Christmas Letter 2012

 Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Greetings again from Kokomo, Indiana.

We send our wishes for a happy holiday season to you and your families. May the beauty and joy of this most special holiday fill your with joy.  Joy to the World! The Lord Has Come!

We continue to live our lives: our health concerns are in a box on a shelf. We walk past it; we look at occasionally; we know it’s there. Once in a while, we take it down and examine it: 2012 has seen special people step into heaven, way too early in our opinion. In May, our dear sister-in-law Janelle Hayes let go of this life and ran to her Father in Heaven. Also, several men who have ministered to us, who were on the short list to step up and help me when Mike became ill, have also moved on to Heaven. So much for earthly plans.

Life’s funny like that, isn’t it?

Tis the season, also, for miracles. One side product of living in a bubble of prayer – so many people pray for us daily – is that God has opened my eyes to how He is working in the everyday. I’ve seen miraculous answers to prayer and God has given me awareness to connect these with requests. So good for those of us with short memories.

I’m blessed to be surrounded by many loving friends, like the ladies in my small group. God has honored us with a few moved mountains this year. Also, three of these ladies followed the Lord in Baptism just two weeks ago.

Like many of you, we were way too caught up in the contention of the presidential election. It got so that we just turned off the television most of the time. You may know, my guy didn’t win. But, God’s guy DID win. Don’t understand it but know that this is true.

We thank you for continuing to pray for us. When we first got our diagnosis (April 2009….I know.) as much as possible, we prepared for Heaven. We know that this extra time is not for Mike…so we want to be sensitive to what God wants both of us to do. We don’t know what 2013 will hold for either of us but we long to hear His voice in each decision we need to make.

"Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Talk about your miracles!

Merry Christmas! May God grant you a Happy New Year.