CHRISTMAS IN OCTOBER — free as the sky

Anticipation is killing me, not literally but figuratively tenderly. This is the most anticipated event of the year. Our adult children and their spouses (all six of them) will be raining down in Kuala Lumpur in less than four days. I will be pinching myself the whole time leading up to the very moment of seeing their actual faces with my eyes. My memory takes me back to when Hannah served in Indonesia for a season and Michael taught English in Korea after college. We decided to converge and spend time in Thailand for a few days after having flown in from three different countries. I vividly remember when Elizabeth and Hannah (my two princesses) met for the first time in months in the arrival terminal at the airport in Bangkok. They spotted each other from afar, ran towards each other while screaming and jumping up and down with no care of the world around them, and finally embraced each other. The sheer ecstasy of the shared joy was forever seared in my heart. One more thing: Hannah was in Japan with YWAM for months after high school. I had a ministry trip planned in Korea, so I decided to swing by to see Hannah. After having spent a glorious couple of days with Hannah in Tokyo, I remember the hard and tearful goodbye.

When you love, you learn to wait. Waiting is not a duty, but a hope-filled tangible expression of love. The ability to wait arises from deep longing which shares the same deep and ancient well of love. Loving is longing even when someone(s) is right in front of you. Love believes and hopes to create more longing for intimacy. Love holds the generous space for becoming, both for the loving and the loved.

I have been studying, “taking notes,” and imagining what to do and where to take our family. All of my culinary excursions are about to culminate when all eight of us roam the streets of KL, from the hole-in-the-wall to Michelin-star restaurants. We will explore the world cuisine represented in KL from the Malay, Indian Muslim, Hindu, Japanese, Chinese (various regions), Korean, Syrian, etc. We have rented an Airbnb, which is big enough for privacy and group play. I hope they get to experience a few of my favorites, to witness a lightning and thunder show with an awe-inducing downpour spectacle. I hope they get to see the charm of the city and the kindness of diverse peoples in this land. I hope they get to see firsthand how Mom and Dad are doing, still discerning and traveling on the pilgrim journey with all the joys and challenges.

We are planning to drive up to Penang Island, another foodie heaven with its regional touch and flare, not to mention the UNESCO heritage section of the city center in George Town and the National Park beaches swarming with turtles and monkeys. Not terribly excited to see the monkeys but turtles, yes. This will be the first time where all eight of us will be in the same car, traveling together. The three-to-four-hour drive will bond us even further, I am sure. It was here in Penang last year where I had five intermittent dishes (I’ve done some intermittent fasting and I have also done many intermittent feasting), all starting after 3 pm! My wife was in shock and disbelief at the time and still is. I have proof, a picture of my wife watching me devour one after another while crossing her arms, expressionless.

Since we won’t be home in the US for Christmas, we decided to celebrate Christmas in October. We have drawn Secret Santa gift exchange names. Since we will be spending eight nights, we decided to celebrate each of our birthdays every day or night. Every day, there will be a celebration for each person and the family together. Joy is a heavenly gift emotion when someone is simply happy to be with you. I earnestly pray that we will experience heaven’s gift of joy. And because joy is a shared emotion, joy further believes, hopes, and ushers in strength, creating an ever-expanding ripple of joy to others. Joy builds strength and interior muscles to believe and hope for more, touching others around us. I yearn for that to be more of a reality. Joy is not meant to be a crumb or an afterthought. Joy is felt and shared when we realize God is happy to be with us.