Dear friends and family,
Christmas is
here! As a kid I looked forward to
everything that was a part of my traditional Christmas- getting the tree,
decorating the house, decorating sugar cookies, singing all of the Christmas
songs, a big Christmas Eve dinner with relatives, and giving and receiving
presents. But as I grew older I began to take these traditions for granted. I remember my first Christmas season on the
Reservation. Suddenly, traditions that had
lost their meaning seemed to having purpose again. I was in a community that didn’t have its own
Christmas traditions born out of the love, which comes from knowing that Jesus
came to earth as a baby for us. If I
didn’t see the importance of celebrating the birth of my Savior in a huge way,
then why should the people around me? So
it is with joy that I celebrate Christmas and look forward to the aspects of
Christmas that have become a part of our tradition here on the
Reservation.
This is the first
Christmas that we get to celebrate Christmas on Sundays as a church. And as a church and youth group we have
started several new traditions, I hope.
This past week we took the discipleship group kids caroling to elders’
homes. I don’t think any of the kids had
been caroling before, and several of them had no idea what caroling was. We showed up on elders’ lawns with 35 of us
singing Christmas carols. Many of the
elders were moved to tears after seeing the size of the group and the joy that
came from the kids singing. I think many
of the youth were surprised that they could do something that would have such
an impact on other people. When I think
about it, it is amazing that we have 30 kids who would want to come with us and
sing Christmas songs that are barely familiar to them on elders’ front
lawns. It is just a small reminder of
how much the Lord is working in the hearts of the kids, youth and adults
here. Christmas caroling is a tradition
I hope we keep for many years.
I pray that the
Lord gives you joy in celebrating the birth of Jesus and that you enjoy your
Christmas traditions, not because it is what you have always done, but because
you have a great reason to celebrate.
Love and Peace this Christmas
season,
Heather
“This will happen when the special child is born. God will
give us a son who will be responsible for leading the people. His name will be
“Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of
Peace.” His power will continue to grow, and there will be peace without
end. This will establish him as the king sitting on David’s throne and ruling
his kingdom. He will rule with goodness and justice forever and ever. The
strong love that the Lord All-Powerful
has for his people will make this happen!”
Isaiah 9:6-7
