Feliz Navidad y Ano Nuevo a Todos!
We had the gift of celebrating Christmas with the Clarkson family (Momma, Poppa, Kris, and Corrie), as they visited us for the week following Christmas. It was a grand time. After a little bit of airline trouble and an unexpected night in San Pedro Sula, they made it into La Ceiba on Christmas night. We feasted on Kelly’s delicious minestrone soup and some kickin’ garlic bread and then opened “presents” – the Clarksons came laden with supplies from our fair homeland (peanut butter, chocolate chips, shoes, etc), as well as their own regalos de Navidad for us, and we had a couple of things for them.
On Friday we walked to the Ramirez homestead, visiting folks in Las Mangas along the way and presenting Kelly’s family. The Ramirez’s, as usual, were very hospitable, and we drank passion fruit nectar, ate tamales, and wondered at the variety and health of fruit trees planted near the house. There were a lot of pictures taken, which may one day be shown here. We stayed for several hours, Kelly enduring a giardia infestation with extraordinary courage. That night we ate meatloaf, read Luke’s version of the birth of Jesus, and sang Christmas carols and hymns.
For some reason, I had never really thought much about the shepherds in the Christmas story, ordinary folks keeping guard over their flocks at night, when suddenly “an angel of the Lord stood by their side, the splendor of the Lord blazed around them, and they were terror-stricken. But the angel of the Lord said to them: ‘Do not be afraid! Listen, I bring you glorious news of great joy which is for all people . . .’ And in a flash there appeared with the angel a vast host of the armies of Heaven, praising God…” And the shepherds went straight to Bethlehem “to see this thing”, and promptly went out and told everyone they could.
Why shepherds? It is striking that the angel didn’t appear to more prominent noble figures, as might befit a visiting king. God chose people who would believe and act immediately, who had little political or economic weight. It is as if God’s angel came here to some poor farmers up in the hills, bypassing the moneyed and powerful in La Ceiba – a picture more arresting to me now than before.
Anyhow, Saturday and Sunday we spent on the island of Utila, snorkeling and resting and playing our first game of “Settlers of Catan” together. The reefs are beautiful. At every new stroke, it seemed, there were new creatures, with a dizzying array of shapes and colors. We didn’t see anything even remotely dangerous, no eels or sharks or giant carnivorous snails.
Unfortunately, when we returned on Sunday, we discovered that one of the rooms had been broken into and a number of things (of the Clarksons and the Stavens) stolen. It was the first time anything of the sort had happened to us, here or in the States, and so there was sadness and consternation. But God has answered our prayers to preserve us from fear or bitterness, and so we are grateful.
Monday Kris and Corrie started language school (they are there until the end of January), Tuesday we rested around the campus and visited Earl and Sharon at the colegio in Rio Viejo, and Wednesday drove the padres to the airport early in the morning.
It was a blessing to have family here, and a learning experience. We learned what an exhausting task hospitality can be in a foreign culture, a little about how to translate English to Spanish and back, and a little about ourselves and our family.
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