Christmas Family Foto

 Even though we won't hand out these Christmas picture cards this year to about 100 people, we decided to keep up the tradition. We have discovered that a family Christmas picture card might be more of a Canadian thing, or North American thing, not so much a Spanish thing. So we are enjoying handing out a few to people here and they are pleasantly surprised.

The background didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. We have been driving and walking past all of these stone fences everywhere we go here. They are much more impressive than the pictures show...isn't that always how it is?

They fascinated me from the start. Many fields here are littered with rocks and stones ~ my farming family would cringe! So I guess they have decided to do like the saying "if the world gives you lemons, make lemonade." The soil here gave rocks, so they made rock fences. Some of them go on for miles and miles. And they are no pushover! Some are even cemented a bit on top, so you know they plan to leave them there for a good long time. They may even have been there for centuries already. And to think they were likely all stacked and piled by hand! I have no idea how long that must have taken.

Anyway, that's just one of my small obsessions shared with you, perhaps made way more interesting by perching our favourite kids on top :)

Now to add a Christmas parallel so that this also becomes our Christmas Greeting post...
We've been reading Jotham's Journey as a family advent thing. It's a story written about a boy living around the time of the First Christmas. I've been reminded of the people of that day, believing there would someday be a Messiah. Some had given up hope; some kept believing; some thought it would be in their lifetime; others long before them had thought it would be in their lifetime. Some kept up their diligent following of their Creator to the best of their ability; others had turned their following into a religion or even into a business; still others into a misguided following of rules instead of following the Creator. The stone fence makes me think of those that remained steady, faithful, diligent, waiting for generations for their Messiah. Some stone fence builders may have started a fence, but their kids or their grandkids kept working at it after they were gone. My hope and prayer this Christmas season is that we will be found faithful and diligent, to continue being faithful and diligent as our families have, and then to teach our children how to be faithful and diligent. Or perhaps you have been chosen to start a long line of faithful and diligent Christ followers.

Because we have an amazing Reason to Celebrate the Season,

we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!