the story of our Christmas tree...
We moved to Springfield, Missouri from New Castle, Indiana when I was two. My parents had surrendered to be missionaries and they enrolled in Baptist Bible College. They moved us all 500 miles away from home to an unknown place and so began the story of their missionary life. We were poor but I never knew that. My dad got a job as a mechanic at a trash company called BFI and every once in a while he would bring things home that stores like Wal-Mart or K-Mart would throw out. I don't really know if they just threw these things out in their dumpsters and the workers would go through it or if there was like a place they brought all this stuff to, but he would bring home things like gum or teddy grams or a baby stroller (I'm praying it was an actual place he got these things from!!!). Anyway, Christmas rolled around and my parents asked my sister's (I was much too young to have an opinion) if they would rather get a Christmas tree and presents for Christmas or go back to Indiana to spend Christmas with our family...they chose Indiana. My mom, being the resourceful and amazing woman that she is, cut out a cardboard Christmas tree and made the best of this no Christmas tree situation. My dad just happened to find a Christmas tree in the trash at his work...well, actually it was parts of two different Christmas tree's but it worked and God completely gave our family a want that I'm sure answered my parents prayers!
what does that have to do with anything?...
So, this tree was like 4 ft tall and not the most glamorous but it worked and we kept it. My dad got this tree in 1989 or 1990 and we used it every year...we even packed it on our container and shipped it to Zambia. We used it until my next to last Christmas at my parents house in 2003 and then my parents bought a nice and tall tree from some missionaries that were resigning. BUT in 1995, our last Christmas in the US, my parents got a real tree. It was AMAZING!!! It was so exciting. That Christmas was awesome! I'm not sure, but I think my parents thought we might never have a Christmas again!!!
1st Christmas in zambia...
It was just about three months after we arrived. We were starting to feel at home. It was the last Christmas that my sister, Dawn would live with us. There were so many things about that Christmas I remember. We had gotten a puppy...the first dog we had ever had that I can remember. We named her Colby...she was the best dog ever! I remember her being there. I remember my parents bought this gold and red MERRY CHRISTMAS sign (more memories about this sign to come!). I remember that we each got a 6-pack of soda as a present...Dawn got pepsi, Renee got 7-up and I got orange crush!!! I remember I got a huge baby doll. I remember I was sad because for the first time I wanted to go back to the US...just for the day...and go to my Aunt Sharon's house and see my Grandma and Grandpa and my uncle Phillip and all the rest of my family. It was a sad but joyous day celebrating Jesus' birth!
more Christmas stories...
I have several Christmases that stand out in my mind. I'm not sure which Christmas it was but one of them I remember my dad preached a funeral or two on Christmas day. That was sad! Our family tradition has always been that you can open one gift on Christmas eve...one Christmas my sister Renee chose her gift and was super proud of it...my mom kept telling her she didn't want to open that one but she was confident that she did. It was blue lamp oil!! haha...my mom laughed and laughed...Renee did not think it was very funny. The next morning she opened the other half of that gift...an oil lamp! Maybe it was the same Christmas or the next one but I remember I counted the gifts under the tree and I had significantly less than Renee. I was kind of a brat and was not happy about that...so I was in a pretty bad mood. We all got our presents and started opening them one at a time until there was this one left under the tree. It had a tag that said it was for my dad. I begrudgingly got the gift and started to take it to him when my mom flipped over the tag and showed me that it was actually for me!!! It was a cassette player! It was maroon and it had two tape decks. It was so awesome! I really learned my lesson about having such a bad attitude...my mom is a smart one! Another Christmas my mom wrapped random boxes with random items in them...like a toaster box full of old socks. I was so confused but then she would pull out the real gift from somewhere...it's like she was Mary Poppins!!! She's a crazy lady!!! So, back to the gold and red MERRY CHRISTMAS sign...it was made out of shiny paper and probably was only meant for one use...but my mom is super thrifty and used it over and over again. We moved from Luanshya to Ndola in 2000 and the sign came with us. Every year she would try to put it up and I would tell her it looked horrible and she needed to throw it away. What is so crazy is that every year, for probably three years, the day we would decorate for Christmas my friend would happen to come by. My mom would be trying to hang this hideous sign up and she would not listen that it looked so bad! I would recruit my friend and make him tell her it looked horrible. My friend's name was Dennis...now he's my husband....and he still teases my mom about that sign to this day!!!
it's the most wonderful time of the year...
I love Christmas...I always have! But Christmas is different when it's hot outside. It's different when your mom can't find celery to put into her dressing. It's different when you can't see your whole family like you are used to. It's different when your sister's live half way around the world from you. Christmas was the only time I ever didn't want to be in Zambia each year.
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| our first Christmas in Zambia |
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