Christmas Season!

Thank you, God, for loving us so much that You would give your One and Only Son for us. The love of the Lord is overwhelming! Thank you for making a way for us when we were lost and in darkness. You sent your Son, the Light of the world, to walk among us and to make a way out of the darkness. Your Gift of love is our only salvation and You are the Way, the Truth and the Life.

This Christmas, I am blessed to be with Jeremy and Crystal and their children. Our children have called or Skyped and I am thankful for family and friends from all over who have contacted me with loving and kind thoughts. We await the birth of a precious little boy any day now.

Christmas will never be the same because my Lonnie is not here with us. I know I will always miss his fun and witty ways, his kindness and his love, but Christmas will still be sweet and there will be people and things to be thankful for in this life. And if there were nothing else, we have a God whose love is unfathomable!

Jeremy recites the following verse to their boys nearly every night when they go to bed, "The joy of the Lord is our strength!" This is a verse I have sung or said since I was teenager. I am learning in new ways that it is true and it has been put to the test this past year.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come! The joy of the Lord is my strength!

Thank you that you gave us such precious children and grandchildren and more on the way. Such love and joy!

Insight from Oswald Chambers

Jeremy set up my computer so I can read from "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. A portion of the reading today said the following: "There will come a time when God will make you impatient with your own experience, and you can truthfully say, “I do not care what I experience— I am sure of Him!”

And He knows! He said not to lean on our understanding but to trust in Him. He knows!

Love in the Christmas Season

Happy Anniversary, Zach and Tiffany! This picture of you and your Isaiah is so precious! Seems like just yesterday you were getting married and now it's been how many years? Your life of love and commitment to each other and to the Lord is a blessing to us all!

ZayZay, such a precious little expression on that face. Gotta love it!

November Birthdays

As we approach the celebration of the most important birthday of all, that of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to remember some very special precious people born last month. Oh, and we are very excitedly awaiting the birth of our new little grandson any time this month. Thank you Lord for new life!

32 years ago, Lonnie and I welcomed the sweetest little boy to be born up to that time (excluding baby boy Jesus, of course). Well, that's what we felt and thought! We were so grateful to the Lord for this little boy who was born so near Thanksgiving Day. How appropriate! Jeremy Brandon arrived on the scene weighing 8 lb 3 oz and was 21 inches long. He did not cry when he was born and Lonnie always talked about how he had his eyes wide open, just looking around. I believe he is around four days old in this picture. My Uncle John and Aunt Susann came to visit with their two daughters when Jeremy was born and Uncle John just recently sent these pictures to Jeremy. What a proud daddy and mommy! Jeremy has been such a blessing to us over the years and continues to bring joy, love and comfort to our entire family. I thank God for his loving heart and his passion for life!

Fast forward to 2005 and the birth of Logan Brock in the same month of his proud daddy. What a precious little boy Crystal and Jeremy have! He is learning and growing and is an absolute joy to be around! He loves Jesus and talks about Him as he comes and goes....even in the doctor's office yesterday. He was in conversation with another grandmother who was there with her daughter and baby. He was telling her about Christmas and about baby Jesus being

born in Bethlehem. The woman, just out of the blue, said, "Some people say Jesus was a woman." I was taken aback and Crystal said I lightly gasped when she said this to Logan. But Logan immediately responded, "No, Mary was going to have a son because God told the angel Gabriel to tell her that." He spoke the truth so clearly and with such authority and boldness! He is learning about our Savior and is able to witness of it even at his young age. I am amazed by the words that come from his mouth....nuggets of truth. He also has wonderful imagination and creativity! What a Thanksgiving gift from our Lord to his mommy and daddy, and his granmommy and grandaddy as well as the rest of the family!

And now I must mention one more very special November birthday! Terri Rippy....words cannot do justice to what she means to me. She and Mike have been the best of friends to me and also to Lonnie. Terri, who does this....makes amazing cakes (I mean wedding cakes, birthday cakes that are not the kind I make with M&Ms, sprinkles and candles but unbelievable masterpieces), knits stockings, makes quilts, takes beautiful pictures, and is a beautiful singer too? But what is most important is that she is the best grandmom, mother and wife that a family could imagine (I have that on good authority). Then she becomes Auntie Terri to our family along with Uncle Mike! Well, there are just not hours in the day and somehow she does it! And I am just scratching the surface. She is a source of wisdom, kindness, comfort and love to me and to our children. So, as I said, words cannot express!

I celebrate these November birthdays of our firstborn amazing son, firstborn amazing grandson and my (you guessed it) amazing friend! Truly amazing! I am thankful!

Words

Just a thought this morning.... "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer."

We recited this verse every morning at the Christian school I attended for 4th and 5th grades. Mrs. Little was our teacher....around 12 children in a small school in Montana with many different grades. What a task she had!

I understand why this might be the verse she chose for us to memorize and recite. I hope that my words today and my thoughts and meditations are pleasing to our Lord who is my strength and Redeemer.

Making Memories in Hawaii

Just returned from Hawaii and enjoyed sweet time with Jason and Sunnie, Stella and Judah. What a gift that was for me and it brought back many special memories of the 3 years we lived in Hawaii. We made more precious memories during this past week. We stayed at

Bellows Air Station, traveled to the north shore, enjoyed famous shaved ice, went to New Hope Church, had fun "beaching" with Judah and Stella, visited the Dole Pineapple Plantation, snorkeled and saw the amazing fish at Hanauma Bay and so much more.

A true highlight was being able to spend time with Jen and Steve McDonald, both at the beach and in their beautiful home. We saw Gabriel hard at work right when we arrived on the island. Anna and Grace entertained our little ones with all kinds of fun activities and getting to enjoy Anna perform her Irish dances (Grace joined in on one of them) and hear Grace play the piano was such a treat. May God bless them all and keep Matt safe and well as he is away at college! Thank you for your zest for life and for your joy, McDonald family!

When we lived in Hawaii we had so many family adventures! Jeremy was an 8th grader when we first arrived and he learned to drive in Hawaii when he was 15 years old! Is that not incredible that we allowed him to drive on the island when he was 15? He was an excellent driver (as far as I know). He spent a lot of time with his daddy driving before we let him take off on his own. But he did drive on the island and I was always so thankful to the Lord when he arrived home safely. Having children really helps to develop your prayer life and your trust in the Lord that He loves them even more than we do.

Tiffany was in kindergarten, Jen a 4th grader and Jason in sixth grade when we first arrived on the island. It's amazing how you can be living life with your own children and how we can remember things differently....and not just your children. Sometimes I would be telling a story and Lonnie would get that funny look on his face and say, "Hmmmm, that's not exactly how it went," or "That's not quite how I remember it" and always with that cute grin on his face.

It must be perspective. I would love to have our children pick a day, a vacation, a family outing and write down things they experienced in their lives on that occasion and then compare it to what I "thought" was happening at the very same time. I think it might be interesting. Well, but then again, it might be hard for me to remember! Just kidding! I'd do my best. Just wish Lonnie were here to help me remember.

Jason and Sunnie, Stella and Judah, thank you for the precious memories we made this past week. Excellent company, sunrises on the beach, precious talks and conversations, rides in the car to places all over the island with Hawaiian music playing, Jason's body boarding at Sandy's, surfing at Kaneohe, Waimea, his incredible surfing time with Aaron, watching the big waves at Pipeline,

delicious food including L&L Hawaiian BBQ, Jason's BBQ with Sunnie's yummy cooking, sweet children enjoying the sand and the water and also learning about rolling the car window "up" and "down," little pretty princess Stella and sleepy little "honey bunny" Judah at the PCC show, pancakes and so much more! I miss you all already! Thanks for the memories! Help me to remember!

One thing we will always remember is the love we have for one another!

All of us! We are blessed!

My Words Cannot Express....

The steadfast love of the Lord never changes, His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22, 23

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is my strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26

For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.' Isaiah 41:13

Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Thanking God that He is Emmanuel, God with us, and for "His Word" today because I don't even know what to say today.

Logan asked his daddy earlier today, "Did you know that God can lift up trees? Did you know God can lift up a building?"

Jeremy said, "Logan, did you know that God can move mountains?"

Logan replied with this precious question, "Daddy, did you know that God can lift you up?"

Well said, sweet young man!