Christmas Letter 2012

Well, hopefully for those of you in the US of A, you already received our Christmas card/letter!  For all our friends overseas, we're sure you won't quite get it before Christmas (*ahem* that may or may not be because we still have them... :P), so here's our Christmas end-of-the-year update!

Merry Christmas!

         We have been married almost two years now - we can hardly believe it!  Time flies and we can honestly say we enjoy every minute and are so thankful for life together!  (Our favorite night of the week is date night! J)

Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. - Proverbs 23:12 ESV

         This year has been a time of seeking for us.  Understanding how to prioritize and balance ministry, work and family isn’t an easy thing to do.  Marriage requires a lot of work, but the rewards of a great relationship far outweigh the time and effort spent!  Prioritizing a set amount of time each day to be spent in prayer (together as a couple) has been a great new habit.  Reading has been a big part of 2012, and thanks to EntreLeadership, we developed personal mission statements that helped to push us to a more purpose driven life.  Another book that we learned a lot from was Boundaries, about relating with people and how to say yes to the truly important things.  We love to ask questions and listen to the advice of Godly role models we would like to emulate.  Our ‘Christmas wish’ this year, and every year, is that we are doing what God wants us to with our lives, our time and our careers.

     Naomi   became a certified emergency medical First Responder and though our rural area does not get many calls, she appreciates the first aid knowledge gained and sense of responsibility, and loves serving her community.  She also learned how to drive a manual car. J  After an additional summer job as cashier at Walmart, Naomi switched from that and serving pizzas, to investing in children’s lives at Walnut Grove Elementary school!   She is a paraprofessional (teacher’s assistant) in preschool, working with 30 three, four and five year olds every day!

         We love living close to Ben’s family and often are a part of the action and excitement that’s happening over on their hobby farm (including a new baby sister, Alaina Blessing)!  Towards the beginning of the year, Ben had time to work on the house we hope to someday live in and buy, but for now we are still across the road in Purves’ rental.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors!  We became members of Tracy Alliance Church and also teach Sunday school for 1^st-6^th grade.  The past few months Naomi headed up Operation Christmas Child at our church, and the grand finale was taking a group to the Minneapolis processing center where we shipped the boxes off to bless children in Uganda!  We are saving up $$ and planning a big trip to visit Naomi’s family in China, Lord willing sometime in 2013!

     Ben  continues to work for Sahlstrom’s Heating and in September became a Journeyman plumber.  He not only passed the difficult test, he did so with such a high score the proctor personally called him to congratulate him!  Being a Journeyman is one year away from his Master Plumber license. Those of you who knew the big-spender Ben would hardly recognize the wise, frugal saver he is now!  Listening to The Dave Ramsey Show has sparked a growing interest in finance.  We are seeking God for life direction and long-term career plans for Ben and our family in the future.

         One of our biggest highlights this year was learning a lot of practical things about wise money management according to the Bible through Dave Ramsey’s 9-week course, Financial Peace University!  Since the class wasn’t offered in our area, we became class coordinators so we could host it.  The first time we went through it as a small group with several other young couples, and then this fall hosted it at our church with 40+ people from the church and community attending! God has given us a desire to help people in this area of life, and we are passionate about continuing to live as an example and offering hope to others!

May the Joy  and Peace  brought through Christ’s coming fill you with Hope  for the New Year!

Ben & Naomi

Christmas Blessing!

So tonight we are going through contacts to send Christmas cards to... 

We ordered 150 cards and realized our list had quickly added up to 160+... 

 We were having to go through and cut some out when we thought to actually count the cards. 

 By some mistake, they shipped us not 150 but 260 cards!!! 

 What a special Christmas blessing! :D

Have you received or realized any unexpected blessings recently?

Our first Christmas tree!

I have a lot to post on.  It's all backing up in my mind; quite a line, really.  But alas!  I haven't much time... because I HAVE A LIFE, people!  And I've been doing a lot of living lately!  So one of these days I will maybe (finally) post about Thanksgiving, a friend coming to visit, thoughts on Traditions, my Christmases the past few years, and other stuff that's been happening!

Until then this (pathetic, sorry - it's from my phone) picture of our first tree will have to do!  It's a real tree and it smells so good!  We picked it out ourselves and brought it all the way home from... Menards!   It is a very cute tree and very picture-perfect-ish! :)

For all those of you reading this who might be going through pre-marital counseling or will be soon, a little word of advice.  Picking out the tree is easy, however, what's not usually covered in the books is choosing lights.  Colorful vs. white.  Discuss and come to an agreement NOW.  It will save you from an eye-opening surprise when standing in the Christmas decoration aisle together...  Haha, it wasn't that bad, but our different preferences and why was certainly entertaining! ;)   

In case you're dying to know, I love my hubby so much - there are WHITE lights on the tree!  

...but I have two boxes of colored ones to decorate a room with! :D

For the other married couples, what have you had to learn to agree or compromise on?

~ Merry-almost-Christmas from snowLESS Minnesota! ~

Waiting...

Every morning when I open my eyes I look out the window.  Every morning since the beginning of October - or maybe even end of September.  Ever since the trees lost most of their leaves and the sky got that "wintry" look.  Ok, I don't really know if it's a true wintry sky cause I don't actually know what it looks like come December or January.  But it's overcast, grey and dark.  So it must be collecting lots of white fluffy moisture up there, right?

Because every morning I'm checking to see if it snowed. :)  And every morning so far... not yet! :(

Snow reminds me of a new word I'm learning:  "winterize".  Everyone keeps talking about needing to "winterize" their camper or "winterize" their house.  I have yet to find out what it means... I'm just keeping my eyes open going to watch for how people do that!  I thought you just had to turn the heat on! :P

Being officially November now, I'm unashamed to say I listened to Christmas music ALL DAY!

CHRISTMAS TIME'S A COMIN'

Snowflakes falling my old home is calling
Tall pines are humming Christmas time is coming.

Can't you hear them bells ringin' ringin' joy to all here them singin'
When it snows out I'll be going back to my country home
Christmas times a' coming Christmas times a' coming
Christmas times a' coming and I know I'm going home.

Holly's in the window home where the wind blows
Can't walk for running Christmas time is coming.

Home fires burning my heart's yearning
For the folks at home when Christmas time is coming.

This song, sung by Steve & Annie Chapman, was my favorite for many years growing up!  Even into my teens.  You see, I liked it because I liked the words "country home".  Growing up overseas we called Hong Kong "home" and the States "home country".  With a dreamy look in my eyes as I sang along, I thought this song was written for just such a person as me - they just switched the words to make them rhyme better.  And the part "when it snows out" I thought was a phrase like "when the cows come home".  In other words, it would never happen because we lived in the tropics; the way it was very unlikely we would go to our 'home country' for Christmas.  We knew that Christmas for people in America meant going to visit family... for us of course, that was not feasible and this person who wrote the song dreamed - just like me - of the year it would finally come that they would go 'home' for Christmas.

My dream was finally realized when I was 16 and I had my first Christmas (that I could remember) Stateside!  (It was one of the best ever but that's a different story!)  Anyway, somewhere around then I realized that the song really meant COUNTRY home, as in, home out in the country.  It burst my bubble somewhat and I was actually genuinely sad when I found that out.  But even now this particular Christmas song holds a special place in my heart, if only for the memories of being blissfully naive thinking it was written just for me!  And now... I guess it IS written for me - my home's in the country!