Last Christmas

Looking back at past Christmases, I realized that I've always been depressed at this year-end season. A few years back I was depressed because I was single and had to face the holiday season alone. Then I was no longer single and Christmas meant spending time with my loved ones and I even went to the U.S. for Christmas but I was still depressed... haha. And this year, the year-end season is almost coming to a close!

So what's the big deal since feeling sad each year happens to be just a recurring matter? Looking forward towards 2011 and a Brand New Year!

But first, let me reminisce about Christmas two years ago. Nothing feels better than spending Christmas in a western country. My dream is to spend one of my Christmases in the future in a Scandinavian countryside with a white blanket of snow on the landscape and we are in a log cabin huddling by the fireside and drinking hot chocolate. But my dear hubby thinks it's too cold. In 2008, we were in Chandler, Arizona, for Christmas, which meant no white Christmas that year. We went shopping in the daytime and had a Korean dinner (how ironic that I'm spending Christmas in Korea this year) and at night we used the GPS to find Christmas lights in the neighborhood.

We stood in this front lawn decked out with Christmas lights and cartoon characters, treading carefully to avoid stepping on any of the lights and possibly getting electrocuted!~ It was really really kua cheong, the light displays... This year in Korea we were supposed to go and see Christmas lights at Kosin University but seems that they cancelled it due to the Yongpyong-do attacks and changed it to Nampodong instead.

This lawn had a Candyland theme something like Katy Perry's "California Gurl's" MV. Lollipop island.

And of course not forgetting the ubiquitous Arizona Christmas seguaro.

Then we went to church for the Christmas service. I wanted to see the live Nativity scene! But we were late so we only managed to catch the last of it...

Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus finishing the live Nativity scene...

They even had a real lamb and donkey for people to touch and the little girls were so cute and old-fashioned, decked out in their Christmas wear!

In the church...

Each of us lit and held candles during the Christmas service

And this year I learned the significance of the light from the candle, which symbolizes Jesus as the light of the world. From John Chapter 1 in the Bible:

" ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. "