deck the halls.

The teenage girls convinced Tammy that they should decorate for Christmas last Sunday - so she agreed that the downstairs veranda area could be decorated with lights. They were SO excited. All of the teenage boys were commissioned to hang the lights. They spent two hours working diligently - climbing on the rafters and above the windows and connecting the electricity properly so the lights would all work. It was so sweet watching them work together - it's one of my favorite parts about living here. The oldest girls were chopping tomatoes & onions together in the kitchen - I got the chance to listen to them as they talked - such a highlight of my evening. At 7pm we all gathered under the lights in the veranda to sing Christmas carols. The boys were so proud of their handiwork and Tammy asked us all to cheer for them. There was a minute of earnest, appreciated clapping for all the hard-working boys. Tammy said how we might be the only house in all of India that put out Christmas lights on November 20th!


The kids' voices are so breathtakingly beautiful as they sing Christmas carols together. I closed my eyes & just listened to them - feeling so thankful to have the blessing of being with them. Some songs were familiar to me; some were in their native language. Both were amazing. 


We will sing Christmas songs every night at seven o'clock (monday through thursday) until Christmas. Each night there is a different house in charge of picking three songs, reading a verse, & praying. Then we all eat together. I LOVE this time every night. It's so dear to my heart!


p.s. So I am currently craving peanut butter & apple juice this week. Hilarious. I went almost an entire month without having either - I on purpose was trying not to rely on familiar food! But we were going to watch a movie at Tammy's house on Wednesday night and I needed to bring a snack to share. I decided that peanut butter and biscuits (which is what they call "cookies") is what I wanted to bring. I also got some apple juice. I had no idea how good peanut butter & juice would taste to me! I've already eaten the entire jar of peanut butter! I have made a pact with myself to not buy more this week - maybe next week :)