Celebrating Life

Yesterday was Jan's birthday. She celebrated much of her day helping prepare and serve the Christmas Banquet at Pella Chr. High. For 20 years she would ask me to write a Christmas letter for her for her birthday so she could share family happenings with her family and friends. For years I wrote it as if she was writing it since I didn't think guys wrote Christmas letters. How things change. Since she has asked me to blog for her for the last year or so and since most of our family happenings are already posted I kind of consider this blog an extended Christmas letter. Since I don't want to get in trouble calling this blog her birthday present I did go find a large prelit Christmas tree on sale for 1/2 price for the cabin.

Last Friday evening we went to this little pizza place in New Sharon for Jan's birthday. It was in a building I remember as Van Gendren's Kent Feed Store behind Wendall Knowler's service station. But that was over 40 years ago. In this picture Zachery is the only one paying any attention to Grandpa.

Last Sunday evening the folks from Gateway Church in Monroe borrowed a chartered bus and came and celebrated Christmas in the cabin. After supper and Christmas carols some folks shared testimonies about how God was working in their lives.








Jonathan has no trouble celebrating. He enjoys life on the farm helping his dad and has an answer for any situation. Here he's supervising his dad as they put a snow plow bracket on together.

As the weather gets colder on the farm the ice gets thicker on the pond. The boys put ice scews in their motorcycle and 4-wheeler tires and enjoy playing and racing together on the ice. Mike told me it takes around 4000 screws for four tires on his machine.

Celebrating Christmas is about looking back and remembering God's gifts of forgiveness, love, and life to us. It's about experiencing the present and sharing those gifts with each other. And it's about looking forward and finding a way to reflect those gifts through our lives to others we come across in our communities.