Training My Eyes

Happy December! I hope you all have found ways to keep, or even increase, your joy and peace this season, despite all the craziness. I usually don’t share Bible verses so quickly into a new post, but y’all, Romans 12:2a is coming to me. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Charlotte was gifted a paint & build nativity set that we have enjoyed.

I won’t mince words, the last three Christmases in Zimbabwe have not been easy. When I come from a place that produces snow, and grew up in a family that has decorations and a fresh cut Christmas tree, it’s a bit sad when there aren’t even pine trees to be found in the country! I remember last year listening to some Christmas music (in December - I don’t jump the gun on Thanksgiving!) and the track came on of “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.” And I looked out the window and it was sunny, very hot, and I could see 5 shades of luscious greens from all the flora that had sprung to life since the rainy season had begun. And I had to chuckle, because I decided then to change the lyrics I sang to that song to “I’m dreaming of a green Christmas.”

And in the mind of a Midwesterner, you might be thinking I mean “brown” even though I said “green.” If it’s been a mild winter in Michigan, then the snow has come and melted more than once, but the grass has gone dormant, and so there is this unsightly gray slush and brown mud lining streets and parking lots and pathways. If it’s not white, it looks dirty.

But here, I’m talking about true, real green. Christmastime in Zim is vibrant and teeming with life. Ebenezer is busy harvesting maize, tomatoes, butternut, and watermelons. Mango trees are ripening, local fruits like mazhanje are easy pickings. Weeds pop up in a span of 36 hours. Bridges that serve as dams are flowing over. It really is a beautiful green.

And yet I can still think, “But this is not what Christmas looks like!” Yet I assure you (just as I assure myself) that this really is “Christmas in Africa” as the song goes. It is certainly wonderful in its own way.

So do I put up a tree? Yes, I insist! One year it was the top growth of a succulent plant (a common tree alternative you can buy on the side of the street if you don’t own this plant already), another year we purchased a handmade wooden tree from a friend, made from pallet wood. This is the tree we managed to get out of a storage room to use again this time around, except it’s missing two of it’s branches! So it looks quite silly. Nevertheless, it’s a Christmas tree that holds ornaments.

Charlotte was a good helper decorating the tree!

Christmas stockings? Yes, they get hung on bookshelves or in windows instead of over a fireplace. Christmas music plays in a few grocery stores and I have a playlist that I enjoy in the house. In my three Christmas seasons here, friends have notified me of caroling and candlelight services since they know my mind needs these creature comforts. Even last Sunday after church, we met a few friends to have a white elephant ornament exchange! These types of events are special for me.

And the food for Christmas day? Well it’s just the three of us and I’m planning on grilling 2 steaks and roasting some potatoes and calling it good. I’ll probably also bake something sweet to polish us off (Top contenders right now are either apple crisp or vanilla custard). December is a good time to sit outside in the shade, if it’s not raining, and enjoy the breeze.

One thing I have failed at each and every Christmas season is having an advent reading or tradition of some kind. That’s a goal of mine for next year, to have something we can do with Charlotte in anticipation of celebrating our savior’s birth.

So I guess on one hand I do admit to you all that I feel like I am accepting a “lesser” Christmas here in Matebeleland. But on the other hand, I am learning to train my eye to enjoy and relish a “green” Christmas rather than a white one. And I think it is slowly working!

And then really, if we are serious for a moment, we can all ask ourselves if we are training our eyes to not even look for a white or a green Christmas, but to use our physical and spiritual eyes to see the miracle and the truth of the special day, no matter where we are. That's really the goal, isn't it? To be thankful for Christ's birth and celebrate all the ways God is powerful to complete His promises and fulfill prophesies of long ago?

This ornamental chili plant in our friend's garden is green and Christmas-y all by itself!

Prayers for my heart and mind to rest in the true meaning of Christmas rather than waiting for visual cues to feel like it’s Christmastime would be so appreciated, and I'll do the same for you, even if you have white Christmases :)

I pray that each and every one of you would have love and joy that overflow from you to your neighbors, and that you would see Jesus as the King of Kings.

Growing in Courage,

Mackenzie

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PS.

As an update on our house, there have been continual delays and we are not yet moved out of our temporary housing and into the staff house. The most recent development is that the material for putting the ceiling in, the tile for the bathrooms, and the glass to put in the window frames have all arrived and are on site. Hopefully we will start to see the movement of the builders this coming week! The house itself as many of you know was funded by a church in the United Kingdom. And then many of you contributed to making the skeleton of a house into a home! We have been hunting for great items to put in our home and got a propane stove/oven a month ago (I CAN FINALLY BAKE!!) and we found a nice ottoman a week ago. It has storage inside and Charlotte loves to do her puzzles on it. We are still on the lookout for some big items- a fridge, mattress & bed, and a couch. All in good time!

Another note is that a few of you had mentioned wanting to give a year end gift. So just for those who are interested, the tax deductible way to do that is http://bit.ly/SupportBMK

(Link will direct you to Firstfruits Initiative’s Donation Form. Use “BMK” in the Comment section!)

Otherwise if you don’t need the tax receipt, the best way is through Paypal, to mackkuhu@gmail.com

Thank you everyone for your continued support and prayers. We are thankful for each and every one of you.

Merry Christmas!

-Mackenzie, Brierly, and Charlotte