Well, I decided to go ahead and make the annual Christmas letter a post on my blog. It was an eventful year and this as good a place as any to recount all our adventures. Also, for anyone reading this blog who doesn't know us personally, this should fill you in a bit. So, here goes...
To Our Dear Friends and Family, Christmas, 2005
As many of you know, this has been quite an eventful year for us -- a year which has made us acutely aware of God's tremendous grace poured out and which has made us tremendously thankful for the blessings we have, which includes having all of you in our lives.The year got off to a smashing start when Fr. Joel totaled his little Saturn on the fender of a Cadillac. Nothing like starting off the year with a new car! The new year also found Betsy and Ruth in gymnastics, JT turning 8 years old and a family contingent joining in the annual Right to Life March in Washington DC -- an event which we are very pleased to say our eldest sons have chosen to participate in for the past several years. Of course, our hope and prayer is that each year will be the last as we anticipate a day when the murder of our children will once again be illegal and there will be nothing to protest.
The rest of the winter was fairly uneventful. In addition to the usual parade of doctor appointments, gymnastics classes, homeschool co-op and social engagements, a dear friend sent our live-in sitter Jessica to Driver's Education classes. That proved to be an education for all of us...
In April, on the heels of taking the top prize in a local public speaking contest, Fr. Joel was blessed to take his daughters to attend the Profession of Novice Ruth to the sisterhood at Life in Jesus. What a beautiful thing for a young woman to devote her life entirely to the service of Our King, and we were so glad our daughters got to witness her covenant evening.
May ushered in baseball season which featured Ben getting his first chance at catcher. What a dashing figure he cut in that chest plate and face mask! JT and Philip continued to improve in their skill and agility as well, and Mary and the girls are becoming quite the cheerleaders! In addition to the baseball season, May also brought the Septic Guys to our backyard with large trucks. Now, nothing gets a pile of boys more riled than having a backhoe tearing up their very own back yard! For several days, school was abandoned in place of the joy of sitting in the dining room and staring out the window. The backhoe operator claimed to be the best baby sitter in town -- always able to keep his charges in rapt attention! Even David sat in his bouncy seat on the table and gurgled with glee at every load of dirt scraped and transported in that big motorized bucket. The end result was even better -- a huge dirt patch, surely made just for their bikes!
June was the big month for us this year. On the evening of June 6th, There was a dispute with Philip about the treatment of his laundry which was duly returned to the dryer. This situation caused a delay in dinner, which resulted in the decision to take the whole family -- 8 kids, a Jessica and 2 parents -- to the library while the meatloaf finished cooking on low. We weathered a horrific storm in the safety of the library only to come home and find our house on fire and 13 fire trucks blocking our entrance to our road! Within minutes of arriving at the library, our roof had been struck by lightning, causing a fire in the attic. (Praise God it wasn't the meatloaf!) Although the fire department responded within minutes and confined the fire to the attic, the resulting smoke and water damage destroyed the entire upstairs, a good portion of the basement and the living room ceiling. We lost everything in the attic and everything belonging to JT, Ben, Philip, Miriam, John Michael and David (except for Philip's clothes which, you might remember, were still in the dryer..). We also lost use of the house for the rest of the year. But we had some great meatloaf to share with the generous folks who housed us for the next week!
We are taking the time to share some of the detail of that evening because we want to offer it as a testimony to God's hand over our lives. We don't believe a single circumstance to have been luck, but truly the provision of Our Lord to see us all safely through this. In a short time we found a temporary housing situation through the generosity of some friends in the CEC and moved what was left of our household about 10 miles south of our home. We anticipate being here for a couple more months and then returning to a fully renovated and remodeled home -- with a new kitchen/school room and 10 more feet of dining room! As we plan for the move back, we are constantly holding before us the vision God has for our family -- specifically to be open to His plan for growing our family -- both out of Mary's womb and out of the vast pool of orphans in the world. We anticipate a much larger family and, as these rooms represent the heart and soul of a family, the remodeled (and much larger!) kitchen and dining room are an important step in nurturing and growing the souls entrusted to our care -- both now and in the future.
The rest of the year has flown by quickly. The day of the fire, Mary met with her ENT who decided surgery was the best way to deal with her chronic sinus problems, and so she underwent surgery in August which went very well with terrific results. Somewhere in there, the 5 oldest children visited the eye doctor. Good thing too as he decided Philip and Miriam will need glasses within the next year, he found Ben to be slightly color-blind (thanks for the genes, Granddad!) and he immediately fitted Ruth with new purple spectacles which seem to have been a tremendous help to some of her gross motor difficulties. We also found a wonderful new craniofacial surgeon (truly an answer to many years of prayer on that one!) who plans to do a bone graft on the small hole left in Philip's hard palate. In preparation for that, Philip is in the process of acquiring a metal mouth (and the resulting bills for Mom and Dad from the orthodontist). We are very thankful for an orthodontist who is very experienced in treatment of cleft palate, and we are overjoyed to have Philip's new surgeon on our team as well.
Along the way, the children have found the time to pursue their passion -- horseback riding. Ben has chosen to step down off his horse to be replaced by John Michael who, at 2 years old, is proving to be a born cowboy. Betsy and JT also have a very natural "seat" (as we've been told is what you call it when they look pretty durn good on a horse) and Philip, Miriam and Ruth are doing fantastic as well -- meeting all kinds of therapeutic goals. There is a lot more trotting going on now that they have been at this for awhile and there has even been a canter or two along the way....
September brought us the gift of a much-needed two week vacation. We spent a week in Williamsburg taking in colonial history with Mary's parents and another blessed week in the Outer Banks taking in nothing but sun and waves. September also saw the waxing and waning of soccer season with JT moving up to the Under 10 league and making a good showing (one of his team's highest scoring players). Ben and Philip shared a coach and both played well. Ben enjoyed being one of the oldest players on his team and also a high scorer.
The Fall season brings most of our birthdays. After Philip turned 8 in July and David and John Michael celebrated 1 and 2 in August, Betsy's birthday kicked off the rest. She turned 4 in September, Miriam turned 10 in October, a week later Ben had his 8th birthday. Ruth will be 5 this month and after the celebration of Jesus' birthday JT will come around again for number 9.
So far, the winter has found us back to our routine and retreating from the usual hustle and bustle of activities. School is going very well considering that we are simply moving boxes and shelves around to find our books, but we anticipate a much more organized and effective set-up in our newly renovated home!
The birth of Our Saviour for the salvation of the world is the most wonderful time to be thankful for all of God's graces poured out on a fallen world. We hope that our story this year is a testimony to the world, of God's grace to keep us going when the things of the world should get us down. Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your generosity, thank you for your kind words, your babysitting, your dogsitting, your gifts, your smiles, your hugs, your floor space, your lawn-mowing and mulching. The list is endless. We will never be able to express enough thanks for the love showered upon us. It is truly through your prayers and support that our family has been sustained this year, and that the benevolent eye of the Father of all has rested upon us.
May you find the Lordship of Jesus Christ in your hearts this year as never before and may you be blessed as mightily -- and more -- as we have been.
God's Peace to you in the Christmas season,
Fr. Joel, Mary, Miriam, JT, Philip, Ben, Ruth, Betsy, John Michael and David
PS: For the first time ever we do not have any new family members to report in our Christmas letter. However, please pray with us as we do have a couple of situations under consideration. We are sad to say, also, that Jessica moved on after the fire to experience "real life". We miss you Jessica! Godspeed to you!
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