Mexico City, Mexico December 2003
Dear family and friends,
For Mary and Joseph it meant a long, arduous trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem and a difficult night in a stable. For the shepherds it meant abandoning their sheep in the middle of the night to look for an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
For the Magi it meant traveling hundreds of miles following the light of a distant star so as to be able to offer an infant their precious gifts. For all of them, Jesus' birth disrupted their lives greatly and meant a great deal of sacrifice, effort, and inconvenience; yet it also filled their hearts with unbounded joy and meant more to them than any other event they had ever experienced. What does it mean for you? Has Jesus' coming disrupted and inconvenienced your life as it should, and as it must in order for your heart to be filled with the same joy that Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi experienced 2000 years ago? That is our hope for you this Christmas season.
Our lives have been filled with both joys and disruptions this past year, as we are sure yours have been. In Mexico City we continue to adjust to Elizabeth's being away at college: she finished her freshman year in May and began her sophomore year in August at Valparaiso University in Indiana, majoring in Mathematics and perhaps French as well. She has really enjoyed college and has been active in many activities, including playing in the band and leading Bible studies. Monica Julie, now 12, graduated from 6th grade at the American School. She began confirmation classes a few weeks ago, and is also singing and playing the trumpet for our Christmas Eve service. Alicia has been spending a lot of time with her mom, who was in the hospital with ulcers in June and has required a lot of attention. David has been busy with his activities as Dean and Professor at the Theological Community, and has also had plenty to do at church where he forms part of a team ministry. He enjoyed a couple of trips this year, one to Tulsa in April for the ELCA Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod Assembly, and another in November to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature in Atlanta.
We're sorry that our Christmas newsletter is a little late this year: we wanted to send a family picture but needed to wait until Elizabeth got home for Christmas break! At any rate, we look forward to hearing from you all and pray that God may fill your new year with countless blessings and satisfactions!
Yours in Christ,
The Brondos Family
Monica Julie, Elizabeth, Alicia and David