Christmas Parties

As Christmas draws nearer, we are in the midst of parties and school programs. This has been a particularly busy week for us. I guess this way we don’t have time to miss Mimi and Pop. Wednesday, we had our annual Clinic Christmas party at our regular Wednesday lunch. I decided to order lunch from a restaurant called Max’s. It was a true Filipino party meal. We had fried chicken (don’t picture the kind grandma used to make or the kind KFC sells), stir fried vegetables, lumpia – this is the Filipino version of egg rolls, pancit- a Filipino noodle dish with veggies, shrimp, chicken livers, and fish balls served on special occasions like birthdays and Christmas. We also had a creamed asperagus soup, and of course ----plain rice. For dessert I ordered a chocolate cake from a bakery called Red Ribbon. The staff seemed pleased with my choices—I couldn’t go wrong since it was a set party meal from Max's. Ling Ling, our nurse, kept saying it was “talagang Christmas party”. Which means it was really a Christmas party. While the food was good and "abundant" and we had a good time, it wasn’t nearly the party we went to at Ling’s house on Thursday.

Thursday, Ling had a Christmas party and lunch for her ladies bible study group. She has 16 ladies from the nearby squatter area that she ministers to and disciples every Thursday morning. They began with a time of Thanksgiving. Each woman got up and thanked God for what He had done in her life this year. It was an emotional time as many of them have had a tough year. Many of the families are with out work and income. There is the mother of 6 whose husband is out of work. She supports her family by cooking and cleaning for $2 a day. There were quite a few women who had lost husbands this past year. One of whom was found dead in our neighbors' yard. Another, whose husband died, is supporting her family by selling food out of their home. She makes barely enough to survive. There were hard times that the ladies were thankful they had gotten through, but also joyful times. One of the ladies had been battered by her husband for years. The Bible Study began to pray for a change in him and the situation turned around. Allan gave our Christmas greetings and thanks in Tagalog and spoke for just a minute about the hope we have in Christ. It was so beautiful and perfect for the situation. There weren’t many dry eyes in the room when he was done. These women truly know what it is like to rely on the hope we have in Christ.

We were invited to join in all the festivities, but we decided only to drop by for a little while. Since Allan is the doc, we, including Ling, decided the women wouldn’t feel able to “cut loose”. I don’t think it would have mattered though. When we left there was an intense game going on. The women were paired up in 2s and “dancing” with a tomato between their foreheads. They had to keep the tomato from dropping. There was much laughter and merriment. I think they might have gotten a kick out of Al joining in. Ling had many games and prizes for the winners. I think next year she will have to organize the entertainment for our clinic staff party.

Today, I am off to the Elementary school’s Christmas program. It should be very entertaining. Will is excited because he only has to go to school a half day (much to em’s dismay since she has to go all day) and his friend Sam is coming home with him. Tomorrow night Emily will go to her first Middle School Christmas Banquet. She can’t wait. I have made her a long skirt out of Christmas fabric to go with a sleeveless red shirt she has. In the States, we have always had many Christmas clothes--sweaters, dresses, and sweatshirts, but she just didn't have any Christmas clothes suitable for the tropics.