Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Blogging Friends! This is our annual Christmas card and letter, I wanted to share it with all of the wonderful friends I have made this past year through blogging. May each of you have a wonderful Christmas and a wonderful celebration of our Savior's birth!!

Greetings Friends & Family,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We pray this year’s Christmas letter finds each of you happy, healthy, and filled with the love and peace of our Savior Jesus Christ this holiday season. We are thankful for the faithfulness of our Lord during the good times, the bad times, and the tough and hard times… we have had some of all this year. Here are some highlights of 2008.

Paul: What a year! We had snow for our fire truck themed birthday party! I moved upstairs into a big boy bed! And, I caught a real live lizard! I am currently working on a very large hole in the backyard for a tree. So far none of my collected tree branches from the park have transplanted. David and I really like dirt, but get us some mud and we are in Heaven. I was making good progress riding my bike without training wheels but got frustrated with the process of stopping and refuse to ride now. Dad says I am not supposed to jump off at speed (what does he know). I am finally eating some of Mom’s cooking, but not without a fight. I am an accomplished artist and craftsman with the following materials: green crayons and markers, Legos, Lincoln logs, Build of Fun by Tupperware from the 70s, (Dad played with at his grandparents in Orlando). I love to give Mommy, and any other adults around, mental exhaustion by continually asking “what” and “why” questions – even when I know the answer. I am just trying to make sure they are certain about their facts. I can say that Mom is diligent in working with us to know about Jesus and the Bible. We have managed to memorize Psalm 23, the Lord’s Prayer, and the “love” portion of 1 Corinthians 13, along with all the verses we have had to learn for Cubbies in the AWANA program.

David: Our favorite neighbors moved and we miss them a lot, BUT they did leave behind their battery powered John Deere tractor that Dad fixed. I like to make it skid on the driveway. We enjoy the mini-van that Dad got for Mom, a ’99 Windstar (it was cheap). We can easily carry our bikes, dump trucks, crane trucks, and remote control monster truck to the park, along with a picnic. On special occasions, I can get Dad to squeal his tires, but it just doesn’t seem right to be doing burnouts with a mini-van. Paul and I enjoy the little “adventures” Dad tries to put together on weekends. We’ve watched worker men with power saws on a boom truck cut down trees near power lines, seen a great big crane truck do tilt-wall construction on a job site, and more recently have observed skidders, forwarders, and feller bunchers in action as the highway department expands the right of way. There is never a dull moment for Mom, for I tend to be more adventuresome and more of a risk taker, whether it is a Lego in my ear (Paul helped) or splitting my forehead open at church and having to call 911. I give her lots to pray (and blog) about. I am a little bit precocious; I enjoy pointing out my brother’s flaws. I can see them quit clearly, even with the plank in my own eye.

James: Tricia didn’t realize she got her Christmas present back in March, when her dryer took a permanent dive. Our stimulus check went for a new high efficiency washer and dryer (believe the hype; they are exponentially better than conventional machines). The world traveled, ultimate miser, revered Ringo, blessed our home with his presence for a few days. He was touring North America on a borrowed dirt bike which the boys were very excited to get to ride(circa ’76 gumball rally style). Scott Ray (Worm) came up with a brilliant idea of celebrating our 40^th birthdays in August – by beating on his car in a legally sanctioned event. Not like the last time he was here when I engaged the authority types of the local municipality while schooling my wife on the art of drifting (drifting for you folks, like my wife, was done at LeTourneau with wreckless abandon before it became a spectator sport on the Speed channel, is the art of sliding the car down the road or steering with your right foot, recipe:300+ hp and RWD). It was a wonderful celebration. I managed to capture 1^st place in the SCCA auto cross with his ‘04 GTO. He was a very gracious loser, especially since his woman (i.e. female friend, babe) was there. We enjoyed their company. Finished the playground at church and it nearly finished me – I managed to develop a serious case of tendonitis that has confounded the medical community of Birmingham for 8 months. The best of sports medicine has not been able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, and I have managed to aggravate both elbows and shoulders while nursing the other (can hardly function sometimes). Thus Tricia got to mow the yard for the 1^st time in her life. She has been a trooper and taken on husband duties, even learning vehicle maintenance. As you might guess, the automotive business is a tumultuous challenge. You can check out the website that I designed for my company this year at www.driversway.com.

On a much more serious note, we mourn the loss of loved ones and friends and grieve over broken relationships, but through Christ we have hope. A passage of scripture we have clung to is 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” NASV

Tricia: How would I describe this past year? This has been a good and rewarding year, yet, in all honesty it has also been one of the hardest years of my life. The good of this past year includes: the pure and simple joy I have daily of being a wife and mother to my wonderful husband and precious children, there is definitely no higher calling than being a wife and mom; seeing my boys grow, learn, and enjoy the big and little things in life; teaching 2 more youth girls Bible studies and seeing many of the girls grow in their walk with the Lord; attending the Deeper Still conference with ladies from our church; beginning to run (I always said I could never run, yet I find I really enjoy it and actually look forward to getting out to run, in fact I am doing my 1^st 5k on the 20^th!) The hard things of this past year have at times been almost unbearable, all because of circumstances life has thrown my way, but through it all, my God has held me in the palm of His hand. He is faithful, He is my Rock, He is my Refuge, He is my Fortress and, He is my Abba Father… The Living God is my anchor and He is who I cling to in this life. I share this because I know hard and tough things happen in people’s lives everyday, and I have found out firsthand that God is there, He will never leave me or forsake me, He is the God of all comforts, and He is in control, even when we may feel like He is not. So if you are going through hard or tough times now, or if they come this next year, I encourage you to cling to the Lord, dig deep into His Living Word, and allow Him to walk you through the hard things of life. I am so very thankful for my relationship with my Lord, it is priceless to me.

Bootsie: I am still here; I am now 15 years old. I get my exercise running from the boys who call me “skunk.” There are times when they are good to me and brush me and let me sit in their lap while they pet me, and I still will play like a kitten sometimes. I do compete with Tricia for James’ attention; if he is home he is MINE! Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year; I like to sleep under the tree.

Some tunes worth considering:

It’s A Slow Fade, Praise You in this Storm Casting Crowns;

No More Pain, Heal the Wound but Leave the Scar Point of Grace,

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! We pray that 2009 would be full of blessings of the Lord for all of you!

Love,

James, Tricia, Paul, & David