1 – As I think about my childhood in America, I think about Mario, Megaman, Link, and the entire cast of Nintendo characters.  If this was a part of your childhood, you might like this “Super Mario Bros. Crossover” game.  Enjoy!

2 – America, as we know, is a nation of immigrants.  Here’s a great article from the NYT on how immigration has changed over the last 100 years.  Five differences emerge: (1) it’s global – everybody is going everywhere; (2) the money – last year migrants sent home $317 billion, propping up dozens of national economies; (3) immigration is no long a boys game – nearly half of immigrants are now women; (4) technology – webcams and satellite TV – connects immigrants to their homelands like never before; (5) the expectation of government control – establishing controls that were not even imaginable 100 years ago.

3 – Finally, a patriotic pic from our celebration on the 4th:

Friday: at the zoo; fun, but – as you can see – tiring

Saturday morning: Egg dying time!

Saturday night: party time (a reception for Heather – Kristin’s sister – and Ed, who were married in October)!

Sunday morning: Easter; Emma stands guard over the eggs.

The Dinner Table: set with care, friends gather there.

Brett somehow always ends up at the kiddie table (seems right).

Sofia playing with a friend…

and chasing a ball with another.

All tuckered out – but still won’t loosen her grip on that airplane toy!

Christmas morning

Sofia was in the giving mood, giving this new bib to Emma.

Kristin and Emma

Sofia playing with Ellie later in the evening

For our refugee friends here in Athens, however, such celebrations are often difficult reminders of the lives that they have left behind: the houses they abandoned; the possessions they sold; the family and friends that they haven’t seen in months, or even years.  For these refugees, Christmas is often a season of loneliness and desperation.

Reflecting on these two quite different experiences of Christmas, there is little question that Jesus can readily identify with the refugee experience.   Fleeing the tyranny of King Herod, Joseph and Mary traveled to Egypt with the infant Jesus as refugees, leaving behind the lives they knew in ancient Palestine (Mat. 2:13ff).

Although often overlooked, this reality (i.e. Jesus as refugee) perfectly illustrates the hope of Christmas.  As the Word-of-God-in-flesh, Jesus is indeed unique in all of history, but He was also fully human.  He knows the power of temptation, yet defeated it (Heb. 4:15).  Jesus experienced the agony and despair of suffering, and yet withstood it for our sake (Heb. 2:9, 10, 18). Since Jesus so intimately knows our pains and temptations, He offers us strength: “Draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). This is the grace of God for us in Christ Jesus.  This is the hope of Christmas.

A few friends

A magician with a Christmas message

An Afghan family

A Korean choir even sang one evening!

Kate, Vicki, and Kenn (L to R) cooking up something good.

Kristin showing it off in the 9th month

A room full of post-turkey lethargy

Sofia after a recent finger-painting incident

Looking for fish in Nafplio

The impressive theater in Epidavros (amazing acoustics)

Kristin getting her hair done at the ancient ruins around Epidavros.

In Portoheli (you can see the excitement on Sofia’s face!)

Sofia in her pig-tails

Hiding in the cabinets

Kristin at the beach

Sofia looking cool