Happy New Year!

Well, we rang in the New Year in a very unique way this year...yes, we were in bed at midnight, but the activities leading up to that were unique and memorable.

While we were in the Czech Republic visiting friends, we stayed at the Conference Center where I worked a lot with kids homes when we lived there 7 years ago.  While we were staying at the Center this holiday season, our friends were running a Winter Camp for some of the kids homes in the area.  It was a lot of fun to work with the kids and share a little bit about life in Egypt.  The kids got to experience the Christmas story, open gifts and to celebrate the New Year as well.

To celebrate the New Year, pairs of kids got a Chinese Lantern where they could write down their wishes and hopes for the coming year.  Once they were finished, the lanterns were lit and sent off into the sky.  As a family, we also filled out a Chinese Lantern where we listed our wishes, hopes and prayers for the New Year.  It was a great experience to do that with our kids (their wishes were small, like Lego) and they mostly drew pictures and scribbles.  As we lit that lantern and sent it off into the sky, it was like we were letting go of everything that we try to control in our life and sent it off to the heavens to be taken into consideration. 

Now we are back in Egypt and getting ready for a new beginning to teaching and learning.  We are happy to be back in Egypt...it is warm and sunny.   Almost everyday that we spent away in Europe was cloudy, rainy, snowy, and foggy.  I missed the sunshine of Egypt that we get to experience everyday.  The warmer climate is also a HUGE plus.  It was nice to walk around in a light sweater yesterday instead of multiple layers with a scarf, hat and mitts.

Our family lantern.  You can see our hopes and wishes written on the lantern.

Everyone getting their lanterns lit.

While this picture is a little blurry, you can see the lanterns floating away in the sky.

So, my question for you is, what would you have written on your Chinese Lantern?  What are your wishes, hopes and prayers?  Something to consider as we begin the New Year!