Christmas Letter 2017

The beginning of "the Christmas letter" is always an enjoyable time for me. It is a time of reflection and praise as I look back on the year's events. "The reason for the season" always seems to get lost in the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping and holiday traffic. It shouldn't be that way.

When spring arrived this year so did the reasons for praising God - the One and Only reason for the season. In April I began building a tiny home for Him - a future shelter for area homeless. This is what the tiny home looked like at the end of April . . . two days before my near head-on, roll-over, 60-mph car accident.

The accident was a blessing in many ways. First, the air bags did their job and I was able to climb out of the car. Two days later I was back at work, praising God for His protection. This was my car the day after.

July was a good month. Bev and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary by taking a trip to Mackinac Island. We love that place. This year we had an amazing conversation about our faith with the chef at our B&B - Rosie. What an amazing lady.

And speaking of amazing ladies, Miss Emma Elaine was born to our daughter and her husband on July 4th. What a precious gift SHE is!

As I reflect on all of these events in our lives this past year it occurs to me that, when added together, they represent The Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, our Messiah.

In the tiny home we see an example of us humans trying to build our lives on our own, without the help of God. In the end, doing things on our own leads to death (the car accident). We need someone to rescue us. If we place our faith and trust in Jesus (the bridegroom) we can have a successful marriage lasting far longer than just 40 years. It is through our belief that God forgives ALL of our sins that we become born (Emma) . . . again.

And that is why we celebrate the birth of Jesus. He was born, to die for us so that we might live.

^"17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

May God bless you all this Christmas. May you draw closer to God this year than you have ever been. May Jesus be born in you and may you play your drum for Him every day of your lives. Love you all!

Be Born In Me - Francesca Battistelli
Little Drummer Boy - For King and Country