Friends!
Can you believe that it is already time for another program break!? By Friday evening, The Joshua Lodge will be empty once again as we students all head off to various places for Christmas!
There has been no shortage of festivity in the past week, and may it continue! We had no speaker with us, so life around here has mostly been classes and community time—but with our evenings free we have been able to partake in some of the fun Christmas events happening around camp.
On Tuesday, the Hume Lake community youth put on a Christmas play called Nativi-TV which presented the gospel story of Jesus’ birth through a fun series of skits in different television genres, from reality tv to newscasting—including a fully choregraphed hip-hop remix of Angels We Have Heard on High! My Pause-Mom, Amanda Ney, was the coordinator of the play, so it was so exciting to see all her hard work come to life. My Pause family had been anticipating the show since early November when we had the opportunity to aid in sorting costumes, and it was such a joy to attend.
After the show, Hume’s Maker’s Market was in full array, with coffee, cookies, and conversation in abundance. The Maker’s Market is a small gathering of all the artistic and gastronomic talent in the community where individuals may set up little booths and tables to vend their craft! Some of the featured Items were homemade candles, sourdough loaves, art prints, knitwear, tie-dye, stickers, and Christmas décor. There is a certain charm to such an event, to browse goods and support local creatives and enjoy the company of good-humored folk—as an artist and hobbyist myself, I found great delight in such celebration.
On Wednesday evening, we here at the Joshua building had a little Christmas party of our own with our Pause families. The featured event was the fabled Gingerbread Contest which most pause families spend a few meetings discussing theme. My pause family, however, had no plan! Everyone else brought extra supplies, and had a preemptive Idea of what kind of structure they were going to build and how they were going to decorate, but my Pause family hadn’t been sure if the contest was going to happen this year so we didn’t bother planning—but not to our demise! When Jen and Dallas were explaining the categories of what the judges would be looking for (humor, story, design), Dallas threw in a joke about extra points for incorporating Passover, so my dear sister Kaylee Emslie suggested we build a replica of DaVinci’s The Last Supper offhandedly.
We ran with the idea!
During the 45 minutes of the contest, most effort was put into the construction of our long gingerbread banquet table and 12 circus-animal-cookie disciples; I had the pleasure of preparing the long fondant table runner, as well as the candy place settings and food platters. It was definitely an outside-the-box idea, as every other team made some sort of actual house! For comedic effect and to tie it into Christmas spirit, Kaylee frosted for us a mildly foreboding title sign reading BORN TO DIE in red icing. So festive! Turns out our team didn’t win Best in Show, but we gladly accepted the award for Best Story.
After the contest, all of the Pause families gathered in the Great Room to sing some lively Christmas praise, and simply give thanks to the Lord for such an opportunity to gather and be merry. Some exchanged gifts, some simply chatted, but the atmosphere was cozy and bright, hemmed in by garland and our dazzling tree.
Now as we students depart for Christmas break, I am sure we all are to hold these things in our hearts and cherish them. Some students again are returning to less-than-ideal situations, and some are eager to see family, and either way please continue to support both students and staff in prayer for wisdom, safe travels, and light hearts this holiday season. We will all be returning on December 27th, only gone a mere 10 days before jumping into finals, testing for the second chapter of Philippians, and preparation for our service trip to the Dominican Republic
As always, thank you all for your investment in our spiritual growth and interest in our lives. The first week of January we will also be hosting prospective students for a preview, so if you have questions or interest, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email!
I wish you all a Merry Christmas, may the joy and peace of the Lord keep you.
Hannah Rockwood
