Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had a safe and blessed Christmas, wherever you may have been. We had a quiet weekend at home, enjoying some special food and gifts from our family as we gave thanks once again for the birth of our savior.

We received several books, and three days later I've already finished one! It will, I suspect, be read again and again: Extending the Table, by Joetta Handrich Schlabach. It's a cookbook and more, full of recipes and stories from around the world. Some stories are humorous, others heartbreaking; the recipes all look delicious. Resonating throughout the book is the spirit of caring and sharing the resources God has given us on this earth. Many of the contributors have spent years in the developing world on assignment with Mennonite Cenral Committee, and share their experiences of learning true frugality, and learning to receive from the most poor... who are often the most generous. I highly recommend the book.

One story made me laugh because the same exact thing happened to me here many months ago, when I was still learning how things work in the market. Wanting to buy a few limes in the market in Kenya, the woman picked up a handful and began to haggle over the price. The seller seemed to be asking a high price, but eventually she agreed to pay it - only to discover that she had not just purchased a handful, but the entire pile, which was then helpfully stuffed into her purse, pockets and skirt by the seller. Tip for future market goers: you can't buy three potatoes, you have to buy the whole lot. Go to the grocery store if you only want three. If only there were limes in Korea, I would gladly buy the pile!