Ah, Christmastime. A time to reflect on God's love for humankind and his faithfulness through the ages. A time to spread joy and cheer in the form of cookies. A time to clean out the various drainage trenches in our yard, since the rains have arrived on schedule.The past couple months have been mind-bogglingly busy and intensely rewarding. Let's rewind to November 12-15: The annual Spiritual Emphasis Retreat. After school on Thursday, we packed the whole junior high and high school into vehicles and paraded out to camp El Shalom, a beautiful, bucolic setting surrounded by rainforest. Nate Johnson, director of a NICS school in Caracas, Venezuela, was our guest speaker. He did an excellent job. It was great to have some extended time outside the classroom with the students. We had a memorable weekend of social and spiritual refreshment. 
November 20: Fun Night. A time-honored tradition at AVA. The gym is transformed into a Chuck E. Cheese-style funhouse, complete with games, cakewalks, and a jail. The theme was The Future; therefore, many things were wrapped in tinf0il. Jill aided the high schoolers in organizing and preparing for the event, which was well-attended and, "Fun," said George.
November 25: Thanksgiving Chapel. Jill organized the high school into an elite army of pastry chefs. Each unit produced potent pans of cinnamon-enhanced heaven, and sold them to the unsuspecting public at the Thanksgiving chapel. Everyone is looking forward to the next chapel. I, Timothy, delivered a devotional; in short, it dealt with the 10 lepers, Sour Patch Kids, and the need for gratefulness.
Our already short staff became shorter. Dennis, our beloved Bible teacher, chaplain, lead HS teacher, etc., suffered a serious back injury in November. This lead to a month and a half of pain and necessitated a trip back to Seattle for surgery. He is now recovering and pain-free, thank the Lord! 
Megan, after a convoluted trip fraught with missed and cancelled flights, made it home after 60+ hours of travel. We miss her already.
December 24. Finals are graded, and Christmas break is here. We are relishing the recovery time, catching our breath, and enjoying our holiday traditions. Our hearts go out to all you cold folks in the North, as we amply apply our SPF 45 and head outside to clean up mangoes. 'Course, it doesn't seem right to sweat profusely while rolling out gingerbread. "The cookies seem saltier this year..."Have an excellent Christmas season.
"And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Everyone." 