Christmas 2011 Newsletter

I love this time of year. There are so many beautiful Christma slights, Christmas trees, and other decorations. I love seeing the lighted manger scenes in the front yards, or lighted signs stating Jesus is the reason for this season. It all warms my heart and lifts my spirits. Gives me hope. And HOPE is a GOOD thing, a blessed thing. Because without hope and without grace, where would we be? I found a book at a thrift store that was co authored by Max Lucado and a couple other Christian authors. On one of the first pages of the book, there is the message that man did not go up to meet God, but that God came down to meet man. I'll go further. God sent His Son, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Lamb that topped all other lambs. The PERFECT lamb, for truly there could be no other. Jesus came down, was born, grew up, and then suffered such atrocities that if we thought about it, could we even dare to say we'd go through and stand firm in the middle of that storm? He lived and died so that we could live – under grace, in JOY, PEACE, and without fear. For those of us who have Jesus in our hearts, and truly know WHO He was... is... to us, this time of year should hold so much joy! It has nothing to do with presents, twinkling lights on a tree, snow, big turkey dinners, or shopping and spending money. NOTHING. But instead everything to do with Jesus' birthday. God's gift to whoever calls on Jesus as their savior, and asks Him into their hearts. It truly doesn't matter if you have a Christmas tree up, presents under that tree, a big turkey dinner or a simple homemade bowl of soup. What matters is do you have Jesus in your heart? Do you have a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior? With God? If you don't, then isn't it time? For us, 2011 has been filled with lessons learned, lessons still being learned, blessings so abundant that it's hard to even know where to begin, laughter, tears, and learning to give it all to God, no matter what it is or how heavy it might lay on our hearts. We have been blessed with a 1985 diesel suburban, and was able to get out a bit more without having to walk everywhere for a while. And I truly do feel blessed beyond measure to have it sitting in our driveway, even if now it needs the emergency brake line replaced before it can pass inspection, and a spare tire, and a jack. Those will come, in God's timing. And most of where we need to go to is within walking distance, and as my DH and I are working on losing weight, walking is a GOOD THING! LOL My mother in law is paying for my husband to be a member of Weight Watchers, and after two or three monthes of paying for me to be a member too, we are now paying for me to continue with it. I am almost at my 10% weight goal, and my DH has gotten to and a bit beyond his 5% weight loss goal. This is a journey that we are both on, and it helps to have that support. It also helps to be able to wear a ring I inherited from my mother in law's mom again, and to have to start taking in the waistbands of all my skirts that I have made myself over the years! YAY! We graduated our oldest from homeschool spring of 2010, and since then she has been busy, busy homeschooling a family friend's youngest, making lots of beautiful things (waiting on ME to get something going online for us to actually sell all of those things that she has made and that we have made). She is growing in the Lord daily, and a huge help most of the time around the house and with her two younger siblings. She wants to be her own boss, and would prefer not to work for someone else. I can totally understand that! Our middle child has been busy too. She went to an eye doctor for the first time ever in October and got glasses. I think she looks quite pretty in her glasses. She too is growing daily in the Lord and developing more of a servant's heart every day too. We are working on her gaining weight so she is not so thin! So far, she's grown UP instead of any other way and is still rather self concious about how tall she is. She is taller than her older sister. Looks like she got all the tall genes in the family! Our youngest is maturing rapidly, and becoming a young gentleman. He is trying more things, and adding more and more to his diet as well. We are still dealing with some fears and texture issues. I rest in the Lord that things will improve and get better as the Lord works in his life and as he grows in the Lord. It gives me peace and joy to know that all three of my kids have Jesus in their hearts and truly know what Christmas is all about! I am very VERY proud of all of them! We are still homeschooling, and helping a dear friend who is very much a sister by choice homeschool her three children a big part of each week. I am still giving piano and guitar lessons, and though my student base is small, and I could definitely use more students and would enjoy teaching more students, I feel blessed to have the ones I do have (including my best friend's children and my three). My dear husband is still waiting on the Lord for a job. So far, nothing has turned up. He's had interviews, but nothing beyond that. We know that somewhere out there is the job that God wants him at. It's just in God's timing, not ours. So far, He has met all our needs and some of our wants. So I truly have nothing to complain about! And finally, to all my friends, I feel so blessed to have you in our lives! May this Christmas bring God's blessings in abundance and may His blessings continue to overflow in the coming year! And may all of us remember what Christmas is all about – a little baby born in a cave, laid in a manger, that would eventually be a Savior for the whole world! Lenora Linne D.