Christmas in Florida

I was so happy that I was able to go home to Florida for Christmas this year. It originally looked like I wouldn't be able to go home and would be celebrating with a friend and her family. Due to some last minute changes in my work schedule, I was able to go home for 4 days. It was a quick visit, but it was a great blessing to be able to spend Christmas with my parents.

My flight on Christmas eve was on time and the airport was remarkably calm. To top it off the plane started to descend just as the sun was setting below the clouds. It was so beautiful!

Christmas dinner at my house is not your typical American Christmas dinner. We had bacalhau and passion fruit mousse for dessert. It was fabulous! I'm really not even sure what most Americans eat for Christmas dinner. For special occasions at my house, we typically have Brazilian food (I will get to enjoy more in just a few weeks in Brazil). It was also great to be surrounded by the things that have been in all our homes, like the nativity we bought while we lived in Mexico. Next year I will probably be in Africa for Christmas enjoying completely different food. =)

I enjoyed the warm weather and good food. I got to have some great conversations with my parents about engineering. I slept in everyday and got to really relax. I even did a little shopping for skirts to take to Sudan (much easier to find than in Richmond).

My Christmas gift this year was a new camera which I had a lot of fun playing with while I was home. When we were out a restaurant for lunch I got a little carried away taking pictures. I took pieces of the pictures and put this together. This is what you get when an engineer tries to get creative. =)

Prayer Letter

I just sent out the Christmas edition of my prayer letter. I hope you will all forgive any misplaced commas and incorrect grammar. =)

Please let me know if you are interested in receiving my prayer letters by email. Just send me an email with your name and email address. ChristineOlmeda@gmail.com

On another note: This is a picture I took of the BEAUTIFUL full moon a few days ago. It was incredibly bright and clear.

Preparations

The last months have been filled with many blessings as I prepare to leave Richmond. These are just a few of the ways God has been at work in my life.

I am blessed to be a part of a church that loves missions.

• I went to wonderful missions dinner where I shared more about my call to Sudan and enjoyed a WONDERFUL meal.
• I shared in the joy of a young family being called to serve with World Harvest in London.

I am blessed by God's provision.

• God provided a young engaged couple from RUF who will be able to use the furniture that I won't be keeping.
• God provided opportunities to share my testimony. Even this past weekend I spoke at a local Brazilian church in my very rusty Portuguese.

I am blessed by amazing friends.

• I will be traveling to visit my family in Brazil with a dear friend that I have known for more than a decade.
• I spent a wonderful weekend in State College with my oldest friend from Penn State.
• My mom encouraged me and helped me prepare to speak in Portuguese about Sudan when my first draft was filled with words in Spanish and made-up words.

I have four weeks left in Richmond, and my preparations for Sudan continue. I am so thankful for the ways God has blessed the time I have left in the US as I spend time with the people I love.

Stunning Visualization

A stunning visualization of the interconnectedness of scripture:

"The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect. "

http://www.chrisharrison.net/projects/bibleviz/index.html