What a privilege it is to live in a family where Christ is the centre of the home!  My thoughts today turn especially to the men in my life whose character radiates as a testimony of Christ in a fallen world!  I am so blessed by my father and five brothers…

David’s unobtrussive helpfulness, patience and humility as a real estate broker once gained him the comment, “Either you won’t succeed in real estate, or you’ll change the way it is done!” Character has a unique way of changing things.

Gentlemanliness is growing in William’s life with every passing day. He understands what it is to reach out gently to those weaker than himself and is quick to admit his mistakes.

Nathanael has been reputed for saying, when having someone comment on how quickly and efficiently he works, “I need to work quickly: I’m paid by the hour.” What a valuable employee who wastes neither his own, nor his employers assets!

I hear comments all the time about Daddy. His reputation for taking time with those who need him springs up around every corner. He makes people understand that they are not wasting his time by being quick to welcome interruptions.

Stephen is our handyman at any given moment. His availability almost can’t be beaten and when it comes to creativity, he is certainly a master at thinking outside of the box!

Though Jonathan is one of those behind-the-scenes people, it became very evident recently that his character had none the less been observed. When the company for which he worked went bankrupt (no fault of his!), he found himself caught up immediately between two other companies as they bargained over who would get him! There was no need to go “job hunting” – his steady, cheerful diligence, his quiet friendliness and his willingness to take the jobs no one else wanted could not go by unnoticed – he is in high demand.

Thank you, Daddy and guys, for being what I scarcely see anywhere else: men of character. I admire you, and thank God for you.

“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” Proverbs 22:29

Since there have been no posts about anything else since the wedding, I think it high time to catch up!  Not having a lot of time on my hands, I’ll simple blitz through the highlights and allow the pictures to tell the stories.

In September, Daddy and Mommy made a trip to the White Mountains.  What a beautiful creation God made!

Toward the end of the month, we took a family trip up Mount Megantic.  Many have told us of the beauty of this mountain, but we had never been there ourselves.  The descriptions given us were not exaggerated.  We even had opportunity to tour the observatory at the top of the mountain.  The telescope is enormous!

September closed with some of us helping to change the roof at the GCH.  We were privileged to work with 89-year-old twin brothers as well as several other wonderful volunteers.  Not only was it a good time of working together, but it was also a time of Christian fellowship on the roof.

October was a busy month as we planned and prepared for a 25th anniversary party for some friends.  We were responsible for catering the meal, and as always when we get in the kitchen together, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

In view of potentially keeping a future calf, Evelyn and I have been learning to train the two calves we currently have.  This process has been interesting at times, since neither of us have ever seen anyone train oxen, but slowly we are making progress – to the point of hitching them up and offering slightly unpredictable rides!

During the past couple of years, we have had minor water shortages.  This past summer it became evident that something had to be done.  So recently, Daddy called in a well digging team to deepen our well.  It was quite a noisy process and turned out to be much longer than we expected.  We were without water for three days.  When we were finally told that we had water for toilets, we made the mistake of turning on the system too soon and ended up with fine gravel in all our pipes.  Taking apart the toilets and faucets to remove the rocks was very educational!  At this point, we have water for toilets, washing, and bathing, but we still have no drinking water.  We are praying that will come soon!

And now that it is December, our thoughts are turning toward Christmas activities such as chalk art.  And of course there is gingerbread house decorating.  But that warrants a post of its own…

  So much has occurred in the past months, that even though Jonathan had our website up and running again by early January, no one has had the time to write any posts.  Some of what has taken place since the last real post that to give a full update would take far more time than I have.  Instead, I’ll attempt to give an overview of the fall and winter months, touching on a few highlights.

  Fall activities included leaf raking, tree chopping, garden harvesting, and visits from local turkeys!

  Winter fun has included skating, skiing, and having fun in the snow with friends.

  During this time frame, we had opportunity to attend a couple conferences in New Hampshire – the Family Encouragement Weekend in September and the Gospel Family Forum in February.

  Not only have we gone out of our home to fellowship with other like-minded families, but we have also had many opportunities for inviting others into our home.  We continue monthly men’s meetings, usually preceded by a dinner for all the families.  And of course we have welcomed other groups of people, such as the Sherbrooke Gideons, as well as individual families.  Such times of fellowship are always a blessing!

  The winter season wouldn’t be complete without Christmas concerts and chalk art presentations…

  … and a visit with our precious grandparents!

  Though not foremost in our priorities right at the moment, some work has been done on the apartment in the basement.  The tiles are now laid and grouted.  The hardwood floor is in – both the living room and bedroom.  The kitchen cabinets are underway as are the mouldings, window frames, etc.  Now thought is turning toward the bathroom.  Another project on the side was also accomplished: the changing of some well-worn run on our much-used staircase!

  February 13th was marked an important event. David may want to say more, but for the moment, I’ll just let the picture tell the story…

  This has taken our thoughts toward a future date – the results in the kitchen reflecting that rather clearly!

  Sewing has also commenced.  We girls had a great time together cutting out and sewing the bridesmaids dresses, creating memories of special times that will not be forgotten.

  Well, that is a quick summary of some highlights from the past few months.  Of course there are a few other random things that have been done such as butchering the last couple turkeys (and learning to do sutures on one of them!), preparing for the next batch of meat birds, various culinary experiments unrelated to the upcoming wedding, the more recent undertaking of clearing out a place for a new septic system, and so much more.

We’ll try to keep you posted!

   I have not much time for writing, but since the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” I’ll put on a few thousand.  When I came up with the idea, I wondered whether it was too crazy even to suggest, yet less than two weeks after my initial conjuring it up, here we were carrying out my plan (with a few ingenious additions by Mommy!).  The following are some pictures of what we were doing this afternoon…

   We were excited to be able to share with the residents of the Grace Christian Home some of what the Lord has given us.  It was obviously a very enjoyable time for everyone and brought so many smiles!  Many told us that it brought back memories from their childhood.

   “Whatsoever  thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might…”  Ecclesiastes 9:10

We have a tradition at our home of making gingerbread houses around Christmas time.  We mass-produce the main shapes so that all that has to be done is the decorating part.

Everyone likes to decorate their houses in their own way – some put on lots of candy, while others would rather put on less; some like to make their houses fancy, while other prefer to keep their houses simple.  There seem to be two antithetical philosophies in decorating these houses: the goal is either aesthetic or palatableness.  Well, there are some in-between houses, too.

Elizabeth made this neat-looking gingerbread house.

Another tradition we have at our home is the making and distributing of cookie plates.  The recipients of these plates vary from year to year, but generally include friends, pastors, widows, people in need in various ways, and people or organizations that are helpful to the community.

This year we brought cookie plates and thank-you notes to the fire stations, the ambulance station, and the police stations.  The ambulance station was closed (because it was Christmas eve), but we happened to catch an ambulance pulling out, about to start their shift.  The police seemed the most surprised of them all.  I suppose most people don’t think to thank the police.

I Peter 2:13-14 “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.”