Merry Christmas to all of you! I know it’s a few days after the 25th, but Jesus’ birth is just as miraculous and glorious today as it was 4 days ago. I hope you are basking in the joy of that truth. I know I am! God with us has been a long-known truth of which we we have peeled back layers and layers over the past year and it’s been sweet to finish the year with this month-long celebration of Christ’s advent – the very thing that makes it possible for us to experience God with us each and every day.
We had an awesome time celebrating with my state-side siblings this year. We had my sister Martha and her daughter Simone for 8 days; Mark, Hannah, and my brother in law Ian for 5 days, and my Brother Joel, sister-in-law Mary Stuart, and their Oliver for 2 days. Danny and Kimberly and their 4 kids live down the street so we split the house guests between us and had a grand time. We SO MISSED Jonathan and Maggie and their 3 girls in S. Asia, and Mom, Dad, Micah, and Seth in Japan. Still, getting this many of us together for Christmas was quite a feat and I am so grateful.
numbers 1, 4, 5, 6, & 7 of 9 together at the beach!
the little cousins together with Simone before she left and Oliver came
Joel, MS, and Oliver.
(The kids were passing around a stomach bug by the end of our time so we didn’t attempt any group shots, in hopes of sparring him his cousin’s germs.)
I posted about 100 more pictures on facebook and Danny made this video of our time together… yes, you guessed it, it was quite crazy, but it was sweet insanity. 
One huge blessing of having so many wonderful people around and also being so busy making sure there were meals and plans and places for everyone each day, was that I didn’t have time to mourn Jonathan and David’s keenly felt absence as much as I would have with a quieter setting. Still, I went to bed each night in tears and ached and prayed for some “Christmas miracle” that would at least give us hope of them coming home in the new year. I so wanted to anticipate their entry into this beautiful and lively group of cousins who adore one another and and need a few extra boys to even out the mix (right now there are 9 girls and 3 boys among them, with one on the way). But my heart was so guarded and it’s so hard to hope after so many deep valleys in this journey to get them and hardly any good news these days.
Sometimes I ask God how long can I live like this? If we never get them will I always have this empty, aching spot in my heart? Will Christmases and birthdays and celebrations always remind me that they are missing?
I need to write an adoption update, and maybe I will get to that soon. We definitely need your prayers and I want to ask you to pray for some things specifically. Hopefully I can later today after I get all the Christmas decorations put away.
We send our love and thanks to so many of you who have prayed for us and cared for us so generously in 2011. We are so grateful for you and how you’ve shown us the joy of being in God’s family. I pray the Lord is with each of you and brings great blessing and joy and more of His presence in 2012.
