Christmas Icon at my new church.
*
It was great to be with Mr. Husband
at church for Christmas.
*
I was thinking a lot of my church in Ottawa
as this is my first Christmas in seven of my 8.5 years
as an Orthodox Christian
that I am not there with them.
*
It was still a beautiful Christmas
but I was also aware of feeling off-cue.
No Holy Supper.
No Compline at my Ottawa church.
Different traditions, songs and melodies.
*
I was not sad per say
as I had determined to look beyond myself
and there are so many things to be thankful for
that sadness did not seem an option.
*
Since our main church is over 1 hour drive away
we stayed a hotel to be able to be at
more services.
So that was different too.
And as feared, Mr. Husband got
a really bad cold
and I came down with the same cold
last night.
*
But I am so thankful
for the many things I have been given.
A loving husband.
I still have a good church family
just a different one.
I care about my new friends and their lives
and struggles and I
can't tell you how much that helps.
*
Mr. Husband and I had a nice Christmas.
Even though Mr. Husband was sick
and now I am feeling a bit lousy
we still have so much
wonderfulness.
*
Including a Christmas night meal together
a very nice restaurant
that if you go for the 5 pm sitting
the 3 course meal is half-price.
This gladdens our Dutch hearts :)
*
We had yummy salad.
I forgot to take a photo of the main course!
It was yummy green beans
mashed potatoes
and chicken
with Jus.
Really nice.
And no dishes to wash!
I finally had yummy cream
for black tea
to go with this wonderful
raisin strudel :)
we enjoyed some treats
as we opened our gifts.
I like the candied nuts!
My cold was in full swing sadly
by this time
but even this can be seen as a blessing
as I go late next week God-willing
to Ottawa
and hopefully
my cold will be gone by then
so better to get it now than right before the flight...
Mr. Husband's favourite gift
was a first edition of
Tolkien's
letters to father Christmas
that I learned about through Anna's blog
last month!
We were also given some lovely
food and other gifts
from friends
that were a joy to open!
