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Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!!
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“For to us a child is
born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
Merry Christmas!!! We always look so forward to this time of
year … Christmas!!! It’s the most
celebrated holiday here in our town!!! So much time and energy is spent on
lights being strung up inside and outside of homes. Trees are cut and decorated and placed in
front of windows. Cookies are baked and gifts
are wrapped! Every single store you go
into right now has carols playing in the background or festive items to buy or
stacks of candy canes and chocolates that are calling out my name! I just love it all!!! Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of
year and we cannot wait to celebrate the birth of Christ with our family and
friends!!! For isn’t that the real
meaning of Christmas!?! Jesus’
birthday!!!
We have a new movie in our family
DVD library and it’s called “The Star”!
It’s an animated movie but it tells the story of Jesus’ birth in such a
wonderful way! I try to relive the real
story of Jesus being born in my mind each Christmas!!! This is a true story (Luke 2) and it really
did happen just as the Bible reads! Mary,
a virgin, was told by the angel Gabriel that she was going to be having a baby,
the Son of God. Joseph, the man Mary was
espoused to, was also visited by an angel and told him that the story Mary was
trying to explain to him is true! He was
to marry Mary and become the earthly father for this baby they were to name
Jesus! I don’t know how these details
all played out but it must have been hard for these two to understand and not
question God. They were chosen to raise
the Son of God! The Son of God!!! They were also called to register to their own
home town, Bethlehem, right at the time of Mary’s due date! I can’t help but wonder if Mary wondered “Why
now? This isn’t the best timing here
God!!!” But, they obeyed and because of
that the prophecies were fulfilled when it was spoken years before in Isaiah
7:14, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him
Immanuel.” They traveled all the way
from Nazareth, Mary’s hometown, to Bethlehem, Joseph’s descendants home
town. (“And everyone went to their own
town to register. So Joseph also went up
from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David,
because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was
pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” Luke 2:3-5)
When they arrived the town was packed!!!
Joseph went from inn to inn trying to rent some space for the two of
them to sleep and rest and maybe even give birth in! Mary had gone into labor and this was
stressing Joseph to the max! He knew
that if they didn’t find some kind of protection and out of the wind and cold,
Mary may give birth out in the cold!
They frantically searched and finally one inn keeper said what they all
were saying, “We have no room. I am
sorry!” But Joseph could hear Mary’s
breathing getting harder and her contractions were getting more intense! The inn keeper finally said, “I do have a
stable. That’s all I have to
offer.” A stable??? Really?
That’s not the ideal place for a baby to be born but it was shelter and
a place to rest!!! Joseph quickly got
Mary to the stable and tried to help lessen her pain! That night, baby Jesus was born!!! (“While they were there, the time came for
the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a
manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” Luke 2:6&7) God sent an angel to a group of shepherds to
proclaim, “Do not be afraid. I bring you
good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been
born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying
in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12) The shepherds didn’t waste any time and they
rushed off to see this newborn baby, the Son of God!!!
This is the most amazing story
ever written!!! It’s true!!! It’s the reason we celebrate
Christmas!!! All the gifts, all the
cookies, all the glorious Christmas music … it’s all wonderful but let’s not
forget to sing happy birthday to Jesus!
To say thank you for coming to this sinful world to be born and then
later die for the sins of the world!!!
(John 3:16)
Christmas is also a special time
to reflect back on our past year!!!
We’ve been so blessed again this year and here are some highlights I
will share with you.
Michael: Mike loves his job, employees and office
staff! Lapp Structures is a company that
Mike’s dad started years ago and it’s been an honor for Mike to work there for
many years. Mike is the employer at Lapp
Structures and still loves to sell those barns!
He also really loves to golf and ride bike. He looks forward to a few golf trips each
year! He spent a lot of time this year
working at our new church building project.
Mike is such a wonderful husband and daddy! He loves to throw catch with Matthew in the
back yard! He bumps volleyball with
Hadassah and Ashlyn often! He gives
moped rides to Austin and truly loves all the time he gets to spend with his
family!!!
Lori: I’m the mom, the wife, the housekeeper, the
laundry service and really the one that just tries to make our everyday life functionable
around here! I have a husband that
supports me, loves me, helps me, holds me tightly in his arms and tells me “I love
you” every single day! We celebrated our
17th wedding anniversary in January!!! We have four dear children that keep me busy
and I love it!!! I still have a hobby of
taking photos of the children. I still
love coffee in the morning with a splash of cream but currently I’m all into
peppermint hot chocolate! My days mostly
consist of housework, grocery shopping, caring for Austin and being available
to serve my family! I’m also very
grateful for our health!!! A family
highlight was when we went to Sarasota, Florida, for two weeks last
winter!!! We had two weeks straight of
gorgeous, warm weather!!! We also got to
spend four days at my parent’s cabin in the woods in July and we thoroughly
enjoyed this vacation!!! We did
something for the first time as a family just the other week that will become a
new tradition!!! Normally, we go to a
local farm to buy our Christmas tree but this time we decided to go to a tree
farm, pick one out, cut it down ourselves and haul it home! The experience was so much fun and we all
loved Elizabeth Tree Farm’s horse wagon that drove us out to the trees and then
brought our tree back to wrap up and strap on top of our Yukon! We brought it home and got right to hanging
lights and ornaments on it! All these
memories are wonderful but most importantly my heart yearns to learn more about
God and experience Him in my life daily!!!
(Family blog: www.reallife-lori.blogspot.com)
Hadassah: She passed her driver’s license this summer
but not without a bit of a battle!!!!
Hadassah sprained her right ankle while playing her favorite sport
volleyball the night before her 16th birthday!!! Her right foot was so swollen and sore for
weeks but it did eventually heal up nicely and she was able to start driving!!! Volleyball is by far her favorite sport to
play and after playing well on the school Varsity team, she joined a volleyball
club called Blast. She learned tons and
really sharpened her skills in spiking the ball!!! We all love to watch her play and cheer from
the bleachers as often as we can!!!
Driving to her own practices and games is such a delight for both her
and me!!! Hadassah has taken on the role
of “bus driver” for our family! She now
can drive Matthew and Ashlyn to school with her each day!!! What a blessing this has been!!! Hadassah is a junior in high school and loves
all the social life/youth group life/ and friends in her life!!! She’s a great student, a healthy eater, a
teenager that tries hard to please her Lord and Savior and is beautiful inside
and out!!!
Matthew: He’s grown!!!
And is still growing!!! He’s
gonna beat me in height one of these days.
Matthew is an eighth grader this year and enjoyed their class mission’s
trip to West Virginia a lot!!! We bought
a four wheeler this past summer and he really enjoys riding on the fields around
us! He is also in charge of our five
family chickens! Five eggs a day is the
perfect amount for our family and he’s the one that eats two dippy eggs with
pancakes most mornings! Matthew played
little league this past summer again and loved every bit of it!!! The Tigers finished the season in first
place!!!! He’s getting geared up to
start basketball this week!!! Matthew is
a great kid, he is our in home babysitter most times and he loves to spend one
on one time with his dad and is so sweet to his younger siblings.
Ashlyn: Our “sweets” in now in second grade and
loving it! She enjoys baby kitties and
feeds the cats daily! She also loves
anything crafty like coloring, drawing, making bath bombs or slime. Ashlyn and Austin are best of friends when
she’s not in school! Her favorite hobby
is helping me in the garden! She just
loves to watch things grow and eat those fresh sweet strawberries and crispy green
beans! She bounces around the house with
such a carefree spirit and Mike tells her all the time “you are just like your
mom”! Her favorite movies are “Spirit
Riding Free” and “The Star”. Our house
dog Ginger lays at her feet each night as she sleeps. Ashlyn’s blonde hair, little nose and blue eyes
are so adorable!!!
Austin: His name is Austin but I gave him a nickname “Little
Man” the day he was born! I still call
him that most days. Matthew calls him
“Willis”! But I think it’s safe to say
that he really should be called “Austin on demand”! This kid has so much energy and always has a
demand of some sort! “Get me drink”, “I
need your help”, “Can I do your phone”, “Start movie” and “Get me breakfast
cake” are all very popular words out of this three year old boy’s mouth!!! His favorite time of day is when the kids
come home from school or when Mike gets home from work!!! He to loves his daddy so much and begs for a
moped or four wheeler ride every summer day!
Austin’s favorite place on earth to be on any given day is at his cousin
Adrian’s house!!! He totally loves to go
play there!!! Austin still has his
white/blonde hair and is tall and lean.
So many people say, “He looks so much like his dad!” We love his energy most days and Austin is
such a blessing to our family!
Please join our family
as we sing “O Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!” Merry Christmas and Happy 2019!!!
