Sweet December

The noodle dish we had for dinner

Yesterday the doctor from Burma’s wife invited me to go to the Sweet December celebration with them. I had never heard of Sweet December before, but they explained it is the kickoff of December and celebrating Christmas. Kind of like our day after Thanksgiving sales kick off shopping, however, it has a more Christian sentiment. They told me not to eat because we would eat there and that there would be all kinds of things Thai and Karen to buy and help support the church and the things they outreaches would do for Christmas.

the bible institute performing

So, with money in my purse and my camera in hand I met them at 6 at their house and we headed over to the church. We had a noodle dish for supper, and then I went around to all of the stands and bought the different things. Many of them I had had before in Chiang Rai, but there were several that were Karen/Burmese that I had for the first time. Some of my students were at several of the stands, so I was happy to support them in their endeavors. They also had someone from the church who owns a shop that was selling Christmas decorations. I got 4 strands of garland for about 85 cents each, and two strings of lights for $1 each, and a cute little headband with a Christmas hat on it for $1. Altogether it was just over $6 and I’ll have a good start at decorating my house, plus help out the church. Everyone wins J

another group performing

Around 7 we found some seats and watched as a group from the hospital sang some Christmas songs in Thai to kick off the night. They were followed by group after group that presented a song or two. Most groups came up several time over the next few hours. The students that I taught at the bible institute were there, and they had several things they did, they sang a few songs, and did several skits. One brought tears to my eyes as it was a depiction of sin and how it separates us from God. The students from the bible institute were all wearing shirts that in Thai said Jesus (heart) Me on the front and Jesus (heart) You on the back. I thought they were so cool and turns out they were selling the shirts for $5, so I bought one as a Christmas present to me.

one of the skits by the bible institute students

We watched for about two hours, and I walked around and bought some more things as I had eaten the ones I bought as I was watching the show. We left a little after 9, and as they dropped me off at my house, we wished each other a

Happy Sweet December, Christmas is Coming.