Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Greetings family and friends near and far...

I had to make a hard choice last night (especially for the girl that loved to have her cards out the day after Thanksgiving). The choice? We would not send out Christmas cards this year. We had a plan. Then imagine this...our plan didn't go accordingly...

This month has thrown us some unexpected curve balls that have left us weary-already. I knew that for our family, it was imperative that I not only pray for protection over our house, but try my hardest to foster a peaceful home the week leading into Christmas. My hope is for Heath to be at his best as he carries out ministry at 5 services over Christmas. I desire our boys to be rested and ready to experience Christmas celebrations. I wanted my patience to be thick, not thin. Lastly, I want to try hard to have our focus on why all of this hoopla occurs...the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior.

So last night when I picked up this perfect picture, I thought of what it would take to pull off Christmas cards by Christmas and made a choice that shows I can't do it all. This is such an opposite message we are bombarded with at this time of year. Do it all. No matter the cost.

As you can see above, we didn't get the perfect picture nor has it has been a year of doing it all. In fact this year has been one we have had to surrender so much and cling to Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean NOT on your own understanding.

The most amazing part of surrendering so much was the margin we had to relish in the blessings and what we did do. There were so many rich moments in 2010 that blind us with the bright rays of hope in Jesus.

This year, we will use this space for our Christmas card and reflection on the rich 2010 moments. We want to tell you that we are so thankful for the impact you each have had on our lives whether it is through the distant connection on Facebook or our frequent in person times together.

2010 Richest Moments

-Pastor Heath baptizing two of our small groupies Mark and Nancy

-Going to an 11 year old girl's school in Louisiana to show her Christ's love in presenting her a prayer shawl all the way from Minnesota.

-Heath sitting next to a true man of God as he battled the last week of his cancer. Hearing his perception on death and his 100% faith in his eternity was inspiring beyond any measure.

-Spending January thru April around our dining room table with several family and friends working a 2000 piece puzzle. The conversations around a puzzle are priceless!

-Jill's mom sitting in the middle of several friends of hers and ours while we prayed over her prior to her tumor surgery.

-Softly caressing Nora Grace Carstens just hours after she was born 10 weeks premature. What a miracle!

-Celebrating Rowan's 1st birthday at Teddy Bear Park and Nelson's Ice Cream

-Spending a whole lazy day at the beach with both boys and their Uncle David.

-Swimming and jumping off the dock with our dear friends Paul and Kari

-Almost tipping our boat on the Ye Old Mill making out celebrating our 10th married year going to the Minnesota State Fair.

-On our fun family Ely trip, driving through Northern Minnesota howling like a pack of wolves.

-Uncontrollable laughter on our small group retreat as we played Catchphrase.

-Watching the boys love on their new cousin Baby Gates and have treasured time with their Alaskan Uncle and Auntie.

-Just last week having family snuggle time in our jammies trying to figure out a plan to keep these boys young forever.

Our family's hope for you is to have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with many rich moments that you will treasure deeply.