After-Christmas Letter, 2012

Dear friends and family,

If you noticed our lack of annual Christmas card this year, don’t be alarmed. While the rest of New England was dreaming of a white Christmas, we were privileged to spend a week in the sunny Caribbean when Don took our whole family on a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas. We snorkeled off the Coast of Grand Cayman, rode horses in Jamaica, sunned ourselves on the beautiful beaches of Labadee, Haiti, and enjoyed the incredible food and swimming pools on the ship. It was quite the Christmas gift!

Don put in many hours of overtime this year in preparation for our grand vacation. He works as a software developer by day and coaches gymnastics in the evenings. We are continuing to plan and save with the eventual goal of owning our own gymnastics facility. Manda also joined the fitness world this year by turning our family’s love of Beachbody products into a business as an Independent Team Beachbody Coach. She provides online fitness coaching and blogs about her health journey at DigFitGirl.com. In addition to her regular workouts, she and Donny ran a 5k together in April!

At 14 months old, Abby is full-fledged toddler who empties cupboards and snuggles her teddy bears, or “buhbise.” Her favorite word is “up,” but she also says Mumma, Dada, buhbye, and no, and signs for milk and more. Lydia is an active 3.5 year old who loves learning letters and playing the Mumma to her baby dolls (and often her siblings as well!).

The boys are now doing third grade homeschool work - our curriculum this year is called Exploring Countries and Cultures, so we are all learning some world geography. The boys also participated in a Junior Lego League this fall. Six year old Hayden started gymnastics this year and learned to swim underwater this summer, while Donny is passionate about collecting coins, studying science, and reading Boxcar Children books. We celebrated Donny’s 8th birthday on 12/12/12 - it is hard to believe how quickly all of the children are growing up!

After a few months of hunting, our family joined a small new church. We are excited to be using our gifts there, including Don’s launch of a new youth group for teens. Manda has been participating in the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group as well as some online Bible studies. It is a blessing to be part of a community of believers who are passionate about God and demonstrate compassion for people.

As we head in 2013, we do not know what the year will hold, but we are excited to see where God will lead us as we strive to follow His will for our lives. May He bless you and your family this year!

Love,

Don, Manda, Donny, Hayden, Lydia, and Abby

Overflowing with Thankfulness

For anyone who may have wondered...yes, my family and I are still alive and well. Life has been humming along at full speed, and I’m too busy managing each overstuffed day to sit down and reflect on it in lengthy typed paragraphs. But in honor of Thanksgiving, my Good Morning Girls study is having a week of being intentionally grateful. Our first assignment was to make a list of the things, people, and circumstances for which we are thankful. My list turned out to be too long to condense into a hastily written Facebook post. Instead, I thought that I’d clear some dust off the 'ole blog, and share with all of you a few of the things that are evoking joy in my heart right now.

Because I love (and am thankful for!) organization, I have categorized my list of blessings. And for those who, like myself, are appreciative of proper English spelling and grammar, I hope that my consistent use of capitalized and punctuated sentence fragments will overshadow my violation of the complete-sentence rule. Below, enjoy my 2012 Thankful List.

Food: Yummy breakfasts of granola or oatmeal. Eggs, meat, and nuts for protein. Being able to afford Shakeology, the Healthiest Meal of the Day. Homemade baked goodies. Feasting on Thanksgiving. Cookies and pies and other treats. Going out to eat. The freedom and responsibility to choose what to buy and what to cook each day.

Appliances: A high-tech, front-loading washing machine that gets all of our clothes nice and clean. Our dishwasher, which spares me from many hours of dishwashing every day. A refrigerator and freezer to keep our abundance of food fresh.

Warmth: Long, hot showers. The bathroom heater to enhance my long, hot showers. A cozy house to keep out the wind and rain. Quilts and blankets and warm clothing to snuggle in. Heat in my car. Peppermint tea with honey.

Abundance: Having two vehicles so that we’re never “stranded.” Being able to give away clothes that don’t fit right because we don’t need them. Having more food than we need, and never going hungry. Shelves loaded with books, including many translations of the Bible, as well as having the Scripture at our fingertips with smart phone apps and Bible Gateway. Having plenty of technological gadgets to manage our lives and keep us connected.

Senses: Soft, kissable baby cheeks. The way candlelight flickers. Stomping and shuffling through crunchy autumn leaves. The smells of cookies in the oven and cinnamon. The peaceful stillness of the house when everyone else is sleeping.

Activities: My local MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers), where fellow moms “in the trenches” of parenting and I can encourage each other over snacks and crafts. Accountability and exhortation from daily Bible Study through my Good Morning Girls group. Being able to put our children in gymnastics, which they love. Visiting friends and inviting them to visit us. Apple picking every September. Living close enough to the beach that we could drive there every week this summer. Swimming and kayaking and snorkeling and sunbathing at the lake.

Freedoms: The privilege of homeschooling my children and choosing their curriculum. The right to own guns for sport and self-defense. Having no fear of persecution for owning a Bible or going to church. The right to participate in choosing our government. Living in a capitalist republic. All of the soldiers who have made sacrifices to obtain and defend the freedoms we enjoy.

Health and fitness: Not having to worry about deadly diseases. Every day that I don’t have a headache. Being healthy enough to workout daily. Getting physically stronger. All of our fitness equipment and many home workout programs. Healthy children who are growing and developing.

Family: The rare but precious times when I see or overhear my children being kind to each other. Going on vacation to the mountains, beach, or on a cruise together. Grandparents who are generous and always willing to babysit. Laughing together. Having no shortage of people to pray for, hug, and visit.

Church: Our church family of dear people who love and encourage us. The ladies who are happy to snuggle Abby in the nursery. Friends who have new babies and like to talk about “mom stuff.” Singing praise songs and dancing for joy. Pastors who explain God’s Word with boldness and clarity. Friends all over the country who are brothers and sisters in Christ.

My husband: Late night laughter over something silly. Date nights at the beach or gun club or our favorite steak house. Snuggling on the couch. His willingness to work hard at multiple jobs to give us a better life. The way all children adore him and teens trust him. His strong sense of right and wrong, and ability to defend his position. His incredible strength. His ability to do crazy flips and other gymnastics. His blue eyes. Backrubs. Being woken up on weekday mornings by his kisses. Chatting and texting during the day. Praying together.

My children: Raising smart, beautiful children whom other people like. Watching them play together. Donny’s intelligence, his interest in all kinds of learning, his newfound love for reading, his mind for engineering, his helpfulness with household chores, his appreciation for organization. Hayden’s affection, his intelligence, his perfect handwriting, his physical strength, his love for God’s Word. Lydia’s verbal skills, her cheerful attitude, the funny things she says, her bedtime “one more hug”s. Abby’s snuggles, her tentative first steps, the way she has blossomed from tiny newborn into tiny person with thoughts and feelings, the way she plays with her siblings, her sweet smile. The way they snuggle up together and say, "Take our picture!"

My job: Being the one to teach my children almost everything they know. Not having a boss to report to or a commute to work. Using my creativity to turn a house into a home. Making life run more smoothly with schedules and organization. Earning extra income through my Beachbody business not because I have to, but because I want to. Helping others to get fit and healthy.

My God: God’s faithfulness to meet with me whenever I seek Him. Finding comfort in His Word. Growing in my feeble understanding of the Holy Spirit. The amazing privilege of participating in God’s work through prayer. Seeing prayers answered. Not having to be perfect, because I can’t be, and knowing that I am still loved. The glorious freedom of being in Christ - freedom from sin, and from restrictive laws. Most of all, Jesus’ death and resurrection for me. Without that, nothing else matters. He is everything!

This fall’s Bible study was on the book of Colossians. When we delved into Chapter 2, this verse stood out to me:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:6-7

I have been blessed with so much in my life. It doesn’t mean that everything is perfect, or that I never have struggles and trials. We can be thankful for good circumstances, but true thankfulness goes beyond circumstances. True thankfulness looks beyond the comforts of earth to the hope of heaven, and rejoices in a God who is good even when circumstances are not. The Apostle Paul writes of his overflowing thankfulness from the dark recesses of prison. He isn’t rejoicing over free cable and hot meals - his thankfulness is all about Christ’s redeeming work on the cross.

Fellow believers, as we reflect on our blessings this Thanksgiving season, we can appreciate all that is good in our lives. But if we are truly rooted and built up in Christ, we won’t just be full of thanks . . . we will overflow!

The Exceeding Joy of Rained-out Vacations

My husband went on a business trip, and obligingly let me and my little nursling tag along. My generous sister-in-law was even willing to take the three big kids for four days and continue homeschooling them in my absence. (It's definitely a blessing to have another homeschooling mom in the family!). So on Monday afternoon, Don, Abby and I boarded a plane in Boston and headed to Orlando for some necessary business and some fun in the sun.

Abby was a doll on the plane ride, bouncing happily in the beginning and end, nursing on the way up and down, and sleeping on my lap in the middle. Since I tend to get sick on plane rides myself, I am very thankful for children who tolerate them well. Our flight was delayed about 20 minutes by some bad weather, but we eventually landed, and my ear popped enough to relieve the painful pressure I had experienced in the air. After a long trek and then a wait at baggage claim, we gathered our suitcases and went to pick up our rental car. Although we were staying on Disney property during the conference and a shuttle was provided, I had requested renting a car for a day so that we could spend a few hours at Cocoa Beach, just an hour away from Orlando. Why come all the way to Florida without seeing the ocean? Don had agreed that it would be fun if we rented a cool sporty convertible to cruise to the beach, so we went to the rental counter to pick up our Ford Mustang.

Except, the Mustang wasn't there. They wanted to give us a Sebring instead, but we had paid for a Mustang convertible. After a few minutes, a suitable car was found, and we crammed our suitcases, stroller, and selves into the black sportscar. It was now much later than I had anticipated leaving the airport, and the skies looked ominous, so we weren't sure if driving all the way to the beach was a good idea. We decided to take our luggage to the hotel and make a decision there. We drove with the top up, because it was raining, and Abby - who had been so sweet and wonderful on the plane ride - screamed the entire way. The car had great pick-up, but the headrests were uncomfortable, and the voice commands took ages to respond correctly. At check-in, there was a brief scare where Don thought that we were being charged $500 to add Abby and me to the room (thankfully it was just a misunderstanding!). Then we found our way through the maze of the resort paths and halls to our room, and breathed a small sigh of relief.

In case you haven't guessed by now, we weren't going to the beach. As much as we wanted to, the thought of driving all the way there only to find rain was discouraging. Abby was asleep in her carseat, so we headed out to dinner at the Outback instead. Some good food helped the evening take a turn for the better, and then we returned the rental car and rode the shuttle bus back to our resort. Our room was nothing terribly special, but it was cleaner than some hotels where we have stayed, and it was nice to finally relax.

On Tuesday morning, I had planned to take care of some business computer tasks and get a tan by the pool. God had other plans, though; the internet was painfully slow, and it rained all morning. A mid-day overcast sky gave me just enough time to take a walk with Abby before more rain came. We were here in Florida, the Sunshine State, and the sun was nowhere to be seen. With no beach, unfavorable pool weather, no where to go without stepping outside, and a slow internet connection, the cable TV was starting to look like the highlight of the trip. As I walked along winding paths through the muggy grayness, I wondered what God was trying to say to me. I wasn't happy, but I knew that He is in control. For some reason, He saw fit to send rain.

Back in the hotel room, as I wondered what God was saying, I clearly felt Him tell me to listen. I hadn't bothered to pack a Bible, since I knew it would be accessible on my phone and laptop, but thankfully the Gideons had placed one in my dresser drawer. I opened it up somewhere in the middle to see how the Lord would speak to me through His Word, and here is what I read:

Psalm 43
Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Isn't it amazing that when we listen, God speaks? There in a simple Psalm, He clearly told me: "I am your health, your beauty, your joy. Sunshine and swimming pools can't give you the joy that I can. When you feel discontent, and things aren't going perfectly, look at ME! I am Light and Truth and the Way. Come to me, because here is not some shallow, sun-kissed happiness, but deep and lasting exceeding joy!"

And by God's grace, on Wednesday, the sun came out. I probably wouldn't have appreciated it so much if it hadn't rained on Monday and Tuesday. And I may never have looked up and wondered and read and remembered that no matter what the weather, exceeding joy is mine in Christ.