Our Christmas '06 Season

The beginning of December found us packing up and traveling back down to Sturgis, Michigan, where we dove into the busy Holiday season. Our first Christmas get-together was December 16^th, when my Great-Grandpa Carpenter’s descendants gathered to celebrate the birth of Christ.

We also spent Christmas Eve with my dad’s family and Christmas day with my moms. Both days were full of special memories that I am tucking away for years to come. I am so thankful for family that understands the true meaning of why we have Christmas. I find myself more thankful than ever for the gift of Christ. The time flew by as I tried to soak up as many precious memories as possible. Joel undertook a Christmas project which kept him busy as well. We had acquired a picture of his late Grandpa Mohritz in his younger years hunting in Wyoming, so we made copies and Joel made oak frames to put them in for all the grandchildren. They turned out wonderful and it has been a blessing to see the reactions of the family. The day after Christmas we traveled back to Oakland County to spend the remainder of the Holiday season with Joel’s family. Joel’s ten year class reunion was held December 27^th, so we were able to attend that. It was a good night in many ways, a good reminder to us of how much we all need Christ. His mom is in town from Colorado and it has been great to see her. We will spend New Years Day together with Joel’s family. One of the highlights of this Christmas is the joy of watching Abigail experience it all, she has learned what the word “presents” mean, and we hope she is learning about who Christ is as well. God is continuing His work in our lives as he prepares us for the future He has called us to. As we look into the New Year it is very uncertain for us, we don’t know at all what it holds, and though that is true for everyone, we don’t even have the luxury of pretending to have a plan, so we continue to trust that God does have a plan and we will know what it is in His perfect timing. Please continue to pray for us, we need His Truth to penetrate our hearts, and change us so we can be His light to all. May you trust Him for your 2007!

Amanda- For the Sewells!

Ramblings

This morning we woke up to our first real blanket of snow, which in some parts of the country wouldn’t have even counted, but here in Michigan it was enough to be considered ground cover. Since a week ago it was warm enough to go to the zoo and actually get warm walking around, winter arrived suddenly for us.

For Abigail it was her first real look at snow. We bundled up and went outside to make tracks through it. She of course had a blast, and I was struck with the joy of experiencing something totally new through the eyes of a child. When we got back inside she wanted to show her doll the snow out the window. It’s so great to be completely entertained and happy with something so simple. Today my thoughts are simple and maybe even not that organized to a point, but that’s the beauty of a blog we can share whatever is on our hearts, you of course can chose to read it or not!

Even though this is a little past the holiday my thoughts go to thankfulness. We were reminded in our Thanksgiving Eve service what an incredible love God has for us. The message was taken out of Psalm 139, very meaningful for me as I think of our precious baby being knit together in my womb by the very hand of the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. I am awed, humbled blessed and yes thankful. No matter what comes our way in life God is enough to give us reason for thankfulness, to give us hope, peace and even joy. When we stop and consider who He is and what He desires for us, how can we not be overcome with those things I just mentioned? Words do not fully express what God does in my heart, but today I want to give Him praise for He is so worthy of it and I am often so neglectful in giving it. Lately my only prayer seems to have been “God give me strength to get through the next hour till I can take another nap” so today I’m even thankful for feeling like a semi-normal human being again (as I am pregenant).

Can you Praise God now? I hope so, I hope that with this reminder your heart will sing to its Maker and you will in turn be blessed.

Love,

Amanda