Christmas??

Another 25th of December has come and gone and I´m left swaying in the wind of time as it flies by. I´ve been asked several times what it´s like spending Christmas in Bolivia. Comments have referred to the difficulty of being far from family, the lack of white stuff and nose tingling temperatures. For some reason, it was not that painful to be here and not there. I admit to crying when I heard the pipsqueek voices of my nieces on the crackling transmission from Cochabamba to Canada, but considering everything, this weekend wrapped up as an unintended and unexpected gift from the Giver.
I was taken aback by how smoothly the celebrations went and wondered why I wasn´t more homesick and sad. I figure it has something to do with the fact that this Christmas seemed more like a fraud, an imposter, another holiday pretending to be something it was not. There were lights and music and I even whipped up a Christmas turkey dinner for my Bolivian family, but the elements that create that warm sensation within me during this festive month weren´t there. The fact that my most dear ones were absent, snow did not blanket the ground, and the temperatures only warranted a light sweater is the very reason why it was fairly painless to be here this past weekend. Their presence is the ambience of Christmas, their absence made me forget what we were actually celebrating.
I must also recognize God as true to His word; He is faithful to place the lonely in families. Thanks to Davíd, Mamíta, Julie, Ken, Glenda, and Alison, I spent the days with "family" and their company created a similar sense of ease and tradition that I crave during Christmas. My dear ones, I cherish you in my heart as Mary cherished and stored up "all things" in hers. There will be more Christmases, green ground or winter wonderland, an amazing love was recognized once again by many nations and tongues around the world. When the winds of time whip me around in 2006, I hope they will be the colder drafts of Canada. The warmer breezes of passing time in Bolivia have been pleasant, but nothing compares to being home for Christmas.