Christmas Letter 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We have had a special time with our girls this Christmas season reflecting on the greatest gift of all, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Back at Grace Bible Church in SC, our pastor, Eric Sipe, introduced celebrating advent as a church by having Scripture readings and an advent wreath with candles. I had never really thought about doing it at home as a family. The idea came to me recently as I was reading from a booklet about starting family traditions during the holidays. For the last several weeks, our family has been enjoying celebrating advent with a wreath and candles that we bought at a local Christian bookstore, and reading the Bible passages that are listed for each day. We had great discussions with the girls about the verses and how our great God loved us so much that He sent us Jesus to be our Savior. We pray that you all have had a joyous Christmas season and have been able to be overwhelmed once again in the gift of Christ.

This is a very different Christmas for us. It is the first Christmas of my life that I have not shared Christmas in person with my family. We weren't always together on Christmas day, but we did have our own special time of exchanging gifts and celebrating Christmas around that time. Living in MI these last 4 yrs., we would drive down to SC to be with my parents and sister's family. Then Kris and I would go to NC for a music conference the first week of January and leave the girls in SC with my family. They always had a blast with them. Now that we live in CA, we won't be driving (or flying) to SC. Also, Kris is not a music pastor anymore, so we're not going to the music conference. My girls, especially Emma, has voiced her sadness about the change. I have had my own emotions for sure, but we are thankful for what God is doing in our lives. His leading has been so evident. The changes can be hard, but they are not bad. It's about God. I love my family and am so thankful that we have other ways of staying in close contact--phones, email, blogs, digital cameras, webcams, etc.! I especially am glad for those last couple of things now that I have a new niece that I can't see in person. :-)

By the way, I am excited to say that with gas prices so low, we were able to drive to CO to see Kris's sister, Karmen, and we are having a blast out here with her family. We are so thankful that it worked out to be with family at all this Christmas. Unfortunately Kris's three siblings are all spread out around the country and they have lost both their parents, so we don't have one gathering spot that we all go to each year. In fact we don't get all four families together very often, let alone a couple of the families, so it was really good for us to do this trip. Family is very important to us, and we know Karmen was really excited about our coming too, so this is great!

So, those of you who read my blog know the changes that have occurred in our lives this year. If you are just visiting, I will try to do a recap:

January started out cold and snowy of course, living in MI. :-) We came back from a wonderful time with my family in SC. Unfortunately I let my blog "slide" and didn't do much at the beginning of this year. There were several reasons for that. One is that I had surgery the second week of Jan.--a tonsillectomy and nose surgery--not fun! I couldn't think well enough through that to write, I guess. Then, I needed to catch up on things, get back into teaching, etc. I put off getting back to writing on the blog.

February is when we received an email about the potential pastor position for Kris in a church planting type work in Southern California. What a surprise! It was an exciting surprise, actually. Kris loves to study God's word and teach it. He loved teaching in our SS class in MI, teaching Prime Time classes there, and also working with some people in counseling situations. His burden for this kind of focus in ministry was growing. His love for the music side of ministry was still there, but the teaching side was overpowering that. God was obviously working in his heart for a reason. Basically we began earnestly praying, seeking counsel, and talking all the time about the possibility of going to CA. I really didn't write on my blog then either, because I couldn't say anything about CA yet, and it was about all that was on my mind. I just stayed silent for awhile. I know, who ME, silent?!

March was very busy with Easter being so early and planning for our cantata. Our plan was for Kris and me to go to CA for a survey visit at the end of March, but Kris got his appendicitis two days before flying out, then he had two infections, so his recovery was long and crazy. Thankfully he ended up healing and getting back to normal! We did go out to CA in April instead. It was a great visit, and we definitely felt that the possibility of God's leading us there was being confirmed. The church did ask Kris to candidate, and he accepted.

During the middle of May, in the midst of end-of-the-year school concerts, recitals, etc., we made the candidating trip! It was such a busy, crazy time, but it really was the best time to go. Calvary needed to know if they should start looking for a new music guy for the church and next school year. Also, the church in CA had been without a pastor since Nov. 2007, so they were eager to proceed with the process. We took the girls with us and had a full and exciting several days exploring Riverside. We looked at neighborhoods, Christian schools, the area in general, and enjoyed getting to know the people of Heritage Bible Church a little more. Candidating went well, the people voted, and Kris was called to be the pastor.

The months of June and July were spent preparing for the move across the country. Praise the Lord--we had a buyer for our house in MI 16 days after putting it on the market! That is unheard of in MI with such a bad economy, and it was just another sign to us that God was in all the change that was happening in our lives. We did get to go to SC in June for Father's Day and my dad's 60th birthday celebration. How fun! We got home from that trip and had less than a month until the big move. We had wonderful packing help from friends and an amazing, emotional send-off from our church in MI.

The first several months in CA have really just involved adjusting to a new life. God provided a great home for us to rent for this first year. Kris works from home. I am homeschooling the girls for the first time. We are learning the area and seeing we are in a new culture. It's a different world out here! :-) We are in such a huge mission field. Check out the sidebar link to LAhope. That gives some great info. We would so love for anyone who is burdened for church planting type work to come join us in what God is doing in SoCal. It would be especially wonderful if you spoke Spanish and could help us reach the largest ethnic group in SoCal. We have approx. 20 people in our church right now. Kris has gotten a church logo, business cards, a website, and doorhangers for area neighborhoods all made in the last few months. Also, we will be starting a neighborhood Bible study in Jan. to reach people for Christ. It has taken time and some roadblocks along the way, but we are now going to be able to get the word out more that we exist. :-)

We did get to enjoy a visit from my parents in October. Many of you know that two days after my parents flew home to SC, my dad ended up in the ER. A few days after that, he was having open-heart surgery. I did get to go to SC to be with my parents. I also got to see my sister and her family. She was due with her second baby, and we hoped maybe by the end of my time there that she would go into labor. That was not to be. Poor Sarah went 10 days OVER her due date, but we are excited that she had a healthy baby girl, and all has been going well over the last six weeks. You can read more about my dad's recovery and my new niece by going to the links on my sidebar from my mom and sister.

We look forward to seeing what God does in this upcoming new year and hope to see many people come to Christ. We appreciate your prayers for us as we continue to settle in out here in CA and serve God at Heritage Bible Church. We seek to see people, including ourselves, know God better this year. We hope to stay in touch with those we love and miss who are so far from us now. We also look forward to new friendships growing that God has already started and new ones that He will bring into our lives too. Keep in touch and let us know how you are and how we can be praying for you. Hopefully we will get to see some of you who have talked about coming out for a visit to CA in 2009. We would love to have visitors! :-) Well, until next time, Merry Christmas, and God's grace and blessings to you in the new year!

Love,

Kris, Andrea, Emma and Olivia

Birthday fun at Disneyland

Okay, I am up for the second night in a row, not able to sleep. I figured that this was a good time to do something I haven't been making much time for lately (months, really). I have had people, dear friends and family, "on my case" now for quite some time for not posting many pictures anymore. You've all been right. With homeschooling and all things new in CA though, posting pics and doing much fun stuff on the computer for me hasn't been priority. :-) Well, here are some slide shows of Emma's birthday weekend. I hope you enjoy!

Works of God Monday

I thank God for the most wonderful opportunity of being a mom--what a blessing!!! This gift was given to me almost a decade ago now, which is hard to believe. Our sweet Emma turned 9 yrs. old yesterday, and we just had a fabulous time celebrating her life.

Over the weekend we started our celebration at Disneyland. We enjoyed spending the whole day going to some of both parks--Disneyland and California's Adventure. Some new friends, Ruth and Elizabeth Fox, from church here joined us in the afternoon. Ruth is a teenager that our girls have really created a special bond with since we've moved to CA. She has helped me with teaching the girls Sunday school and plays with them after every service. Elizabeth and Ruth made the girls' stay with their family one weekend last month a blast. The sisters thought it would be neat to take the girls over to Disney the weekend of Emma's birthday, but they weren't going to be able to go until the afternoon. Well, Kris and I thought we would go ahead and take them in the morning and just meet up with the Fox girls later and let our girls go on with them for a while. We actually had a surprise character dinner planned for Emma that night where she would get to see the princesses. BTW, I know Olivia certainly didn't mind being the sister of the birthday girl. Hee hee Normally we've had some sort of birthday party with friends, but since we've not met many children her age here yet, the dinner was in place of a party. What a great experience for all of us! The food was absolutely amazing from start to finish. Of course the atmosphere and experience was tons of fun too! Oh, and I forgot to mention, but earlier in the day, when we first arrived, we took Emma to the Disneyland City Hall to get a birthday button. One of the cast members called us aside and asked if that is what we were in line for, and then he went on to surprise us. He selected Emma to receive a private meeting with one of the princesses that afternoon. He told her he would not know which one, and it could end up being two or three. We were given a special invitation with the appt. time. He asked about how many would be in our party, and we told him the Fox sisters would be joining us by then. He said, "No problem" and took each person's name down so that all six of us could go in. It was quite special! We got to see Cinderella and Princess Aurora--aka, Sleeping Beauty or Briar Rose. :-)

Yesterday we had the Fox family over for dinner after church. Emma chose to have stuffed shells, which was a real hit with everyone! I had stayed up incredibly too late on Sat. night working on a cake, stuffing the shells and finishing some things around the house. The cake was a nightmare experience (breaking, frosting issues, etc.), but it tasted quite good. :-) I had been so sad and upset about it before I went to bed, thinking it looked terrible, but Emma made that all subside the next morning when she saw it and thought it was the best ever. I thought she was going to wonder what in the world happened to our little plan of how it would look, but no, she thought it was amazing. What a sweetheart!

Emma's ninth birthday is definitely one to be remembered--so many new experiences, new people to share it with, and her last year of being a single digit in life. How I praise God for her life and pray that she will grow into a wonderful woman one day. It's an awesome responsibility to raise a child, and by God's grace we are trying to raise our girls for His glory. May Emma have many more years of growing, having fun, being stretched, learning, and knowing her God more as time goes on. We love her so much!!!

Works of God Monday

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we ended up having! Kris's cousin, Rick, and his family were able to join us for dinner. They have four kids, the newest of the crew being only two weeks old. You can see her here. What a sweetie! There is nothing like a snuggly newborn. Rick and Kim's other kids range in age from 7 down to 2 yrs. old. Our girls had a great time playing with them. They were able to keep themselves occupied most of the time, but I did have some organized activities for them too. They did a cookie craft that looked like turkeys when they were done, and they also made turkey headbands out of construction paper. Fun times! I would show you pics, but my camera is not connecting with my computer right now. :-( I dropped the camera at Disneyland a couple of weeks ago, and I think I loosened the connector for our cable or something. We are still taking good pictures, but I can't get them on the computer--not good!

After we had dinner, Rick and Kim were able to take food to Uncle Dave and Aunt Carol--Rick's parents. Carol is adjusting to being home after months of being in the hospital and the rehabilitation center following her cancer surgery and the stroke that took place. She was just not ready to be out of the house and over to our place for Thanksgiving, nor was she up to having a house full of company. We are just glad that we could send some Thanksgiving dinner over to them and their other son who was visiting from Fresno, so that they could at least feel somewhat a part of the holiday. We thank God for how He is working in Aunt Carol's recovery!

Over the last several days, we have enjoyed reflecting on God's goodness and grace in our lives. Everyone was able to share something they were thankful for when Rick and Kim were over for Thanksgiving, but we also did more in-depth sharing with our girls and our new church family on other days this past week. Kris read most of Psalm 107 during our Thanksgiving praise service. We sang and spoke in between his reading sections of the Psalm, and it was wonderful to hear people giving testimony of God's working in their lives.

We enjoyed watching some home movies this weekend too and looking back over the last several years of our girls growing up and changing so much. Wow--time sure does fly, and we need to treasure every moment together! A big thank you goes out to Kris's brother, Kurt, and his wife for inspiring us to pull out our home videos. We called them this past week and heard lots of laughter in the background, and we found out it was from their watching their own videos of years gone by. We hadn't done that ourselves in way too long, and what a blessing it was to do together as a family.

Before I go, I have to say again how thankful I am for the homeschool group that God led me to here in Riverside. We moms met for our first Mon. of the month meeting tonight but made it a bit of a Christmas party at one of the ladies' houses. By the way it is weird to be having a Christmas party on a day that was 85 degrees! Decorating for Christmas in shorts and t-shirts these last two days is different for sure. Ha ha Anyway, what a wonderful time of fellowship it was tonight, getting to know these ladies better and being able to share God's blessings in our lives.