[Christmas Week]
[2012-12-26] @ [10:47 a.m.]
My body hurts. Maybe not like a few people I know that have constant pain. But my back has been hurting for the past couple of days. I've been running around the past week trying to get last-minute gifts. I had to lead worship on Sunday morning the 23rd. Then my family and I went to sing at a Spanish church at 12:00pm and then at an English church at 5:00pm the same day. I still haven't caught up on sleep to let my body rest.Christmas Eve my parents were out of the house for almost 8 hours. My mom left some chicken out to cook for dinner, but by 8 o'clock I knew she wouldn't have time to cook it. So I cooked Christmas dinner. I made grilled chicken with baked potatoes, a salad and avocado. I cooked Thanksgiving dinner, and I cooked Christmas eve dinner. I'm very proud of myself. The truth is I've been getting a little more cooking practice spending time with my bf. Sometimes we would go to his house and cook up chicken or salmon and veggies and have some wine. At the beginning of our dating we went out to eat a lot. Now we both want him to save money, so we eat at his house.
Christmas Day the family slept in, and when we woke up we decided to do a special mission. My dad gets last minute gift ideas every Christmas. The past few years we bought gifts for our family friends. One family had 6 kids, another had 3 boys, and another had 2 kids. So we bought each one a special gift that we thought they would enjoy, depending on their style and personality. The kids in those families are in their late teens and 20's now, and most of them have moved out. So this year, we bought gifts for my oldest cousin's children. My 2nd cousins, or my nephew and 3 nieces as we say in Chile.
My youngest nephew, Patrick, got hurt on Christmas Eve sliding down a 4-by-4. A stick went through his stomach about 4 inches. Luckily it didn't puncture his lung. But it did go through his abdomen, so they are in the hospital. They did surgery on him and removed the stick. So we planned on visiting him in the hospital. We went to one of the only stores opened on Christmas Day: CVS. Walmart wasn't even opened, which is nice for all the employees to have a day off. My dad hated the prices, but we still got them gifts. My nephew has 3 older sisters, so we got them gifts too. It was nice that he was at a hospital close by to us. We stopped by and spend time with him and his parents. He was so excited to get a remote control car. He wanted to play with it down the hall. It was so nice to see his face and to see how tall he was getting. And it was nice that he was talking to us. When he was younger he didn't like to talk much. He would hide from the adults, especially me. Now we were laughing and talking about different things, and throwing around the teddy bear while his parents were talking to my parents. I'm glad he is ok.
Working with kids for the past 6 months or so has given me a better connection with them. It's nice to know that they feel free to talk with me about things that are worrying them in their life, and that they are still able to talk and laugh. They give me another perspective on life, on how they see things. That's why I want to work with children. Or just to help people in the hospitals. I just love to see their faces change and see their hearts light up when I can do something to help. I wanted to look in every room in the hospital and say hello to every patient there. I know that a smile and touch and compassion can bring so much hope to someone that feels afraid.
~ silverluna