Christmas Eve Overlooking Jesus' Hometown!

Last week our apartment flooded... I mean, really flooded. It basically was a monsoon and our upstairs balconies filled up with water (because the drains were clogged with debris) which spilled into our rooms, and seeped through our walls and down into our living room soaking into our shag carpet (and luckily missing our bedroom). So for the past week it's been a battle trying to get our apartment to feel like home. We used up all our towels drying things, and because we don't have a dryer, we had to hang dry them... except our apartment was humid... so they weren't drying. Then there was mold, and we had to do laundry at friends' houses.

But our apartment doesn't heat very well. and so we've been so cold, and wet, like living in a cave. And I've been laying in bed at night all tensed up... 

Finally on Friday we had a semi warm-ish dry-ish day, so we opened up the windows and sliding doors, and got out the bleach and cleaned everything. And then we bought this baby:

It's not a real fire... But this thing heats up the room like a charm, and fast too! Mainly, it made us feel warm and cozy. I never thought I would appreciate a fake fire. We put it in our bedroom and I slept like a baby (finally!). 

So this Christmas Eve Day, we started off eating our breakfast and tea in front of the "fire". That was the nicest thing we have done at home in weeks!

Then we finished wrapping all our presents. I didn't have all the ribbons and bows as I usually do, so I made tissue paper flowers and made ribbon out of the wrapping paper.

Look at the poinsettia coasters my mom-in-law, Sharon, made for us! We put them in the photo to make it look pretty.

And we headed out to the old city to do some last-minute Christmas shopping because nothing else was open since it's Shabbat. But it was so fun going there on Christmas Eve because they have a Christmas market there, and I really had no idea what to expect. 

I had to chuckle at the tourists on segues.

On the way to the Old City, we saw a huge group of soldiers walking

We tried a traditional Arabic hot winter drink called "Sahlab," which is made from rose water, milk, and starch (making it super thick). They add crushed walnuts, coconut, and cinnamon. It reminds me of eggnog.

Jaffa Gate

Christmas Market (a lot of shops closed for Shabbat)

Finally a selfie for you guys. ;) Looking at the Old City. It's only cloudy in Jerusalem for a short time, so this overcast sky is great!

Then we headed home so a quick bite to eat and were picked up by our friends Tom and Rachel and headed to Ramat Rahel hills overlooking Bethlehem for some evening caroling. It was seriously magical. I was singing about Christs birth while looking at the city in which he was born. It became so real to me. Plus, I got to sing on mic with Becky and Ann Hilsden, which made my evening even more special (reminded me of singing with my sisters back in the day). As it got dark, we saw one star above the city... which may not have been "the star" that the magi followed, but it still was insanely special for me. I'm not much of a romantic, but I was able to take a moment and acknowledge how glad I am that Jesus was born on earth. I could have cried with warm fuzzies. His life on Earth--His sacrifice--is the source of all my joy. I could not be more happy that He existed as a human. Because of Him, I can live free of guilt or shame or regret. Boy am I happy that He came to Earth. *sigh* I am filled with Christmas spirit more than ever before! Haha. Here are the pictures:

a lot of rocks and pine. ;)

Look at the star! This is overlooking Bethlehem!

Friends by the fire.

Dustin took this amazing photo

Singing buddy, Becky

Our friend Carl.

Me and Rachael. I love her awesome new hairdo!

You can see a star in this photo.

Don't we blend well? haha

Singing buddy, Ann.

Merry Christmas from Bethlehem!

Tomorrow we are going to have dinner with our friends, Daniel and Jalene and open all the gifts! I'm so excited.

This Christmas Eve was truly amazing. And we are so blessed to be able to celebrate with friends we truly love. But we definitely long for our family this holiday season. In the Old Testament, basically every celebration God instituted was a family affair, and we know that loving our fellow human is a way of loving our God. What better way to celebrate His birthday than to express our love through giving gifts to our friends and families? Once again, we were reminded that it's not about where you are or what you do, but who you're with. 

... I do suggest coming to Bethlehem to celebrate Jesus's birth (or in Hebrew, Yeshua) where He was born at least once in your life. There is nothing quite like it!