Broken Alabaster Boxes

The music throbs as they pass tonight. The road is unusually busy. Especially for a country that has recently implemented a lockdown from 8 PM to 5 AM. The current traffic shows no sign of following recent protocols. It's Christmas in Grenada. A time of family, friends, festive activities, and, for many, drinking and parties. However, Grenada recently has been hit with a cluster of Covid patients. As many as 800 people are in quarantine, having been in contact with a Covid patient. The government has implemented a list of new protocols.  As a foreign missionary, Christmas already can be a challenging time. Now, according to the laws of Grenada, there are to be no social gatherings. Christmas can only be celebrated with people from your own household. Which, currently, is only myself. I think of those who pass. It must be lonely without Jesus. The throb of the music. The drained bottle. The high druggies. All give evidence to that fact. And Christmas. Its the farthest thing from Chr...

Last year I mourned Christmas passing me cheerfully by in Minnesota. I missed the snow and cold. I missed caroling where you weren't wearing flip flops. I missed the Christmas parade and our community Christmas supper. Christmas cookies, special time with family, the festive feeling in the cold air. Instead I had palm trees, a hot sun, and something that felt far from Christmas.  This year I do not mourn my absence from Minnesota Christmas. Rather I mourn the absence of that Christmas, the long-held traditions that made it Christmas for me. It's bitter sweet. While it tugs to know that others are celebrating without me, the thought that those traditions aren't even taking place leaves me feeling empty. Thinking of lock downs and Covid leaves me feeling strangely stark and bare. Almost as if Christmas has been stripped away.  We say we are celebrating the real meaning of Christmas, but are we as much as we think we are? When our cozy little safe places are stripped away, do ...

Looking over the first trimester of school, the days felt long, but the time was short. The tests, the work, the daily grind, it all felt so long in the midst, but it was gone quickly. And now, looking ahead, the time seems to be slipping through my fingers. It won’t be long until I board the plane to return home in July. W e had 3 eventful weeks of Christmas vacation. The first was filled with a Bible School for young people, which was located up the island. It was extremely refreshing and encouraging, and I came away with a better vision for what I should be doing here. For the next week and a half there were only two of us girls in the house, rather than 4, and the time was filled with wonderful variety. We hiked a mountain in the mud, cleaned, baked Christmas cookies, spent time with people, held an adorable new baby, and walked through the community to hand out cookie plates. It was relaxing and nice to have a change. Christmas day we spent with some of the staff....

He sat right up against me during church, searching for song numbers and Bible references, his 11-year-old energy well contained for the moment. He blessed me, just by his energy, smile, and quiet trust as he leaned his head against my shoulder.  It reminded me of another boy who is my friend as well. He’s across the ocean, still working at Hardee’s. But I remember him. As we sat and listened to the message, I thought of the young men that roam the streets, causing trouble and smoking weed. Will this one beside me be like them in a few years? What will become of him? But I have this moment, while he sits by me, to be his friend, point him to Christ, and pray he will be different. * * * A grocery cart and 5 students.  “Teja and Selena, go get a box of orange juice. Tell me the price when you bring it back.” Josiah and Shachri return with canned meat. “$5.50, Ms.” “Anton, what’s $9.50 plus $5.50?” He thinks hard. “$15.00.” And we move down the...

Shouting, laughing, hurrying, the students piled into the three waiting vans. Windows slid open and eager faces peered out. Hands waved and shouts were exchanged until we were finally on our way for the first field trip of the year. We began winding our way up the island, past board shacks, elaborate mansions, tiny spice shops, Carib bars, and locals barbequing chicken.  The children laughed and chattered in the back until we reached out first destination, Belmont Estate. It's a chocolate factory, beginning from the cocoa pod itself to the final product. It was an interesting process, which our guide explained well, even for the youngest students. Time and drying are crucial for good chocolate. And at the end, we ended in the factory where we were given samples of the chocolate. Belmont produces dark chocolate, and one of their flavors include different spices grown here in Grenada, including cinnamon and nutmeg.  The students enjoyed the tour, especially t...

   Christmas Eve. Customers streaming in through the cold and freshly fallen snow to enjoy the warmth and breakfast. Marge was waiting on a customer. Ruth was cooking. The hash round timer was beeping. And of course, the phone was ringing. "I got it," I yelled to Ruth , grabbing the hash rounds out of the oil and shaking them before heading back to the phone. "How can I help you?" "Hi, I was just wondering if my mom, Janice is working," a voice on the other end said. "I'm her daughter, Rachel" "Janice is on break right now," I said. "Can she call you when she gets back?" There was a pause, then, "I haven't talked...well, could I just leave a message." "Sure," I said, wondering. "Tell her I don't want to disappoint her, and that I love her." There was a catch in her voice. Suddenly I heard a daughter calling across many miles to talk to her mother on Christmas, needin...

Many of you may be familiar with Casting Crowns arrangement of this song. However, this song was originally written by a man named John Wilbur Chapman who was an evangelist during the 19th century. If you look in hymn books, you can find the original tune and the remaining words to this moving song, and perhaps if you look in your library you may find a book about this dedicated man. "One day when Heaven was filled with His praises." He was in a place of incomprehensible beauty, Unfathomable for the minds of human beings. And all around Him He was worshiped and adored. "One day when sin was as black as could be." Humanity was writhing in anguish as sin held it in captivity. Saints and sinners alike cried out for deliverance. Who could save? Who could deliver? "Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin." Holy God came as tiny babe. How? It's incomprehensible to human mind. A holy God, coming as a child into a sin-filled w...

A lone figure stands against the store front, leaning on his cane in the cold while waiting for the Christmas parade. I smile and wave at him, and he waves back. "You're here by yourself?" I ask, wondering why he would come alone. He smiles and nods. "I gotta get some joy," he says. Is this where you are getting your joy, Dan? I wondered. A short space of time to watch brightly lit trailers with waving, smiling people. Is this your only joy? He looks lonely. Do you want to know joy? my heart cries. Look to Jesus, Dan. Look to Jesus.

The ground coated in snow, My music playing, And a cup of hot tea, I work in the quiet of our kitchen. The washer hums in the background, And occasionally I am interrupted with school questions, But mostly I revel in the quiet. The kitchen fills with the smell of Christmas baking, And cooling cookies fill waiting wire racks. Helping hands unwrap the treasured chocolate, Then one of the morsels disappears into anticipating mouth. It feels peaceful and safe. I could just stay here, I think. I wouldn't have to go out into that world that I work in, Where there's daily stress and constant pressure. I wouldn't have to be incessantly hounded by the wrong, And constantly have to uphold the right. I could stay in this place with my gentle music and my tea. But that wouldn't be love. That wouldn't be compassion. That wouldn't be what Christ would have. So I go out, And as I go I pray for His protection. Bec...