Dan - This has been a full year, with many events, as often is the case. Those will be addressed by Rita or our children in this blog. So I want to acknowledge the Lord’s good purpose, mercy, faithfulness, and sovereignty over all of us and over all the activities of the year. He is a wonderful Savior. I have seen how much of a real man the Son of Man was to go to the cross, despite the obstacles placed in His way. Nothing deterred Him, and for that, I am deeply grateful. I am thankful for children growing in many ways, and our being able to experience DR as a family. God blessed me and Rita with a weekend in Colorado for our 24th wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful time together, renewing friendships and enjoying God’s creation.
Psalm 111 reminds us of God’s wondrous works in many ways. It is a good psalm to meditate on as we consider His mighty work in Jesus Christ’s incarnation, and salvation altogether. our pastor observed Sunday that the virgin Mary was both carrying the Word incarnate but also, as her Magnificat displays, had been carrying the written Word for some time—her praise is filled with quote after quote from old testament passages that she would have committed to memory in her short lifetime of perhaps 15 years. What a wonderful example for us to follow! We may not be blessed as she was with the physical closeness to the Word incarnate, but we are blessed with much more of the written Word, living and powerful, to carry in our hearts.
Rita and I were blessed to memorize the 20 Bible Bee passages this year along with our children, and Rita has been blessed by memorizing Psalm 34 and 27 as well. We find it helpful to think about this Word we are carrying with us as we are able through the day and the week. I hope this encourages other adults that it is possible, and it is definitely a blessing, to memorize and meditate on God’s living Word.
We were also blessed as a family this year by our study individually, then together weekly, of the book of Jonah as a part of the Bible Bee. Wow! we really were impacted by it in many ways.
Finally, some good books I read this year: Coleman: Master Plan of Evangelism; Carr: The Big Switch; Huizenga: John and Betty Stam: Martyrs; and with Jason, Douglas Bond: Hold Fast in a Broken World; Sande: Peacemakers.
Rita - We are thankful for God’s care and provision for us this past year - 2014.
January was a time of renovations in our kitchen. In the Fall of 2013, our dishwasher overflowed all night long. We found our kitchen and basement flooded in the morning when we awoke. Thankful for insurance, we now have a new basement and kitchen. But, it was a challenging and disrupting experience with much repair and sorting in basement last Oct and Nov and living in basement when kitchen repaired this past January. We all learned a lot in the process and God helped us through that time.
We are thankful for the daily help and strength God gives us, for the friends and family we have enjoyed, a job for Dan, and for a good church with encouraging preaching and relationships.
Some highlights this year have been:
-Jessica’s Young Speakers Guild Induction in April and Graduation from homeschool high school in May
-Dan and Rita finding out they have severe sleep apnea in April - now set up with CPAP machines - which have helped us sleep much better.
-a missions trip to the Dominican Republic that our family went on this summer - we all were very blessed by it and glad we could do it together. Pictures here, here, here, and here.
-Working together this summer in our local Bible Bee gatherings with Joanna and Janelle being the local areas hosts. All going to help in National Bible Bee in Orlando FL the end of October.
I could share more, but I will let the kids share their stories through the pictures below that they have posted on the blog . . . .
We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and good 2015 year ahead.
Joanna - Merry Christmas everyone! Here's an update on myself. I continue to teach piano lessons to a couple students, walk our neighbor's dog every weekday with Janelle, and play the piano in church. I've been blessed by book studies with a couple friends and a mentor, helping elderly widows from church, participating in our church's nursing home services, and hosting our local Bible Bee for the second time. Janelle and I have planned and cooked food for several events throughout the year and are keeping up with our bakery business which we hope to expand after we finish college. I've been doing college through CollegePlus and Thomas Edison State College. This year, I've transitioned from mostly CLEP tests to mostly online classes, and I hope to finish my Business degree by next fall. I've enjoyed traveling with my whole family, or parts of my family to see family and friends in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Florida and other parts of Virginia.
My highlight of 2014 was our trip to the Dominican Republic. In just the first two days, I saw enough to be worth the two weeks we were there. The Bible teaching we received was extremely beneficial, and I gained a more personal appreciation for the fact that people in such a different culture, living in extreme poverty, and speaking another language, are people just like me and are just as precious to God.
Of course I've had conflicts, stress, and frustration through the year, but overall, I'd say that I've gained a greater appreciation for the world-wide church, my local church family, and the blessing of focusing on God more than anyone or anything.
Janelle - The biggest thing I've learned the past several months is understanding more of who God is. It is such a joy and relief to rest in knowing that God is completely powerful to do whatever He chooses, completely wise to do what is 100% best,and completely loving to me His child. To know that everything that happens to me is good because He is using it all to conform me into the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-29).
My highlights from this year include:
- our trip to the Dominican Republic, including learning so much spiritually, fellowshipping with some really inspiring other Christians, and experiencing a new culture.
- Other trips including a girls road trip (Joanna, Jeannine, Julia and me) to our grandparents in July, a CollegePlus retreat in TX (Sep.), a girls' road trip to friends in OH (early Oct)... and Bible Bee Nationals in FL (late Oct.).
I've read 28 books this year (so far!). This has been a highlight for me and these are some that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND for your 2015 reading list. They're all short but very powerful:
- Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand
- The Serving Leader by Jennings and Stahl-Wert
- The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink
- Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss
I am part way through my senior year of college studying at home through CollegePlus and Thomas Edison State College. I plan to graduate some time in 2015 with a business degree in entrepreneurship. Other things that I've been involved with this year: Joanna and I are keeping up our baking business and working on new ideas for the future. We also hosted our local Bible Bee for the second year in a row - this year was a lot easier! Teaching piano lessons to 4 children from church. and helping out at church.
Jessica - This year has been crazy and challenging, but also wonderful! I graduated from high school. I taught, led, learned, competed with the Institute for Cultural Communicators and my local chapter and completed the Young Speaker's Guild. I took an Online Communications Certification and a Peacemaker Certification through ICC. I struggled through transitions and decisions, and grew because of them! I did my last year of Bible Bee, traveled to the Dominican Republic and a fabulous group of friends, and went on a road trip with my sisters. I'm studying Biblical Counseling, taking CLEP tests, and serving as an Area Student Leader Council member for ICC, and Chapter Chair for my speech chapter.
If I were to look back on this year and pick a highlight, I would say that my highlight has been building relationships based on encouragement and truth. I am so blessed by my family, the sweet girls I get to disciple at church and the ladies who disciple me, for the friendships made/deepened through the DR trip, for wonderful Bible Bee friends, my graduation buddies, and the many wise guides, side guides, and surprise guides in ICC who challenge me to grow.
If I were to sum up what I've learned (which isn't really possible, so you'll have to be content with less than a summary. :P): My life changes constantly and I am weak, but God never changes. He is the faithful God who does as He pleases. That's a scary thought if you aren't His child, but as His daughter, there is nothing more comforting to remember. He is leading and guiding and working out His good will for His glory and my ultimate good.
Jason - I have had a fun year.
Here are some of my highlights:
- Going to the Institute for Cultural Communicator’s International Convention. I got to compete with a few speeches (Informative on yoyos and Duo interpretation on “The Cat in the Hat”). It was fun to share them with other people and I did quite well. :D
-Dominican Republic Missions Trip- I think you already know a lot about that.
-Playing Soccer, Ultimate frisbee, and Running.
-I have also enjoyed my outside classes this year- Composition and Literature, Geometry, ICC.
- Yoyoing- This is definitely my favorite hobby. There are literally unlimited possibilities. I have both learned tricks but also made up some of my own. Here is one of my favorites:
-The Odyssey
-Julius Caesar
-Star Wars Fan fiction
Jeannine - I got to mate guppies this year and they had a lot of babies.
I am very thankful that I have grown a lot in Christ this year and have learned to trust God even through dangers in the D.R. and doubts I have at home.
I love home schooling and I am so thankful my Mom spends time to help us learn school and most importantly teaching us God’s word. By the way my favorite subject is math. This year was awesome!
Julia - This year was quite interesting. I don't know how to start this off, so that's what I'm going to say. I really grew from the DR trip and think it was a cool way to learn. I turned 9 this year. Once I get into it, I love to read, but I procrastinate to do it. I might have read 10 chapter books this year (this is a guessed number). I have written a lot of papers for school this year. Some things I love to do are: the completion of letters (like notes to people), make scrapbooks, learning how to type, making my quilt, and editing movies I make with Jeannine. I really want to go back and see my Dominican kid friends.
I became a Christian this year. I've been able to learn more about the gospel.
We petsitted some gerbils and they were really sweet. We went to a couple amusement parks this year, and it was really fun because I got over my scaredness of most roller coasters. If everybody could please pray for me to work on loving my friends more. Merry Christmas!
And last, but Jeannine and Julia would be sure to tell you they aren't least, you must see the baeheart gerbaes! (translation: adorably, darling gerbils)
And to bring in the new year, is there anything you'd like to hear more about on our blog this coming year?
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