Merry CHRISTmas!

Well this year wasn't a typical Christmas for the Schurter crew. The kids were exposed to a nasty germ three days before the celebrations started, so we missed several family functions we were looking forward to attending.  :-(

We're finishing up a 10-week Safe Families hosting right now of a little 20 month old so I had 5 sick little kiddos under the age of 8 ... fevers,  runny noses,  and even some tummy trouble paved the way right up to Christmas Eve.

Of course, my firefighter husband is working a 24-hour shift today, so we're trying hard to pretend that tomorrow is Christmas Day! (We get used to him missing actual holidays with us, but it's never the same without him.)

Earlier in the week, I had tried to be Dorothy Hamill at the ice skating rink with the kids. I've been limping around with severe back pain and sciatic nerve issues ever since... so my holiday spirit wasn't very cheerful or energetic on this Christmas morning!

...And then the wheels fell off. All of the kids are still battling congestion and are tired and cranky after a week feeling poorly. The baby had an outrageous diaper that required a full bath 10 minutes before church started.

I threw in the towel, literally; and decided this little family just wasn't going to make it to church on Christmas morning! It was going to require more will-power than I had left in me to get us all happy and smiling out the door.

So at 10 a.m. Christmas morning 2016, I threw myself a little pity party. But after things had settled down a bit, I soon realized that it wasn't that I didn't have the spirit of Christmas for gatherings, cookies and carols. I had lost sight of why God had sent Christ to earth in miraculous human form!

He stepped out of absolute glory and Perfection into a messy, broken world! He endured scorn, public humiliation, brutal lashings and horrific death on a cross so that His perfect,  sinless blood could be shed to cover the sins of the entire world.

He did this for you... He did this for me. There I was, my back screaming at every step, surrounded by mess and fussy sick children; and I just stopped. I shook off the pity party and simply thanked God for loving me that much, in spite of all the worst in me. In spite of the worst in all of us.

Because Christ came to be the Savior of the world, I can have true joy in my heart no matter what's going on to my circumstances; even in the midst of my less than Norman Rockwell Christmas.

I thought of how Peter walked on water... as long as he kept his eyes fixed on Jesus, the swells of deep cold waves lapping around his ankles didn't deter him. But the minute he looked around at his situation (as I was this morning, feeling sorry for myself) he started to sink; and so did I.

But when I keep my eyes focused on the Christ of Christmas who is the same today as He was yesterday and will be forever, the enemy can't rob me of my joy! I can always live in the spirit of joyful thankfulness, because my Savior walks beside me in every situation!

So as I sit in my warm cozy house surrounded by my little sniffling blessings and watch the steady rain outside my window, I am so thankful for the steady faithfulness and constant companionship that my Lord is to me!

We are never alone; He is always with us! The Christ of Christmas is as alive today as He was that cleft in the rock when He was born in a manger... God's gift to us... full-knowing that this beautiful baby was going to quickly grow to be the Ultimate Sacrifice on the cross for our sins.

Praise You, Jesus for being constant in Your love for us; even when we are so inconsistent, frail and weak!

No matter what situation you find yourself in this Christmas, remember that the Christ of Christmas is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is waiting to be your full-payment for sin, to be the strength that you don't have, and to carry you through the circumstances that threatened to drown you.

Keep your eyes fixed on Him as you walk across whatever waves come your way in 2017!! From all of us in the Schurter household,  we wish you a joyful Christmas and a blessed New Year!!

The World in our backyard!

Did you know? According to the International Student Inc, 75% of international students will never enter into an American home during their time in the States. 

A staggering 80% of international students will never enter a Church while they attend universities and college campuses across the U.S. 

These statistics are even more sad when you think of all the church members living near collage campuses who could literally change a life from around the world for eternity, simply by driving across town. 

We've always been intrigued to meet the international students who attend our home church up the road from Illinois State University. John and Linda do such an exceptional job of welcoming international students to America... they drive up to Chicago countless times to pick up and drop off students, arrange for host families and apartment furnishings, and see to student's needs throughout the semester.

I first met Linda at a quilt/crafting afternoon at our church. Spending afternoons listening to some of her stories about events they've held and various students they've helped was interesting. A window into a world I was so unfamiliar and uneducated about.

"Hey; let's take the kids up to ITT some Friday!" I told Luke. We'd never attended, though Linda had encouraged us to try it out. International Talk Time (ITT) is a Friday night event they host with Amy and Tofig. Volunteers provide a free meal for students and they always have a meet and greet time with activity scheduled.

Sometimes the activities are strictly American pastimes to familiarize students with our culture. (Square dance lessons, Bunko and Bingo nights, karaoke and harvest parties, for example.) The events serve as English immersion for the students; a chance to meet Americans and hopefully build relationships among other international students that will last throughout the semesters and beyond. 

While ITT is a welcoming safe place for students from all religious backgrounds,   they always offer a prayer before the meals and the opportunity for students to get involved in a Bible Study. It's incredible to think of the opportunities that lie for Christian outreach to the nations - right in our own backyard!

Friday nights at Talk Time is English immersion for the international students, but we love the culture immersion it gives us and our children! We learn so much from international students! Unlike most American college students, (warning: stereotyping to follow) instead of being focused on materialism and surface topics, international students are eager to share their uniqueness and cultural differences. These kids are brilliant! I mean serious students; most hold masters degrees and higher. They all have well-thought-out plans for their future and are determined and dedicated to work hard and achieve those goals.

Where American students tend to go to 4 year colleges "just because that's what everybody does", international students count it a real privilege to study abroad in higher academia. They are intent on their studies and work harder than most college students I've met. They have family pride and honor behind them in their countries and strive to live up to the expectations and sacrifices made for them. They are an inspiring group of young people. We love chatting it up with them and playing hilarious games with inter-cultural spin-offs.

The boys love to goof around with students. 

Singing Christmas carols... yes; we fed our children cake and then handed them fire.

We love that we can take our entire family to ITT and serve together. Kids tend to be great ice breakers! While an international student may initially be a bit shy to try out their English with us, they engage our children almost immediately upon walking in the room. This leads to fun interaction between our kids that leads inevitably to us into a lengthy conversation or an invitation to have them over for dinner.

Karaoke night was great fun!

It has been a complete honor this past year to host several international students for a meal in our home. They enjoy seeing our kids in their own environment and learning about how American families live.

Some chat nights lead to students talking about what they think of America and Americans in general. It's been eye-opening (and sometimes embarrassing) for us to hear what impressions our country has left on them! We love learning about their customs and family life, too!

The most important thing for us to remember is that all of these interactions are an opportunity to give them an impression of American culture and Christian love. We may be the only followers of Jesus some of them will ever meet! God has opened doors in some relationships and in others we've just planted seeds for someone else to water. 

If you live anywhere near a college campus or university, we cannot encourage you enough to take your children to mingle with international students. It expands their horizons and feeds their curiosity in history and geography lessons in school! Most importantly it gives them a compassion for others living outside their comfort zones, far far away from their families.