Christmas is here!! If you could only see me now as I type these words, you would see me grinning from ear to ear as I belt out Celine Dion's version of O Holy Night:) For those of you that don't know, I love Christmas! I love Christmas decorations, Christmas music, Christmas food, Christmas cheer, todos (all of it).
Since BEFORE Halloween, people here have been decorating for Christmas, so it clearly doesn't seem weird to me that our house is decorated and it's only November 13th! It made me really happy yesterday as my roommate, Jess, and I went shopping for decorations, came home, put decor up, and listened to Christmas favorites by Michael Buble, Mariah Carey, and NSYNC. It reminds me once again that our cultures aren't so different, there are plenty of similarities. For instance, we both like to have a reason to get together with other people, a reason to host and serve, a reason to decorate and celebrate. We all have this need to belong; the desire want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. That isn't an American thing, Dominican thing, English speaker thing, Spanish speak thing, it's a human thing and when our differences seem so extreme, I need remember that we all want to be a part, so why does my behavior seem so exclusive instead of inclusive?
As you go out this week and start looking forward to the holidays be reminded that the people in your family, behind you in line at Wal-Mart, your servers at restaurants, and plenty of others want to be included this holiday season as well. Whether that means being a little more patient as the lines get longer, restaurants become more crowded, or family plans get changed for the 5th time already, remember that He has already gone the distance for us, so our response should joyfully willing to attempt the same.
Pictures will be up later when our house is fully ready for presentation:)