to God, the Giver of every good and perfect gift.

Here is my recipe for pumpkin pie, one that you can still make even if you’re far away from the land of Libby’s canned pumpkin and Eagle Brand evaporated milk.

The Ministry of Small Things for Busy Moms

Even small flowers brighten the environment!

Do you ever feel that caring for your home and family is so all-consuming that you don’t have enough time or energy to reach out to people in your community?  You know that ministry to your family is your high calling, but sometimes you struggle with wishing you could do MORE. If you’re a cross-cultural worker/mom maybe you feel like you might as well be back in your home country since you spend all your time at home with the kids anyway.

If you feel that way today, take heart and consider the ministry of small things.

Pressed for Time

Okay, I have a confession to make that’s going to sound obsessive compulsive: I use a kitchen timer to help me with time management. This might sound like something you’d expect a from a software engineer in Silicon Valley, but not from a cross-cultural servant/housewife who lives in the Middle East, where time management is NOT a high priority.

I started using a timer for home school to keep my kids and me on task. We work for 25 minutes, take a 3 minute break, work for 25 minutes, and then break for ten.  Twenty five minute work sessions are supposed to help you to focus on your work and avoid interruptions. (This is the Pommodoro technique, named after the red tomato kitchen timer.)