“The people walking in darkness have seen a
great light; on those living in the land of darkness a light has dawned.”
~Isaiah 9:2
Dear Family and Friends,
Merry
Christmas! It’s hard to believe that
another year is gone and behind us! As I
sit down to write this, we have 5 days left until we celebrate the birth of our
Savior and the birth of hope into this world.
As we near the end of 2013, this is a good time to reflect on all that’s
happened this year. I think about Isaiah
9:2 and how well it sums up the conditions of mine and Shawn’s hearts right
now. This year has been a most difficult
year for us and we have struggled greatly with many things, but yet we remember
at Christmas, more than ever, that our lives do not remain in that darkness!
The most
difficult part of this year has been the continued wait for God’s answer
regarding children. At the beginning of
the summer, we prayerfully decided to move forward with adoption and “accept”
(as best as one can) that we would not have biological children. Almost immediately after deciding this, we
both strongly felt the Lord leading us to actually wait a bit longer before starting
the adoption process. To be honest, it
was a very frustrating time for me as I had just reached the point of “almost
acceptance” that I wouldn’t be getting pregnant and was finally able to say,
“Okay, Lord, we will adopt.” And to have
God pull us back from that after finally reaching that point of acceptance
seemed nothing but cruel.
But over these
past few months, we have unmistakably seen His hand at work. Our OB-GYN doctor left the office and we were
forced to find a new one. In God’s providence,
we have found a wonderful and capable doctor to take over for us. After meeting with him, he assured us that
there is every possibility for us to get pregnant AND stay pregnant. He was able to answer all of our questions
regarding the difficulties we’ve had in the past. And as crazy as that sounds, ALL of this
happened within 2-3 weeks after our decision to adopt! God has a way of putting our plans on hold,
doesn’t He? And so, we continue to wait
and follow the Lord’s leading. We don’t
feel that God has “released” us to move forward with adoption and yet we
continue to grieve month after month when we don’t get pregnant. In light of this, please pray for us as we
wait upon God’s will. Our desire is to
walk the path He has laid before us and to walk that path with faithful
steps. Please pray that our steps would
not waiver and that we would unfailingly trust in God’s providence in this most
precious area of our lives.
We will soon
finish up our 3rd year of ministry at Faith and West Friesland
Churches. We continue to see daily how the Lord is
calling us to serve these two churches and we pray for the strength to serve
Him well. Just like any other ministry,
we’ve experienced many ups and downs this past year. God has not granted an easy year to our
churches, but yet He continues to remain faithful in every way. Please pray for Faith and West Friesland
Churches as we move into
another year. Pray that Shawn and I
would be rooted and established in love as we continue to minister to and serve
the people in Iowa. Pray that the churches (us included) would
continue to grow in our knowledge of Christ and our desire to serve Him and
each other.
We are
continuing to learn that God is not only a God who provides us with joy in
our happy times, but He is also a God who comforts and holds us close when we
encounter life’s most heart-wrenching moments.
Praise be to God!
Rather than
walk you step by step through the blessings of this past year, I'm going to consolidate several
different events into a summary for you:
January – Shawn
turned 37. I embarked on a “healthy
lifestyle” journey at the beginning of the new year and have lost almost 20
pounds in 2013. I continue to enjoy
exercising and searching for healthier ways to cook for myself and for Shawn,
while still avoiding a “rabbit food” diet.
February – We
celebrated 5 years of marriage! My
wonderful husband planned a surprise get-away for me, and whisked me away to a
hotel! He even ordered chocolate-covered
strawberries for me – my favorite! Isn’t
he great? Also in February, I conducted
a 40-Day fast from Facebook. It was time
well-spent with my Lord and I was truly blessed from it.
March – We hosted
an Easter Dinner at our house and served 23 people, including my parents!
April – My
parents came back to visit, and brought my Grandma along too! It was a wonderful visit!
May – We got
about 10-12 inches of snow in early May.
Did I say we live in Iowa? haha
June – My
sister and her 3 kids came to visit for a week.
While here, Austin
had a seizure and became unresponsive.
In God’s goodness, we got him to the nearest ER in time and he was soon
air-lifted to Des Moines Children’s Hospital where he received excellent
care. He has suffered no lasting effects
from the experience. My sister’s week
long stay turned into a 2-week stay as we waited for him to be released from
the hospital and recover somewhat before traveling home. The next day, Shawn and I traveled to St. Louis, Missouri
with our Iowa Mission Team to work with the refugee population in South City
St. Louis.
July – Our
churches put on a Vacation
Bible School. Shawn was the teacher for the oldest group
and I dressed in character each day to teach the children their Bible lessons.
August – I
turned 32. We took a much needed 2 week
vacation. One week was spent with
family. The other week, we spent alone in
St. Louis. While there, we had a visit with my awesome
friend, Erin and her husband, Todd. We
hadn’t seen each other in over 2 years and the time was well-spent with lots of
laughter. We were also able to meet a
long-time friend from our old church, Brooke.
She’s the perfect person to bring out a smile and we were encouraged
after her visit. She’s awesome!
October – My
Uncle Jerry, Aunt Cheryl, and cousin Kristine came to visit for a weekend! Shawn was very happy about this because he
got to watch the St. Louis Cardinals play a very important game in their hotel
room! (For the record, he was also just
happy to see them and the game was just an added bonus!)
November – My
parents and Grandma visited in early November.
I am so blessed to have a wonderful Grandma! Long before the rest of the house was
stirring, she was up sweeping my floors and doing my dishes. I’ll never be too old to be spoiled by my
Grandma! In November, we also hosted a
Thanksgiving Dinner. My parents and my
sister and 3 kids were able to come for the extended weekend. It was a great time of laughing and
relaxation, to be sure!
This
year has not been without its difficulties, and at times it has felt as if
nothing else existed, but you can see that God has truly blessed us in every
way. We are learning more and more every
day that God does not promise us a life of pain-free ease but rather, He
promises that there will be trouble and hardship but we will never be
alone. Shawn and I have experienced this
first-hand and we are grateful for God’s continued blessing and provision in
our lives.
We
send our love and thank God for each of you!
May the new year bring each of us more opportunities to serve the Lord
and seek His will!
Merry
Christmas!
Shawn and Melissa
