Merry Christmas and Happy New Year friends and family!
We miss you all very much and wish that we could share these stories and memories with each of you face to face. Take this as a BIG blog hug from us.We can not believe we have been married for over three years now. As we use this post to reflect on God's goodness to us in 2008, we must begin at the source. We believe that the true reason for Christmas is that needed God to come to earth to pay the price for our sin that we could not. We believe that Christmas would not be needed, no manger, no "Little Town of Bethlehem," no God becoming man, if we had obeyed God and followed His ways. Unfortunately, starting with Adam and now each of us, we chose to live life pursuing what we want instead of what God wants. And for that rebellion, we deserve to be punished for our disobedience. But God expressed His great mercy and love towards us that while we were yet sinners, Christ was born on Christmas day and eventually died and was raised to reconcile us to God.
We can tell you that this truth still does not get old, and after over years of believing this, and three years of marriage, it only gets more and more amazing to us. Without this truth, our conflicts, our struggles, and our blessings would seem hopeless. We pray that during Christmas you would consider these things and have something to hope in other than a holiday or a gift, or even just family. The best gift you could give yourself this Christmas is to ponder the great love and wonders of God becoming man and sending His Son to become like us in every way. We hope you are aware of our great love for you, but His love is even greater!
For more information on the Bible's story of God becoming man, please listen to this excellent teaching by one of our pastors, Jeff Purswell, http://www.covlife.org/resources/380317-The_Glory_of_the_Incarnation
So, what have we been doing this year?
OUT WEST
In February we traveled out to California. We visited our friend Sohee and her son Liam(Unfortunately, Sohee's husband, Donald was out of town)...
And Jose and Becca in San Diego...
...and Ross and Kendra at Point Loma.
MOVING TO THE COUNTRY
We became single family home owners with a big yard and lots of wonderful responsibilities.
LANDLORDS
When we purchased a new house we also became landlords, renting out our old townhouse. We miss our neighbors a lot!
CAMPING
Sarah took Mike beach-side camping in Assateague Island, MD (this was a BIG step for Mike; he does not camp)
HOSTING COUPLE FROM MINNESOTA FOR PASTORS COLLEGE
We are hosting a great couple from Minnesota (Matt and Hannah) while they are attending our church's version of seminary (we are sharing our new house with them). Matt and Hannah had their first baby, Case, in September. Case is very good and we almost never hear him cry at night.
OUR FRIEND GENE GOES WEST
We were very sorry to see him go, but our good friend Gene had the opportunity to be a part of a Sovereign Grace church plant in San Francisco. (Gene doesn't always carry a parisol; he just brings it out for special occations! This is a pic of us celebrating his birthday as a a favorite sushi spot in Germantown.)
FRIENDS AND PUMPKINS
Sarah re-connected via LinkedIn with a friend and former co-worker from her first job out of college. Gene, Bettina, Mike and Sarah have had a few opportunities to hang out. Before Halloween we took their kids, Alexander and Nicolas, to Butler's Orchard to pick pumpkins.
SARAH'S NEW CAMERA AND FALL IN THE SHENANDOAH
Mike was very kind to let Sarah get a new camera, and Sarah promptly tested it out on some beautiful fall foliage. Hopefully the new camera will help motivate Sarah to take (and post) more pictures throughout the year so you can get more than annual updates!
SERVING
We served as leaders of the English as a Second Language Program at Covenant Life Church. This fall's program had over 75 students from 10 different countries. It was such a joy to watch them become comfortable speaking English, some for the first time. A highlight was when they brought food from their native countries, watched Charlie Brown Christmas and sang in our first International Christmas Karaoke at the annual Christmas party.
OUR 4TH HONEYMOON: CRUISE #3
We celebrated our 4th honeymoon (3rd anniversary) and in November we took another cruise, this time to: Puerto Rico, St Thomas, St. Maarten, St Lucia, Antigua, and Barbados. This trip included a little extra adventure as rain delays combined with mechanical problems with our plane(s) caused us to miss our cruise ship's departure from San Juan. The airline flew us (and 40 others in the same predicament) to our first port-of-call. But despite the delayed start we still managed to have a very nice and relaxing vacation.
Another cruise ship in the distance as we departed one of the ports.
In St Thomas here is Sarah trying out her new camera.
On a catamaran snorkeling excursion in Antigua.
Snorkeling in Antigua
In St Lucia we took a tour of the island. A local man let us hold his snake and take a photo in exchange for a dollar.
In St. Lucia, a view of the Piton peaks.
Bottom Bay: one of Sarah's favorite beaches in the world, on the eastern coast of Barbados, and the car we rented to cruise the island.
Puerto Rico: after the cruise Mike and Sarah spent an extra night in San Juan at a favorite botique hotel in old San Juan.
THE HOLIDAYS
We spent Thanksgiving with Sarah's mom and Uncle Jim and Aunt Jo Ann in Ocean City, Maryland and did all night shopping at the Rehoboth outlets. For Christmas Sarah's dad visited and we took him to Handel's Messiah at the Kennedy Center. Sarah's mom joined us this year for Christmas and we enjoyed getting to spend time with her. Mike was in the church play and choir and we enjoyed fondue with Mike's parents on Christmas Day, along with Mike's brother and family.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
We pray that 2009 brings you a knowledge of God, lots of fun memories, and two of our favorite things: lots of wonderful sunsets and sips of yummie margaritas! We hope for time to share them all with you.
