I love tradition. I love that Christmas at home is predictable. That's honestly probably my favorite part. Christmas at the Tronvold house includes:
- Weeks of preparation with Christmas music and Hallmark movies
- The Christmas Eve church service (complete with "Silent Night" sung by candle light)
- A family drive to look at the Christmas lights in town
- Christmas Eve at my dad's parent's house (complete with oyster stew that the children all refuse to eat, chili, a magical train set and village, and the mystery Christmas tree... what color will it be? No one ever knows!)
- "A Christmas Story" marathon as background noise all day on Christmas
- Opening Christmas presents in the morning (Santa still visits us because he loves us that much)
- Christmas day spent with my mom's side of the family
There have been a few alterations over the years, but that is the general flow of our Christmas.
Even though I love the predictable celebration, my first Christmas away from home was fairly epic in itself. I celebrated with this family instead:
I still kind of like those goofballs.
Christmas in Ghana was a beautiful blessing. Our team was invited to a Christmas Eve celebration at a missionary family's home. It was complete with the children's reenactment of the Christmas story in Luke, singing carols in English, Christmas treats, and a few rounds of Mafia. It was a wonderful, wonderful Christmas Eve experience.
On Christmas day, the eight of us joined some of our Ghanaian friends at a pool party. It was hot, the water was great, and the music was LOUD. It was not a typical Christmas, but it was still fun. Christmas in Ghana is a memory that will not be forgotten.
Even though all of our Ghanaian celebrations were great, once I Skyped with my family, I immediately missed home. It made Christmas hard. I cried a lot as soon as our call ended. It was a good Christmas, but a hard Christmas.
This year, everything is different.
My team and I moved around too often to invest in a Christmas tree. We did however get to see this lovely Advent wreath. It's the first one I had seen in nearly two years, so I was excited. Probably too excited.
I celebrated with my teammates in Vienna. We exchanged gifts, and I now have this amazing stuffed elephant! And a space saver bag to store him in as we travel!
Thanks, Ross!
The biggest difference between last year and this year isn't the team or the location; it's the way we spent Christmas Day. This year, our team parted ways on Christmas Eve. One of my teammates and I ended up in Prague visiting some of his friends.
I have wanted to see Prague for years. I never thought I would be here for Christmas. But I honestly wasn't looking forward to it. I was dreading it.
I wanted my tradition. I wanted my family. I wanted the familiar. I did not want a strange language and new friends.
But I was blessed with the second thing.
Christmas Eve contained a delightful bus ride, meeting new friends, and seeing this Christmas Market:
Our evening was spent with another missionary family that was kind enough to invite my teammate and me to join their celebration. We had good food, Christmas carols, encouraging conversation, and fun playing games.
Then we went to an outdoor Czech church service. We sang Czech Christmas carols while standing outside of a strip mall. We heard the Christmas story from Luke (in Czech) and lit candles for the last song.
It was beautiful.
Christmas Day contained a slow morning, lunch at the James Dean Diner (the first open restaurant we found)
seeing Native Americans performing in the Old Town Square
hearing a familiar hymn through the apartment doors (our friends live in an apartment that is just off the balcony of a church sanctuary; we heard the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah, the gem below, and many other sweet tunes on Christmas)
and a Skype date with my family on their Christmas morning. Santa came!
My parents sent me gifts from them and Santa, and I got to open presents with my family before they went to church.
It was beautiful. The whole two days were so stinkin' beautiful.
I was dreading Christmas. I didn't want to spend it with new people in a new country. But it turned out to be a fabulous time.
I am learning that Christmas isn't about my tradition. It's not about me and what I enjoy. It's about so much more.
Christmas isn't Christmas because I spend it with the people I love. Last year and this year, I have learned that Christmas can be joyful with anyone. There's a new kind of joy in spending it with new friends; you get to hear about how Jesus changed their lives and you get to experience different traditions.
Christmas has been full of joy this year, and it's not because of the music, the Christmas drinks, the Christmas markets, or the gifts. It's because I'm home.
I'm not in South Dakota. I'm not in Ghana. I'm not even in a home that I've lived in for one of my months on this journey. But I'm home because I'm where Jesus is asking me to be this year. I'm home in him. Jesus is my home, and no matter where I am next Christmas, I'll be able to find joy in my home in him.
I can have joy every day. Because I am -- we are -- meant to find joy and put our hope in Jesus every day. It's not just about Christmas. It's about every single day. He is our home, and we have the opportunity to practice that today, tomorrow, and every day that follows.
Merry Christmas, friends! I hope Jesus is giving you opportunities to find your joy in him this year as well.
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