Merry Christmas!

Another busy year is gone already!  Samantha graduated last spring and is teaching ballet. 

Emma, Julia and Sara are among her students.  Sara dances elegantly on Pointe.  Jeremiah

started kindergarten and enjoys reading.  He is excited about learning.  Anna is putting in her

driving hours in hopes of getting her license this spring so she can finally drive the flame decorated

Suzuki that her Grandpa gave her.  Joshua is the big brother.  He has grown so tall but still loves

to sword fighting and play Legos with Jeremiah.  Josiah is about to turn one, the time has flown

by and he is starting to take steps.  We look forward to watching him experience this Christmas

but we are not looking forward to him undecorating the tree. 

Sara led the younger children in putting up decorations this morning.  We decided that we will not

put up the tree until after Josiah’s first birthday on the 6^th of December.  Samantha hung a wreath

on the door and is leafing through cookbooks looking for candy recipes.  Joshua runs to the mailbox

daily, hoping for packages from my mail order shopping.  Anna is practicing Christmas music.  I

especially like: Carol of the Bells that she will be playing in church this Sunday.  Emma and Julia

are busy with rehearsals for the Nutcracker, they are Angels this year. Jeremiah is just bouncy with all the

excitement.  He wants to know; “How much longer? When do we get a tree? Do I get presents?” 

We are so busy with so many plans and the calendar is full. 

James 4: 13-15 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."

In all this busyness we try to keep the Lord’s will in focus as a priority, teaching our children what Christmas is really all about.  As Christians we see Christmas as a time to celebrate the gift of Salvation that God provided in His son, Jesus Christ.  We tell them Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”  Romans 6:23  “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We teach them from the Bible that it is up to every man to receive Christ’s payment for their sins or pay for their sins themselves at judgment.  Hebrews 9:27  “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…”

We pray with hopeful hearts that maybe this year, this time, this message will be heard by those we love that do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Romans 10: 8-11 “But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  For the Scripture says,

"WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."

We know it is the Lord’s will that we share the truth of who Jesus is and what He has done.  We pray that you know Him as your Lord and Savior.   

                                                                                                                                             God Bless you,