The Roberts in Korea

Christmas in India

We spent an amazing Christmas week in India.  It was a week full of laughter, songs, play, hugs, fun and love.  Even though there was no snow, no stacks of presents and there were no Christmas goodies, Christmas with the kids at the Beulah home was a rich time.  Just as the angel said so long ago, in the Christ of Christmas there is truly hope, peace and life for "all" people.

As time allows there will be more stories and pictures to follow of our India trip.  For now, we are in Singapore--stunned at the beauty and opulence of this place and reeling a bit from the contrast between Singapore and our experience in India.

For us Idaho and Montana natives this "tropical" weather around Christmastime is a strange experience.  The weather in India was hot and dry and the weather here in Singapore is hot and humid.  For the first time ever in her 44 years Dina wore shorts on her birthday.

Here are a few pictures of our time in India.  Blessings to all of our friends and family as you are in the midst of this Christmas and New Year holiday season.  Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.  Please look for more blog posts soon.

Out and About

The delay in blog posts will continue for awhile.  As I write this we are waiting to board a plane to Bangalore, India.  We are going to spend Christmas week with the orphans at the Beulah home.  From there we will spend a few days in Singapore. 

We will be away from the Internet until Dec. 27th.  We wish you all a Merry Christmas and the best gift you could give us this Christmas is your prayers.  Pray that God will be glorified in our lives as we spend time at the orphanage.

Middle School Christmas

Tonight we had the privilege of enjoying a wonderful Middle School Christmas concert.  Sarah is an eighth grader this year and was involved in the concert.  Sarah played the bongo drums along with the middle school orchestra as they played, "Feliz Navidad."  It sounded great!

Later in the program Sarah was both seen and heard singing in the middle school choir as the band played, "O Come All Ye Faithful."  It was a great evening...very "Christmasy" as Elf would say.

We are proud of Sarah. 

 

A Concert Tradition and Memory

Last Thursday we attended the TCIS High School Christmas Concert.  Becca is singing in the high school choir this year.  It was a great concert, but one of the highlights of the night was the late night that we spent after the concert with the Lavender family at a local coffee shop.

The Lavender's have daughter's that are the same age as Becca and Sarah and the kids are fast friends.  Over the past four years we have traditionally gone to concerts and then gone out to a coffee shop with the Lavender family to celebrate the event.  This year was no different.

This year we visited a new coffee shop that featured booths where people sit at floor tables and in tree house like lofts where people can recline in privacy.  Sarah and Cora took a loft, Becca and Hannah took a floor table booth and the adults sat at a boring table with four chairs.

We enjoyed a great time of visiting--so much so that time got away from us and we didn't get home until midnight.  Not a good move on a school night, but oh well... it was a great memory.

Valleyball

Sometimes typos happen.  We have enjoyed many of them here in South Korea.  A month ago Becca ordered a varsity Letterman's jacket.  Last week it came in the mail, it looked great except for the fact that it listed her as playing varsity basketball and varsity valleyball.  It was funny, but Becca was "totally" bummed. (Valley (girl) ball talk)  Needless to say, we sent it back.

A New Tradition Begins

Last week a new tradition began between the TCIS Dragons and its sister school, the GSIS Knights.  Even though the two schools are currently in different leagues, they are playing each other at least one time a year in volleyball, basketball and soccer.  The basketball meeting was last week at GSIS in Suwon, South Korea.

It was a fun time for the students and the staff to share in a time of good spirited rivalry.  TCIS soundly won both the girls' and boys' games, but the competition was grand.  It was amazing to sit in the new, beautiful gym at GSIS and reflect on the fact that the school of over 500 students didn't even exist four years ago.

The story of GSIS is a long and amazing one, but it can be summed up very easily with one look at the picture of the students and players from both schools gathered together at center court at the end of the games...praying. 

Building Lights at Seoul Station

Amazing building lights at Seoul Station.

Christmas Decorations

We are up to two boxes of Christmas Decorations here in South Korea.  Four years ago we left our 13 boxes of Christmas Decorations in Idaho and started over here in South Korea with a three foot tall tree and one strand of lights that had the star attached.  By the time I got the Beach Boys' Christmas album fired up that first year...we were done decorating.

This year we brewed some hot chocolate, cranked up the Beach Boys and enjoyed the moment.  Dina and I used to help two little girls decorate the house for Christmas.  Now, we have two beautiful young women setting up the tree, stringing the lights and hanging the ornaments.  I just try to stay out of the way and take a few pictures to remember the moment.

It is amazing how things change.  It is hard to believe that this is our fourth Christmas in South Korea.  This Christmas I am thankful that in the midst of change, these three things remains the same:  (1) the hope, peace and joy of Christ in our home, (2) the love we share as a family (3) the memory filled, nice, tight Beach Boys' harmonies.

Savoring the moments...

Merry Christmas