Dear Friends and Family,
I am so thankful for you! It is such a blessing to share life with friends and family. This year has been one of many changes, with Carl’s mother’s passing, the devastation of the New Jersey coast we had just been visiting in the summer, and a new room addition for Carl’s father to come visit. In all of this transition, I think of Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” I am so thankful for the opportunity to celebrate the birth of the unchanging Eternal One this Christmas. Here is a little about each of us:
Carl - I am in the 15th year of pastoring among Grace Church. I continue to enjoy working, studying, and preaching. We are blessed with some very faithful long-time members and some very faithful new ones as well. Our children keep us very busy and entertained. They are so much fun. Each day they seem to get taller and funnier. In all of your business I pray you will know the Lord’s mercy through Christ this Christmas season.
Kerstin - I enjoy homeschooling our bunch, super busy with activities and life together. The kids and I did get to go take a trip to Oregon to see my friends and go camping in the Sierras. We also enjoyed visits with family in southern CA and NJ, and I was able to attend a conference with my friend from seminary. I continue to love encouraging the women in our church and getting to know new friends. I have finished several commissioned pieces (sketches and paintings) and usually have a project on my easel. My knee has recovered enough that I was able to run a half-marathon and also swim a 1-mile open water ocean swim. Our church read through the Bible this year, in which I found this gem. Proverbs 30:5 says: Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Despite the busyness and transitions this year has showered on me, He is my shield and refuge and I am most thankful for that!
Johanna (15) - Helpful and dear, Hanna is growing up so fast! She is now taking 4 high school classes at the local Christian school, also learning 3 foreign languages. Hanna played soccer for the high school team this fall and really loved it. She continues to be super creative and crafty (you can see some of her creations at http://hannashandcrafts.blogspot.com). Hanna enjoyed the trip to New Jersey, swimming in the ocean and body surfing. She’s picked up the viola now, saying she likes the viola more than violin, and is playing in the Youth Preparatory Orchestra. Hanna is dancing ballet and continues to teach a younger class of ballerinas, including Lily. She loves baby-sitting as well. For her 15th birthday, Hanna went on a field trip to the jail and courthouse and now has a burden for the lost souls of the inmates. She has a favorite passage of Scripture, Psalm 73:23-26: Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Magdeline (13) - Darling and fun, Maggie loves art and science. She continues to be fascinated with babies and midwifery, but also enjoys listening to all kinds of music and playing with her iPhone (a hand-me-down from a friend). Maggie has resumed ballet, rides her dirt bike, continues the flute (despite braces), and started playing soccer. She runs like the wind! Maggie’s favorite Bible verse, Isaiah 40:29-31 reminds her that she will always find strength in God. “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Maggie is a favorite with all children. Just today our little neighbor asked, “Where’s my Maggie?” She loves to baby-sit and comes up with creative play. She had Trey outside in our tree with a bucket on a rope--their “well.” Lately Maggie comes and asks me how she can help or I’ll find her spontaneously organizing a messy closet. She wants to grow up fast so much. When someone didn’t understand her and she was frustrated, she said, “If you were in my feet, you’d understand!” When she can’t wait to share good news, “It’s in my throat and I have to swallow it down!”
Lilyana (8 1/2) - Cheerful and sweet, Lily enjoys knitting and crafting. She loves to read, telling me she is almost done with Black Beauty (she just got it yesterday). She just now came running up saying, “SCREECH. I like the word screech!” and away she ran. Lily likes to help me, and she makes sweet thoughtful cards and gifts for others. She had 2 nasty bouts of poison oak this year...not sure where she got it but she must be allergic. Lily is learning the piano and continuing with ballet. She has a flair for the dramatic, enunciating carefully and expressively, “I feel faint, Mama. Oh dear. My legs are shaky. My heart is pounding. I don’t think I can stand anymore.” She and Trey are so much a part each other’s life, trading off playing Legos or dolls. One evening Lily bathed Trey in his bathing trunks, shampooed his hair, brushed his teeth, slicked his hair down, read him a book, and tucked him into bed with her fuzzy pink blanket, song (including “Home on the Range”), and prayer. She has a great sense of humor, naming our leaf rakes with Trey--Bluebird and Buster. Lily served Trey cereal and he thanked her. Lily said, “I forgive you.” Trey laughed and told her what she’d said. Lily laughed and said, “I always get them complicating!” One night Lily told me, “Now I really feel like I’m close to Jesus.” I asked her how. “Um...I love the Bible and Him, and He helps me love others too.”
Carl III a.k.a. “Trey” (6 1/2) - Fun and lovable, Trey is going through phases of being enthralled with Spiderman (fishing line web all throughout his room), cowboys, police, Legos, and Transformers--all new territory for us. He began piano and is quite the songbird and chatterbox, even when he is alone in his room--there’s always full-fledged conversation going on between his toys. Trey told me, “My stuffed animals are Christians. I teach them Bible verses. I think I’m a Christian because when I’m sad or happy, I sing praise songs!” Another time he said, “I don’t always believe in God--not when I’m disobedient.” He says he wants to play the bagpipes and listens to certain bagpipe songs over, and over, and over, and over. He has a funny new voice at the moment that is hilarious. Trey loves when I wear my sweats, my “snuggle clothes.” He is wonderful with little ones. Trey also loves lists and calculators. When he was trying to carry his things, he remarked, “I only have 2 hands and a face!” Our neighbor gave us mistletoe and told Trey that he could hold it over his sisters and their boyfriends can kiss them, asking, “Do they have boyfriends?” Trey stated, matter-of-fact, “No, but they like kissing ME!” Maggie was playing with him in the backyard and they were “fishing.” He said he caught 1 salmon and 1 herring. When asked if he caught any fresh water trout, he answered, “Yes, they’re at home and my wife is cooking them.” I asked what his wife’s name was. He replied, “She hasn’t told me yet. We just got married yesterday!”
We wish you a very Merry Christmas, and God’s peace in 2013.
