Our last meetings this year: December18 and 20

Happy Holidays, Friends.

You may be hearing all kinds of greetings. People may be telling you Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. If you are saying Merry Christmas, you can switch to Happy New Year on December 26 or you can stick to the generic Happy Holidays through January first.

You don't have to be a kid to enjoy singing along with the holiday songs. The Kids Christmas Songs Playlist has songs with the words to Karioki along.

This coming week we have our last meetings of the year.

International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:00-10:00, Room 100
Join us as we read the story of the first Christmas found in Luke.

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:00-12:00, Room 100
Join us for our famous Holiday Party. Bring a dish to share and a "white elephant" gift for our gift exchange.

English Classes: Thursdays, 9:00-11:30, Upstairs Classrooms
Classes continue. Come for our last class of the year! American Accent Training will not be meeting, but come for lively conversation with Wendy and Don.

Parents with Children: 9:00-11:30, Classroom at the end of the hall
The CLC Nursery will not be open. Bring your children to spend the morning with us in the classroom at the end of the hall for the entire day. We will play bingo, count, make classic reindeer antlers, make origami wreath puzzles, color and so much more.

Parents: join us as we read the classic poem Night Before Christmas.

International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:00-10:00, room 100
"Timing is everything.” As we continue reading the Gospel of John in chapter 7, we discover Jesus’ brothers urging him to take his teaching and his miracles to the larger and more important audience in Jerusalem. Jesus tells his brothers he won’t be going to the Feast of Tabernacles with them because, “the right time for me has not yet come.” (v. 6) Yet he eventually does go secretly to Jerusalem, and halfway through the festival, he enters the temple courts and begins to teach. His audience is divided into two groups, those who believe he is the Messiah and those who don’t. We discussed how this division of beliefs reminds us of the politics in our own countries even today. Some were ready to seize Jesus, “but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.” Later the Jewish leaders gave orders to the Temple guards to bring Jesus in, but they didn’t do it. They were too amazed at his preaching to take him into custody.

International Friends: Cookie Day
We had our annual Christmas cookie baking day! What a fun day it was. It is a sweet way to enjoy the holiday traditions! Be sure to check out our pictures on our Facebook page.

I wore my Jackalope sweater. Do you know what a Jackalope is? Here is an official story from an official source: a souvenir post card!

seize: grab or capture
custody: imprisonment
stick to: maintain, continue
generic: not specific (generic drugs at the pharmacy are not manufactured by the originating company or brand but contain the same chemicals)
through: up to and including certain dates
urging: to push or press along
seize: to take by force
take into custody: arrest

Oh what fun...

Happy Holidays, Friends.

We are into the Christmas season. Enjoy all the beautiful lights on the homes in the neighborhoods. We would take our children on scenic routes with the holiday music playing. Are you looking for fun and free things to do with your kids? And speaking of fun with your family, check out this calendar from Indy With Kids. Click on the links in the calendar to find out more. Many of the events aren't limited to only to that day.

Questions about what you may be seeing and doing:

• People ringing bells outside stores. Christmas is a time of giving. These They are volunteers for the Salvation Army which is the philanthropic arm of the Universal Christian Church. You can donate your pocket change in the red bucket to help with their programs. 
• Putting up and caring for a real Christmas tree. If you decide to put up a real Christmas tree, remember that it is a living, cut plant (like a bouquet of flowers) and needs to be watered to keep it alive and from becoming a fire hazard. Wherever you buy your tree, they will wrap it and help you tie it on top of your car. You will need a tree stand (pick one up at Goodwill, or Lowes or Meynards or WalMart). Trees can drink up to a gallon of water a day. Give your tree some time to relax before your start to decorate.

As you plan to go out of town for the holidays there are some really important practices:

• Do not turn off your furnace. Turn it down to 6o degrees, but do not turn it off. Freezing temperatures may freeze your pipes and you will come home to a mess.
• Notify the police that you will be out of town and the dates. They will keep track of your home.
• Stop your mail. Mail will stack up and indicate that you are not home.
• Get your flu shot. As you travel you will be exposed to regional colds and more. Your flu shot will help you not catch that, at least!

Let's Lunch: We have a request for a new opportunity to enjoy each other's company and explore our community and learn about great places to eat and visit. Are you interested? Let me know.

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30.
We took a field trip to Goodwill and to the Antique Mall in Westfield. Most of us found some great bargains and deals and discounts. Each booth had merchandise marked down anywhere from 30-50%! Some of us decided to gamble and wait and come back later for deeper discounts! When I went back on Thursday some of the booths had already lowered prices!

December 11: Join us in the large kitchen off of the gym to back and decorate Christmas cookies. Bring your rolling pin, cookie cutters and if you have a mixer bring it, too. We will mix up batches of traditional cookies and then hold a little cookie walk to share our treats and handiwork.

December 18: Join us for our holiday party and our last meeting of the year. Bring a dish to share and a white elephant gift to exchange in a fun holiday game.

International Friends Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:00-10:00, Room 100
If someone famous or very popular comes to town with their entourage, it can create a great deal of excitement. Huge crowds gather, streets are shut down, and police may be needed to manage the people and the traffic. In John 7, Jesus is talking with his brothers about whether or not he will leave Galilee, where he has been teaching and performing many miracles, and go to the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. He knows that if he enters the city with his brothers and the other pilgrims he will create a stir. He also knows that the Jewish leaders are plotting his demise. His brothers want him to do his teaching and miracles in Jerusalem, where more of the important religious leaders will see him. They are still not convinced that Jesus is who he says he is, the Messiah sent from God.

We had great discussion about the beginning of this story. We discussed how difficult it is to know what to believe, particularly when the government or other leaders are controlling what information we get. We also talked about sibling rivalry, a problem that has been plaguing humans since the children of Adam and Eve! 

December 11: Join us as we continue to look at this dramatic story. 

Parents With Children: Thursdays during our English classes.

Children: 9:00-10:10 and/or 10:15-11:30

Parents with Children: 9:00-9:20, 9:50-10:10, 10:15-10:35 or 11:10-11:30

Check in with the nursery before classes or start with us to be paged for the changing of the children. 

We enjoyed Frosty the Snowman cookies (check the dairy case for these cute cookies to quickly bake at home) and hot chocolate and watched the classic Frosty the Snowman. We found a great number of vocabulary building words for parents: silly, corncob, come to life, juggle, ticklish, melt, wishy washy, see the town, catch me if you can, traffic cop, tracks, sail, sleep/steep/deep.

We listened to a teacher read the book Snow by Roy Mckie and P.D. Eastman, but here is another really fun version where the "reader" sings the book instead of reading it! We always talk about singing to remember and to pronounce words. This is a great example.

We made snowmen, sorted colorful snowflakes, played shape and color identification games and sang and danced to a song about Snowflakes Falling to the Ground. See Carolyn for our activities.

December 13: Join us as we celebrate Christmas trees and the meanings behind decorations. We will sing and dance to Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree and so much more. 

scenic routes: not going directly some way to just enjoy the view

fire hazard: something that can cause a fire.

booth: a small store within a larger building
merchandise: items for sale
marked down: prices are reducedentourage: a group of attendants or associates, as of a person of rank or importance

pilgrims: persons who journey, especially a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion

create a stir: disrupt

demise: death

sibling rivalry: when children in a family compete for attention

plaguing: bothering, pestering, annoying

You’re Invited to the International Friends Holiday Party

Join us for our annual holiday party.
We will sing carols and enjoy friendship and delicious food.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018

in ROOM 100

10:00-?:??

Bring your favorite holiday food to share.

Bring a white elephant gift for our gift exchange!



A white elephant gift is something you no longer want or need. Often these gifts are funny or unusual. Remember, one person’s trash is someone else’s treasure. 

When my site crashes three times and everything is lost the update is late...My appologies.

Hello, Friends.

While it was great to have a break, it was nice to get back together this week. There is so much to do around town for the holiday season!

• Newfields Winter Lights are definitely worth a visit 
• Carmel Christkindlmarkt has delicious food and great shopping. Book your ice skating on line, it’s very popular. Ask me about the gluhbier.
• Check out the holiday shows at the Performing Arts Center in Carmel and at Clowes Hall.
• Sullivans Hardware has a Santa Express train for family fun while shopping for a tree. 
• Head to the Indiana History Center Festival of Trees to see 80 beautiful trees.

CLC is having a sermon series that compares the secular stories of the season with the religious stories. Watch live or after the fact to learn  cultural stories and how they blend with the Christian holidays. Christmas is a great season at CLC. Check out the calendar for other events.

• December 7 and 8: Lessons and Carols service (I will be at the 10:45 service; join me!)
• December 8: Living Nativity at the Fishers Campus 5:30-8:00
• Come to CLC for any service during the holidays.

I have contracted with an Indiana certified elementary school teacher with a reading license and experience teaching preschool across all of the ages to write a curriculum specific for our Parents with Children classes. Our class activities are directly tied to Indiana standards for preschoolers. Each week we have a specific American cultural and English lesson for the parents with their children. When our parents are off studying English, we have other lessons that help our children learn and grow in the subjects of Literary/Science, Math, Art and Music and Movement. Find links to the songs and stories that support our classes on our Parents with Children tab on our webpage. Talk to Carolyn for past lesson handouts for your family.

We are suspending our Wednesday Conversation class. Students prefer not to drive in the evening and winter and no one is attending. Please e-mail me at indyintlfriends@gmail.com for more information or if you are interested in continuing.

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30, Room 100.
We talked about what to make with our leftover turkey carcass and tasted the classic turkey and rice vegetable soup. We also enjoyed pumpkin bread. All of our classic Thanksgiving recipes can be found on our Recipes tab.

December 4: Let's go thrifting and antiquing and eat at Big Hoffa's. Meet at CLC to depart for the stores at 10:00 and visit the Goodwill, the Main Street Shoppes: 800 East Mainstreet, Westfield.

International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:00-10:00, Room 100
Jesus’ ministry reaches its peak of popularity in the sixth chapter of John. Crowds of thousands are following Jesus everywhere he goes. After the miraculous feeding of the five thousand men (plus women and children!) the people are ready to make him king by force. Jesus withdraws to a mountain by himself and later walks several miles across rough water of the Sea of Galilee in the dark to join his disciples in their boat (John 6: 16-17). Once the crowd realizes Jesus is no longer in the area, they climb into boats and cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, looking for him in Capernaum. When they find him, Jesus tells them that  he knows their primary interest in him is as a provider of bread. He goes on to explain that he is the Bread of Life, sent from heaven by God the Father, and that anyone who believes in him will have eternal life (John 6: 35-40). The Jews that were there had a hard time believing this because they knew Jesus and his family. Jesus explains in the context of their history and in the context of the required religious practices of the time (John 6: 53-59) and in the synagogue. When Jesus talks about "eating his flesh and drinking his blood" (John 6:53) he is referring to the practices where the holy people responsible for religious laws were fed through the offerings given the church (Deuteronomy 18:1-2) and how the status and "living" of these people would go away through Jesus' teaching and his perfect offering and sacrifice. They could not accept this teaching. The Twelve, the original disciples, stay with him. In Peter’s words in John 6: 68: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

December 4: Join us for our study of John 7 on Tuesday at 9:00 in Room 100.

contracted: entered into a legal agreement
licensed: holding a license; holding official proof of having the knowledge and being able to meet the standards to perform a job or task
standards: 1. level of quality, 2. measure for evaluation, 3. minimum requirements
certified: official recognized for meeting particular standards
suspending: stopping an event with the option of resuming at a future date
continuing: ongoing

primary: first or highest in rank or importance; chief; principal