5-14pm
~Christmas Day 2012. What a lovely day it has been. I got up early, just after 5am and did a few things. By 6-30am, I was back in bed drinking delicious coffee with Mike. Soon after, I got Granny up and bathed and asked her if she would like to go to church. It is tough for her to go to church. People speak to her and she can’t talk to them. She sits in the wheelchair and can’t stand when others do. She gets a bit stiff and sometimes dozes off, so church is for special occasions… like Christmas. So off we went and she enjoyed it very much. This is a panoramic of church this morning….the middle’s a bit blurry, but it gives you an idea of how full the church was…
We made our Christmas Fruit tree…here’s how it turned out…
After the service, we came home and had tea, mince pies and Zoppis biscotti and opened our Christmas presents. It was a lot of fun. Then we spent an hour finishing lunch and at 1pm we all sat down for a Christmas feast of note. I’m glad to say there’s lots leftover for tomorrow! 🙂 Before dessert, we skyped with Adrian & Stacey…
I’m so happy, they’re so happy! They are loving Cambodia and dished out the mince pies to the staff with much approval. The staff have warmed to them. They have certainly set themselves apart in Phnom Penh, connecting with the locals and forging unexpected acquaintances, supporting the locals and expecting nothing in return (except with their regular tuk-tuk driver – they want a safe trip!)! Every time Stacey tells me how happy she is, my heart warms…that’s all I need to hear! One of the people they see on a daily basis is the waitress at the local restaurant where they have breakfast. She likes to practice her English on them. She also showed them their names in the Cambodian language which is actually Khmer…
A whole bunch of squiggles. Isn’t it interesting that the world is so varied? They don’t officially celebrate Christmas in Cambodia. They only really do it for the Westerners, so there was no public holiday for today.
And so we have whiled away a lazy, hot Christmas day afternoon. Once the temperature cools and the beach-goers start going home, we will trundle down to the beach again. Last night, after I had put Granny to bed, we took ourselves off to Fish Hoek Beach, which was nothing less than spectacular. This is my favourite photo of the day…
That’s Mike walking towards me! Love it! The seagulls were out in full force…
This was a panoramic of False Bay… 
  Psalm 121:1-2 “I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
Christmas Day would not be, if it were not for Jesus. He defines the importance of today. He changed my life. I live for Him. I love you, Jesus.
To God be the glory for all He has done!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂