A Christmas Update

These are a few pictures from Grandma and Papa's visit for Christmas. We had a great time and truly enjoyed our Christmas. It was nice to spend Christmas with family as we continue to grieve over our dear Ruthie. God continues to bless us with peace and joy. Jesus has been ever present to us, almost as if He has been carrying us this entire time. While this is a difficult time, we are learning that God is using this to draw us in even closer than we already were. It is only through Jesus that we have been able to maintain our joy through this Christmas season and praise the birth of Jesus rather than mourn over Ruthie.

We are thankful that God is so much bigger than our situation, and that he has chosen to allow us to grieve while not allowing us to suffer very long. Peter I 5:10 says "The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

This is the season we are in right now. The season of being made strong, firm, and steadfast. I am thankful for the grace and mercy of Jesus that has allowed us to stumble through this time, allowed us to ask questions and be sad. I am ever more thankful that He has picked us up and comforted us on His lap and has sent his Holy Spirit, the great comforter during our times in the desert. He has given us great strength to face the day. A song that has really spoken to me is linked in this blog. I am sure that you can all think back to a time when you felt alone, in the desert, and as if life has been hard on you. If this is you, listen to this song and know that Jesus is more than enough to carry you through your tough time. Through this, God still gives us the joy to praise Him for the good He is doing and allows us to worship His name knowing that any weapon that has been forged against us cannot steal our victory in life. Thank you Jesus. Our prayer for you is that if you are in a season of wandering in the desert that you will surrender that to Jesus. Give it over to Him, and let the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the very God who formed you in your mother's womb, remove the pain, the suffering, and loneliness. You are not alone when you know the Lord Jesus. He is a simple prayer away.

Yes, that is a castle on top of this car...we found this parked outside the zoo.

The light show at the San Diego Zoo