Well life has been carrying on here in Cambridge. We don't have any more information about Mark's cancer, but we're pring that the father would be merciful and compassionate to his servant- we know from the bbl that Gd is that sort of person who delights in mercy and compassion. But we also know that we live in an imperfect world, and that Gd allows suffering and hardship in this world, which refine us and make us more dependent on him. Keep pring for Mark and his wife Fiona, that they'd experience Gd's mercy and gracious favor.
I spent the day today at StAG, our ch here in Cambridge. Every year there's a big Christmas lunch at StAG for people who don't have a family here to go to. That means we'll have a TON of internationals, and a few people like us who are away from home. It's a great time to tell people about the reason that we celebrate Christmas. Fiona is an expert cook, and she makes a "proper Christmas dinner" every year for about 100 people. She cooks for all sorts of things the ch has, 70-100 people each time. She's amazing. :) Anyway I helped chop potatoes, carrots, and parsnips, all of which will be roasted. I also helped roll 100 pieces of bacon into individual rolls, and put 100 sausages into pans to be cooked. And I helped mix the ground pork sausage into the stuffing. We're having 4 giant turkeys tomorrow, along with traditional English Christmas puddings. I will take some photos and post them to give you an idea. :) So I went to help chop and prepare, and as always I was blessed by serving and chatting with people as we chopped. Serving is the best way to meet people in a ch, and to be part of the heart of the ch family. After the food stuff I helped one of the international workers to decorate various things in the church, and set up for the event tomorrow. I've never had such a busy Christmas Eve before- usually we go to the Christmas eve svc at our ch in Ann Arbor, but here there are no services on Christmas Eve, just on Christmas Day. Tomorrow the service is at 10am, and since I'm serving by singing in the little band for tomorrow I have to be there at 8:30am! Gack! It's a long day tomorrow- we're on Team 1 of the service team for the day, which means we'll be helping to serve the meal, and cleaning up after it, as well as setting up the space for the food. The lunch should be done around 3 and to quote a British phrase "we'll be well and truly knackered" (worn out) by then. :)
We are off to have dinner with our Polish friend, and learn about Polish Christmas traditions along with some of our iBASE friends who stayed in town for Christmas. I'll let you know how that goes. :)
Happy Christmas from Cambridge!
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