My Christmas Letter 2008

Lots of changes for our little family this year! The six of us made a nostalgic visit to Disney World right after Christmas and then a snowball of changes has rolled along since. Stephen and Kassi left New Orleans after the spring semester and enrolled at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. When they are not in class, Stephen is managing a Chic-fil-a store and Kassi is serving as children's minister at Good Hope Baptist Church in Cary, North Carolina. They have made the adjustment well but we are a little sad that they are no longer in the same city with Leah and JP. JP has given up youth ministry to do supply preaching. After hearing him, I can tell you that God has gifted JP to preach! We were very proud of him as last week he completed his Masters of Divinity in Biblical Languages and Old Testament. They will stay in New Orleans and he will begin PhD work next year. Leah is a labor and delivery nurse and will soon get to experience the other side of the nurse station. She and JP are expecting our first grandchild on February 4 We are excited about baby Jonathan's arrival but he is breech so please pray that he flips - soon. He is an answer to prayer already and we are trusting our sovereign God for his safe delivery. Jerre is still driving to ALAGASCO in Birmingham. His hours are irregular as he tries to avoid rush hour, but he enjoys his work. Since I retired and am home more, I see so many things that he needs to do! It's a good thing he enjoys handi-work! I am teaching Bible every chance I get, and after clear direction from the Lord, have enrolled in a certificate program and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. God has certainly blessed as we have been able to begin a women's ministry at Twelfth Street Baptist Church. There is still much work to do, but everyone is very excited. When I was pregnant with Stephen, I told Leah that there was a baby in my tummy. She laughed and laughed, then went to play. In a little while, she came back and asked it I wanted to know what was in her leg! Yes, my baby is having a baby. She looked at me last week with that deer in headlights look and said "Mother, this is just weird!" May we never get over the miracle of life! The experience of life inside you is indescribable. It is an experience that God has made available to all of us through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son Jesus. It is His birth that we celebrate this time of year. It is my prayer that each of you have received Him as your Lord and Savior and that He dwells in your heart and in your life. That is a miracle beyond comprehension and a blessing unlike any other. This holiday season, may you "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." May you"know this love that surpasses knowledge," and may you "be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:18-19)

Merry Christmas from Nana and Grandpa!