Dreaming of a White Christmas

Where I spent Christmas 2014

 

 

Recently I have had quite a few conversations about what it is like to spend the Holidays overseas. I have come to realize many people do not fully understand the emotional aspect of being away for the Holidays. So I would like to shed some light on the subject, one that is quite personal for me.

I am one of those fortunate fellows who had an old fashion childhood. Both my grandparents lived within an hour of my childhood home. Each Holiday season we would gather together and spend our time under one roof. Christmas tree hunting, eggnog sipping, Christmas cookie baking, gift wrapping, all the bells and whistles. That was my childhood, of which I am incredibly grateful.

But at age 16 my life changed dramatically and I lost my picture perfect Holidays. I in no way blame my circumstances, nor do I wish to paint for you a sad story. However I do wish to show you what it is really like to live away during the Holidays.

My family moved to South East Asia, quite a far distance from anything familiar. Long gone were the snow days, Pumpkin pie and fire places. Though we were fortunate to move to a Nation that does indeed celebrate Christmas, we soon found that their way of celebrating the Holidays was not what we had grown to love as children.

My first Christmas away from the US my family went on a short vacation, to a near by city, to escape our tiny village and allow us some time as a family. It was a wonderful Christmas, honestly it was. But there was a bittersweet feeling in each of our hearts. We missed our home, our tree, our family. We missed the snow, the food and the familiarity. All seemed so strange, so foreign despite our best efforts to make it like it always had been. We couldn't have our family under one roof anymore, a thing I admit I took for granted. We loved our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Christmas didn't quite feel like Christmas without them. We did endure it, and don't be mistaken we shared plenty of smiles and laughter that day.

Fortune gifted me one last normal Christmas. The year after my first Christmas away my family returned to our home and we had a wonderful memorable Christmas together. One I shall treasure for all my days. However the new normal that is my life resumed the following year, that is this past year.

I ventured out on my own, as a 19 year old I faced the world alone and moved my life back to South East Asia, this time, without any family. I swore to spend my holidays celebrating with the locals. I am a strong believer in immersion being the best method of adaptation to a new world. I took upon myself the traditions of my local friends and enjoyed them very much. It was a wonderful holiday full of food and gifts and laughter. Again however the food was strange to me, the traditions as foreign as the language. Despite my best efforts to feel normal, this was the saddest Christmas I have ever had. The days leading up to the Big Day, I spend several hours on Skype with my parents and siblings. Each call ended in me weeping. It felt very much like I had no Christmas at all. I do not blame my wonderful friends, they tried so very hard to include me and invite me to teach them my own traditions, but without all the things I had grown to love, the familiar things, Christmas simply didn't feel the same. Tears stained my pillow each night as the Holiday season went by.

Now I am back in my home country. However my family will still not spend the holidays together. My parent and a majority of my siblings are in South East Asia again and we will spend these precious days apart. In all honesty, I feel a great deal of sadness that my once familiar Holidays seem to be gone forever. I am fortunate enough to be able to celebrate them as I always have, but a huge part of the preciousness of this season lives 9,000 miles away.

Now to the point I wish to make. This is not to gain pity or even to challenge you to be thankful. (however I do hope  you are thankful)

This is a call to pray! To encourage! All over the world today there are Christian brothers and sisters, spending this holiday season on foreign soil. Dreaming of white Christmas', missing family, and  shedding tears over traditions lost. Don't forget them. Say an extra prayer. Ask our Lord to send them a special allotment of joy this season! But you can do even more. Get on Facebook send them a message, email them. Make an effort tell them you are thinking of them, tell them you miss them, tell them they are loved. Don't let them spend this time feeling abandon or forgotten. Remind them of how proud you are of them for venturing so far to answer a call. Pray and encourage! That is what the Holidays should be about, coming closer to God and spreading joy!

Christmas 2013
(I realize my camera date stamp is incorrect)