“Thanks so much for breakfast mommy, that was so yummy”

I smirk, laugh a little. All I did today was throw some frozen blueberries in a bowl.

“Oh sorry. I don’t really know how to say that yet.”

He thinks I am laughing at him.

“Owen! No, I only laughed because it was so easy to make. That was the perfect thing to say. I’m sorry! Did I hurt your feelings?”

“No, its ok. I don’t mind if people laugh at me…”

And my heart breaks clean open in my chest.

It is just so easy to add to the broken parts of the world. To add onto heart aches.

This Christmas, we’ve been thinking a lot about how to build in this broken world. How to join in the great work of REDEEMING. Really believing that each and every moment is an opportunity to join in the act of building up, or to join in the activity of tearing down. A moment to heal or an opportunity to destroy. Jesus came to this place to restore…I want to join him in this…every opportunity I can. But no one knows better than I do that most moments I will not get it exactly right.

But that is ok.

We can only join in the work. We have never been called to do the whole of it.

It has been a strangle hold of meaning to prepare for our trip to Africa simultaneously as we prepare for Christmas and thinking about how to partner with the One who longs to use us for tiny acts of good. I have no illusions of grandeur when it comes to things like this. I can only, perhaps, find a friend far away who I can encourage in their work, find a way to help in tiny and small ways, to join in the bits of bringing redemption to the broken and the truth of it is that if I keep my heart right, I could do the very same thing here, in my own home.

But it is all messy this thing called life, the celebration of Christmas. It has never, ever been neat and tidy.

‘ – starting with Mary and Joseph. It doesn’t come with domestic tensions sorted, with worries filed neatly away, with sickness tamed, with grief healed, with pain relieved. But it does celebrate, not only a baby who came, but who grew to be the rescuer of humanity and the true model of what living looks like. He has come to our mess.

-Jeff Lucas (thanks Michelle!)

And how about you? Will you step into the mess this holiday too? Will you do everything you can to bring tiny bits of PEACE ON EARTH? In your home? Far away? Everywhere you can?

Our year is a little different and you can join us on our Kenyan adventure here:

Learn about the communities we are visiting here. We will visit Garba Tulla (a new project just a year into development) as well as Masharu (a village that is 12 years into its World Vision development cycle).

You can follow our Flickr photo stream here.

Or sponsor a child from Garba Tulla  here!

We will do our best to update this blog frequently as well! See all World Vision related posts here.