Feelings of Christmas

http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/watch/christmas-devotional/2012/12?lang=eng&vid=2006503978001 Since I don't know how to properly hyperlink, if you'd like to listen to this, just copy/past the link--it's the recent "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Perhaps it's because this choir is a constant for me--Mom played their records every Christmas, so I heard them, I'm sure, even in the womb--,but, nothing evokes the Spirit of Christmas more quickly than their music. The next thing that gets me feeling gleeful for Christmas is my son's arrival, 3 days from now! He's the one laughing in the front.

Who knew we'd ever be spending Christmas together in Korea? Then, of course, there's the fact that I'm teaching English to Korean kids and talking about the season continually. I asked a friend to purchase and ship about 240 little candy canes to me from America. They're a huge hit! Most American kids might toss 'em out, or just give some grunt of acknowledgement for the paltry little things. But everyone here adores them--far more than the candy corn I sent for. Too bad. So much for the title of my blog.

But, the students themselves, the way I feel about them, light the spirit of Christmas in me every day. Since the concept of Christmas is a fairly remote one to these kids, centered on"what I want to get" for Christmas, we've been chatting about the origins of Christmas and coloring some stuff I sketched and wrote up for traditional Christmas carols, on top of our regular lesson plans. I gave the kids free reign in color choices, and here are a few of my favorites so far:

This more traditional treatment of Mary and the baby Jesus (although the blond hair is a little retro, reminiscent of the 1960's religious interpretations)...

...verses, Mary with a red veil and blue hair, holding red-haired baby Jesus, wrapped in green swaddling clothes. While we reviewed grammar concepts and lesson plans, they also colored mother and child, including their hair, skin and clothes, in bright red, blue, purple, yellow, orange, brown and black. The interpretations of Rudolph varied from shades of brown, white or black to exotic techni-colors and cow prints. Plain ole' lyrics to Jingle Bells were substantially spruced up:

Santa's suit, face, and beard were embellished with every imaginable color--yellow, blue, black, brown, pink, red, orange....

And rainbow!

The middle-school boys, who've driven me right up to that proverbial edge, have kept me laughing more often than reprimanding lately; and THEY have been the most creative. From tender and subtle coloring (the traditional Mary above was colored in by one of them) to outrageous, they warm my heart this season and remind me of the joys of raising a son!

Have a holly jolly week, despite the disappointments and horrors out there; because "a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken"(Proverbs 15:13).