2008 Christmas Letter

Luke 2:9-12
“And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’”

During this lighthearted time of decorations, songs, treats and gifts, we are striving to not gloss over what Christmas is really about Its easy to forget that Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of the most cataclysmic event in all history: God becoming man. Christ came to earth to demonstrate God’s mercy, grace and loving kindness on a people that did not deserve anything of the sort. (Romans 5:8, 1 Timothy 1:15.) We need to remember that every day of the year, but especially when we are celebrating Christmas. Our hope is that we are able to express this meaning to our children, even as they are being bombarded with secular Christmas imagery throughout the season.

Lincoln has had a busy year. In the winter/spring he attended gymnastics with some friends once a week. It was an exercise in getting him to listen and obey a teacher, the goal of which was to prepare him for school. It really did improve these skills in him and also helped get the “wiggles” out too! During the summer he learned how to swim and quickly became fearless with jumping off the diving board and swimming the full length of the pool. In September he started pre-kindergarten at Carden Christian Academy. We love his teacher and he has matured a lot in these last few months with his concentration level and listening skills. He is refining his writing ability and learning to read and add. He is our little engineer, always wanting to know how things work and has been into taking his broken toys apart to fix them. Also in September, Lincoln turned 5! For their birthdays, he and Jackson got bikes and Lincoln loved riding immediately. He loves music and is often humming or singing something. Though he has his moments of lost self-control (who doesn’t?) he is a very loving and affectionate big brother whom Jackson and Lola adore.

Jackson is still our little love (sometimes) and our brute (sometimes). He can go from one to the other in 3.5 seconds. He loves to ask a million questions about everything (his mouth rarely stops) and one never knows when the acceptable answer will be given and the line of questioning will end. He’s our helper, always ready to fetch an item for mommy or clear his plate. In fact, he often volunteers to do Lincoln’s tasks on his behalf. He loves to draw and color, play playdough, read books and ride his bike. He also loves to wrestle with his older brother. He too loves to sing songs and if he doesn’t know the words, he just makes them up! In September he turned 3, though sometimes it seems like he’s much older. He has an infectious laugh and is definitely the family comedian.

Lola is 16 months now and growing up way too fast! I look at her and wonder, where did my little baby go? She wants to feed herself with a fork and spoon, drink from a big cup and hates her highchair. She is still small and cuddly and loves to snuggle mommy and daddy, so the baby days aren’t completely over. She would be happy if mommy carried her around all day. Needless to say, she is often not happy since this is an unrealistic desire. She’s definitely a girly-girl. She loves babies and purses and shoes! In fact, “shoe” was one of her first words. She has many more words now. She loves to give kisses to those she loves and is shy around those she doesn’t know. She’s tough as well; she shakes off a fall or a bonk better than her brothers do! Its been fun to watch her little personality emerge this year.

Jeff and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on March 23rd. After a few huge bumps in the road, our marriage is on its way to being stronger than ever. We have God to thank for that, without His saving grace who knows where we’d be. In July we were referred by some friends to a pastor that has been a huge blessing to our lives. We went to him weekly for Biblical counseling and he really helped us understand God’s Word more clearly. It has come more alive to us than ever before. Our lives are truly being shaped by God and we are so blessed to have had Him working on our hearts through Pastor Briggs.

We started attending a new church this year and that has been a blessing as well. We get to hear the Word of God preached clearly and truthfully every week by Pastor Erik Meyers. We are often convicted of areas that need attention in our lives and it is such a blessing to have the Holy Spirit working on us. (John 16:8) We remember that God corrects those He loves (Proverbs 3:12.) and feel lucky that He cares so much. Bear with us, we are works-in-progress.

2008 was a hard year for our family and yet it is shaping up to have been the best year of our marriage. Through trials we are shaped and molded into the image of Christ (James 1:2-3, 1 Peter 1:6-9.) and without the hardships we’ve experienced this year we would never have grown in our faith as we have. Christ saved us even when we didn’t know we needed saving and we are grateful beyond expression. Life’s purpose is now clear: to bring glory to God in everything we do, whether it be at work managing servers or at home wiping runny noses, folding laundry and making dinner—we know that these are the roles God has given to us and we complete these tasks with joyful, thankful hearts. (1 Thessalonians 5:18.)

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.” Galatians 1:3-5