Island Christmas

Traditional Christmas dinner is nice. Presents are fun. A tree with lights and ornaments is beautiful. I had all those things this Christmas, but they were the least important and the farthest away from my mind. In fact, I could've done without all of those things. I was simply delighted and blessed to be with my people here.

It all started at church. It was great to go to church and see so many people that were my church family while I was here. The church was packed - lots of new faces, but also lots of familiar faces!

The current SM's doing special music

One of my boys

This one's for Sean, Judith & Jessica

This one's for Ms. Britni (he asked about you!)

After a nice Sabbath/Christmas dinner, we headed out in search of adventure - in fact, a little more adventure than we expected! It turns out that the path down to the Old Man by the Sea has been basically abandoned in the 2.5 years since I left, leaving it densely overgrown and entirely unaccessible without the aid of a machete. But! There's another way that passes by the island's 2nd Grotto, weaves its way through the jungle, drops down a rope about 20 feet, scrambles over numerous volcanic boulders, before arriving on the shores of the Old Man. It was pretty amazing!

Heading towards adventure

Stopping by to take a look at the 2nd Grotto

The view along the way....

Climbing down the rope

We finally made it to the legendary Old Man.....

The best part of the whole adventure was being accompanied by 2 of my former students. I never actually taught them, but I was one of their 8th grade class sponsors so I got to travel to Australia with them. And they were a permanent fixture in our lives during the 2 years that I was here - they hiked with us, played volleyball, came to church, and did basically anything and everything with us. They're pretty remarkable; some of the best kids out there! Spending Christmas afternoon with them was definitely the highlight of my Christmas! For a brief moment in time, it felt like the good ol' days to have them along hiking with us! :)

Foolin' around & hangin' out

Parting shots of the Old Man

Heading back

Hiking with these ladies was a first! (I'm SO proud of you both!)

After our epic adventure, it was time to return to traditional Christmas activities - the opening of presents.....

"Sisters"

It was a very special Christmas for me. It may have seemed like a pretty low-profile Christmas. Some were wishing they were surrounded by snow. Others missed their family back home. But for me, I felt totally and completely right where I needed to be on Christmas day - home! :)