Dear family & friends,
I love this hymn (what hymn don’t I love?!), especially the line, “Another year of mercies.”
Another year is dawning! Another year of mercies, Another year of service,
Dear father, let it be, Of faithfulness and grace; Of witness for thy love;
In working or in waiting, Another year of gladness Another year of training
Another year with thee; In the shining of thy face; For holier work above.
Another year of leaning Another year of progress, Another year is dawning!
Upon Thy loving breast, Another year of praise, Dear Father, let it be
Another year of trusting, Another year of proving On earth, or else in heaven,
Of quiet, happy rest. Thy presence all the days. Another year for thee.
~ Frances Ridley Havergal
Despite the struggles and grief along the way, 2020 was still a year of mercies from the Lord.
Jim & I "just so happened" to go on our annual pre-planting getaway a month early (in late February)! 40-some hours child-free was a real treat!
After 5 years, LG got a new set of hearing aids that are rechargeable and Bluetooth compatible, which is super handy for his hobby of listening to audio books.
Jim’s 48-hour ER stay for a kidney stone did not have to include surgery!
Our van turned over 100,000 miles (in less than 3 years)! A true Deuteronomy 29:5 provision of the Lord, and a real blessing, giving us the opportunity to serve other families on the days I drove carpool.
Suddenly stopping everything in March was a real boon to LM’s development, after spending almost 3 years in the van. Her favorite part of staying home was the Gettys’ Family Hymn Sings. She calls the Getty girls “my girls,” and frequently asks to “watch my girls sing.” Her favorite of theirs is “His Mercy is More.”
LG graduated (in a socially-distanced way) from kindergarten at his private special ed schooll!!!! Graduation was a very emotional day for me, listening to his and his (mostly deaf & hard of hearing) classmates’ speeches. It is an amazing school, and we are incredibly fortunate that he was able to attend, and that the Lord sustained us for almost 3 years of commuting 65 miles one-way.
At 90 years old, Jim’s father remarried a longtime family friend. Our children LOVE stopping in for cookies and hugs.
We made some wonderful memories as a family on 16 hikes this year. LG discovered that he prefers running the trails. :)
Frequent summer getaways a few hours away were a real balm for our family. We spent many happy afternoons playing at the beach.
Both children currently attend in-person school 5 days a week. Mainstreaming into public school for 1st grade could not have been a smoother process for LG! LM absolutely loves morning preschool and her sweet class of 6 children at a nearby Christian school.
Seeing our church family at outdoor church in the parking lot this summer and early fall was a joy! We also enjoyed a few months of other in-person activities – Trail Life USA, Awana, Sunday School, swim lessons, and an amazing sensory gym.
The crops did well this year, and harvest went well with great weather and minimal machinery breakdowns.
Even though our church’s annual 15-day missions conference was mostly on livestream, our heart for the world grew.
Our pastor’s weekday morning Facebook live devotional & prayer time continues to strengthen our faith and point us to our Savior!
Whatever joys & sorrows your 2020 held, we trust you have experienced the Lord’s mercies throughout. His mercies truly are new every morning! We are so thankful for a Savior who was born in the likeness of men, knows what it is like to be human, is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, wept at the results of sin & death in this world, and died so we can be reconciled with God.
Love,
J-, for us four
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