Feast of the Epiphany, 2009

Feast of the Epiphany
January 6, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from the frozen tundra of the Mid-West. As the New Year dawned, Michigan had a typical day with rain, snow and ice. We were so grateful that the 2 feet of snow that had fallen during December magically disappeared the day or two after Christmas due to a temperature rise to almost 60 degrees. Before we could have time to rest our backs and shoveling arms, the white stuff was promptly replaced by a new snowfall of 5 to 6 inches. When I hear a Michigander complain about the winter, I always ask how long he has lived in Michigan. After the reply I tell them that we have lived here over 35 years and the winter has been like this every year. This is Michigan, Folks! Just remember that summer will be here soon (around July 4).

On the surface this is what has been happening:
• Matt lives in Lakeland, Florida and is in school through Northwood University. He has been able to visit us several times this year including two weeks this Christmas.
• Abby moved to Michigan in October. She works for a local health food store which was her line of work when she lived in South Carolina. We are glad she is close by and her nephew, Braylon, is glad, too.
• Isaac, Stacie, & Braylon live less than two miles from us. We are blessed to care for Braylon part of the week while his parents are at work.
• Glenda & I teach private piano lessons 2 ½ days a week. We plan and implement the music for worship at church. The grandson is the weekly blessing.
• Glenda & I joined the local Powerhouse Gym last year, and we look really buff and young after a year of weight training and cardio (used to be called aerobics). Ask us about leg presses, bench presses, seated rows, Romanian dead lifts, leg curls, leg extensions, lateral dumbbell raises and the like and we will wax on ad nauseum about the benefits of each exercise. Watch for our picture on the cover of the next Muscle and Fitness Magazine.

Below the surface this is what has been happening:
• Continually reminding ourselves that faith in the God of the Bible and His son Jesus is not a static relationship but one of continual trust and obedience.
• Knowing God is directly proportionate to knowing His holy word (The Bible). Thus, we continue to pursue the reading and memorizing of His holy word, for indeed, it is more to be desired than gold, fine gold, and sweeter than honey from the honeycomb (Ps. 19).
• Daily thankful for the fact that we were “dead in the trespasses and sins in which (we) once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace (we) have been saved—(Eph. 2:1-5).

We pray a New Year Blessing on you and us that we will rely only on His saving power in our lives and not on the government, a new president, our pension funds, our families, friends or anything else. As Psalm 4 (a nighttime psalm) says in the ending verse: “I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once since you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

We send our love and affection and for this New Year 2009. Make it the best by being in Him.

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