Perfectly Wrong Christmas

 

FAT Group Christmas party

 

So excited to get a bike playing "dirty Santa" 

 

Crazy games at a kids' Christmas party in Calabuanan 

 

A sweet performance they put together for the party

 

This little diva didn't want to leave my side during the party

 

Kathleen won the game for "who knows the most Bible verses". Talk about a proud moment :) 

 

We were also invited to the youth party. They were challenged to share the message of Jesus. 

 

One light lit many others; just as they can when they share the Good News 

 

Christmas Day waves

 

Tropical tree

 

Our sweet friends and neighbors who we celebrated with 

The title of this post and the pictures that follow don't seem to match up. I mean, the pictures look happy and fun. What could've been so wrong? Well nothing really, except my perception. Sometimes I think holidays are a missionary's worst enemy. But the aftermath, in my experience, is usually growth and beautiful refinement. I remember the days leading up to Christmas last year being so hard. It was our first Christmas together but our first Christmas away from home and family. I struggled a lot. But the 24th and 25th were truly enjoyable and I was able to celebrate the birth of King Jesus. This year was different. The days leading up to this most wonderful holiday were so good for Josh and me. They were full of peace, joy, and anticipation. They were full of parties and a vacation. And then came Christmas Eve with all of its woes. Nothing really bad actually happened (except I stepped on an old rusty tack that cut my pregnant foot), but in my head so many things were wrong. We spent the morning skyping some of our family members, which was special, but left me sitting on our bed crying. I really miss them and miss the traditions from home. I just felt lonely; like we're on the other side of the world missing out somehow. Missing out on cold weather and grandparents' cooking, family time and Christmas breakfast, blah blah blah. I forgot to recognize that even if we were in the States Christmas would be different than I ever remembered, now that we're married. But I couldn't see any farther than my own misery. We got out of the house for a while- bought some things to give to our neighbors for Christmas and some stocking stuffers for the two of us- and went to 'simbang gabi', a church service for Christmas Eve. Though both of those outings were enjoyable, when we got back home I found myself in the same sad state.
But God..(two of the most beautiful words in the Bible)..but God didn't allow me to steal His worship on such a holiday. He didn't leave me in my pitiful state. Sure, I spent the first part of the night crying. Crying out to God and crying to my husband about the things I missed. But as the words left my lips, a miracle happened. The Lord took all of those selfish things. I began to be thankful for Josh and the two Christmases we've spent together in this foreign land that really isn't so foreign anymore. I became thankful for the traditions here that not many Americans get to experience. I grew so thankful for the friends who invited us to their family's 'noche buena' (Christmas Eve midnight celebration). And suddenly the cold and biscuits for breakfast became less important; less desirable even. Of course we still missed our families, but we praised God for them and for the family He's given us here. And out of the praise in our hearts for Him, we celebrated. I felt joy. I felt gladness. I felt peace. And the 25th was better than I deserved. We slept in and we prayed together and read the Christmas story. We listened to a poem from the innkeeper's perspective of Jesus being born. It really brought new perspective to the already magnificent birth. (By the way, I could write an entirely different blog about the emotions and reflections that I've experienced this Christmas season as a pregnant mother awaiting her child's birth. Whew.) We went to lunch on the beach with our neighbors and friends. We opened gifts my mom had sent us and we cooked breakfast for supper and played monopoly until bedtime. And in the midst of all of that we were able to reflect upon and savor a righteous King who entered this world by the most humble of births to redeem His people. Hallelujah. I can't imagine how 'perfectly wrong' that first Christmas must have been for Mary and Joseph, for the innkeeper, for the Isrealites. Praise God He enters into our messy lives and makes all things new. I am humbled by the blessing of my perfectly wrong Christmas.

Babymooning

Last week Josh and I decided to take a Christmas vacation/babymoon to Baguio City. We had to go back to Manila to pick up our visas so we decided to go to Baguio a few days beforehand and travel through Manila on our way home. Some of you may remember a trip we took to Baguio earlier this year in January for a conference. We really enjoyed the weather and scenery there and have been dreaming of going back ever since. We were so thankful for this opportunity. We prayed that God would use the time to strengthen our marriage, renew us for further ministry here, and prepare us for our new little addition in a couple of months. 

 

Baguio City is literally a city built into the mountains. The landscape and weather is completely different from the tropic region that we live in. It's hard to believe you're still in the Philippines! The cool mountain air is so refreshing and reminds me of vacations with my family growing up. I may live on the beach now, but I think I'm a mountain girl at heart. 

 The smell of the pine needles was one of our favorite things about the seminary where we stayed.

 

We stayed outside as much as possible, taking in the fresh cool air. This is Wright Park.

 

My pregnant self actually climbed these stairs to get to the park! 

 

But it was beautiful at the top...sadly our photographer didn't capture much :) 

 

We went to 'The Mansion' where many US governors spent summers years ago. It's now the Philippine President's summer home. 

 

We walked through Woodcarver's Village and saw some beautiful, intricate pieces. We even snagged a few things to bring home with us. 

 

More wood carvings at Mine's View Park..haha the workers really wanted us to get a picture in these tribal hats. 

 

The endless fields of strawberries... yum. This is one fruit we never get in Aurora so they were quite a treat. 

 

We went to the Philippine Military Academy. It's kind of like visiting West Point in the States. 

 

Can you see how excited I was about the military academy and my awesome badge?? haha

We spent our last night at the famous Burnham Park. 

 

We took a nice walk around the park's lake..  

And enjoyed some Christmas lights.. 

 

And a lighted water show. 

 

We even made friends with a couple of carolers in the park. Many children would come up and start singing, expecting money in return. This happens in Aurora, too. After attempting to sing about 5 songs, including the 10 minute long 12 Days of Christmas, we sent them on their way with handfuls of strawberries :) 

Not pictured, we saw the movie The Hobbit and during a perfectly wrong time in the movie (I won't mention for those of you die-hard fans who haven't seen it yet) the entire theater shook with a 4.9 earthquake! So we didn't actually see the last 15 minutes or so of the movie because we left the building. No harm was caused by the quake, though. 

The trip was so much fun. Josh and I really enjoyed our time with each other, knowing it will be our last trip with only the 2 of us. It even seemed to really put us in the Christmas spirit! We're thankful for this slower time of year and that we could get away for a while. 

As for the visas we planned to pick up, they still weren't ready. We have been approved, but they aren't finalized. So thank you for your prayers in that area and please continue to pray. It would be really helpful to have them finished before I become too pregnant to travel. 

It's Christmas Eve here, so Merry Christmas to all of you! What a humbling and joyful holiday that we as Christians get to celebrate. May your worship of our King be holy and pleasing to Him. 

Love, the Borens

Blade the Beard

A few months ago some of the girls who live near us asked Josh to shave his beard. I don't know how many of you have seen pictures of Josh lately, but he's got a pretty rockin' beard (if you're in to beards). However, beards are kind of strange in Aurora. Filipinos are not very hairy people and they don't really grow beards. Josh even got asked if he was Muslim, simply because of his facial hair. Nonetheless, these girls are very special to us and we have really enjoyed teaching them and their siblings about Jesus this year. These three girls have particularly seemed very attentive to our stories and have worked hard to memorize several Bible verses. They asked "Kuya Josh" again and again to 'blade' his beard. He finally succumbed and make a deal that if one of them memorized TWELVE verses from our stories together, he would shave. Well, they did it! The first picture is a 'before' picture with Kathleen (and Dustin). In the video below, meet Jan Roma. She's brilliant. And precious. And she won the race to learn 12 verses! She was so proud of herself and so excited for Josh to shave. I couldn't be happier that we caught this moment on video. Enjoy :)

Holly Baptist Church

 

A group of 7 from my church in Corinth, Holly Baptist, came to visit us! The above picture is their first morning here before we went to church. 

Pictures are a lot more fun than reading, so see their week below :)

 

We packed groceries for families we planned to visit throughout the week. 

 

LOTS of groceries! 

  

We spent time praying over each day with a group of local believers. 

 

They loved riding on top of the Jeepney! 

 

We got to share views like this with them. 

 

I got to reunite with some women I visited several months ago.

 

We taught Bible stories in some elementary schools. 

 

We taught about Jesus and the lame man, Daniel in the lions' den, Zacheus, and God's plan of salvation.

 

 

We did lots of crafts. 

 

Both inside and out. 

 

We sang songs. 

 

As you can see...the kids loved it! 

 

We had the help of some great translators! 

 

They sang Amazing Grace for a group of families. 

 

And shared scripture to encourage them. 

 

"Pastor John" was able to connect with and train some of the local pastors. 

And aside from ministry...

 

We took them to see the largest balete tree in SE Asia! 

 

They learned to love the game of fast scrabble! 

 

We had a nice and tight ride in the Jeepney...all 22 of us...and it only broke down 3 times :) 

 

We got to share the beautiful falls with them on our day off. 

 

We even had a spa. 

 

Hammock time 

 

Ruben took the group up to the highest point. 

 

So refreshing on a hot day. 

 

Creighton, Mrs. Jessica, and Chassey

  

Turkeys are hard to come by here, so we opted for a whole pig instead :) 

 

To go with this DELICIOUS Thanksgiving food. I can't tell you what a blessing this was to our Mississippi taste buds :)

 

 

We pretended we were at the Egg Bowl on our lunch break. Go Dawgs! 

 

And we had a Filipino potluck on their last night. Looks a little different than our Thanksgiving food, right? 

 

 

We were humbled and blessed by so many of you who sent gifts for our sweet boy. Thank you!! 

 The week with our friends from home was incredibly encouraging to us. Thank you guys for coming. Thanks to everyone who supported them financially or through prayer. Thanks to their families for sharing them with us over the holiday. 

The ministry here was spurred on by the work of the team and we pray they all went home forever changed as well. 

And for anyone else thinking about coming for a visit, the doors are always open!