Dear Family and Friends,
As Christmas approaches (only 2 more days) we have been
thinking about presents. Some under our tree are beautifully wrapped…some just
pieced together. But on Christmas Eve when we open them, no one really cares
about what the wrapping looks like.
In many ways that should be how we look at life. The
inside of things is so much important than the outside. “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks
on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (I Sam 16:7) So we want to let you in on the “inside” of
our family this year. But to do that, you have to see some of the outside too!
Here’s the outside of our family this year:
v
Started
2015 off with a bang—another baby on the way. The girls were all excited. The
pregnancy, although healthy, was very wearying on Mom.
v
All
3 girls enjoyed helping out with the school play, “The Wizard of Oz”. Alice and
Mercy were acting in it and Irene helped behind scenes as “Toto handler” and
the Wicked Witch of the East’s legs under Dorothy’s house.
v
School
ended in a flurry in June and we left for an epic trip to the UK to see old
friends and reacquaint the girls with where they had some of their first years
(yes, Mom was by now 26 weeks along. She brought a cane for getting up castle
stairs).
v
The
trip was fabulous! Renewing old relationships, seeing how God is working there,
experiencing new places together as a family, boosting our faith by learning
about Christians from the past… all this was part of our never-to-be-forgotten
summer.
v
School
started up again and Alice is in her senior year. This makes for lots of
busyness with activities, fund-raisers, and friends. She has been accepted at
LeTourneau University in Texas to start her commercial pilot’s degree.
v
Baby
“Lana Kay Thankful Huseland” was born on September 20th…coming
conveniently on a weekend. J We are so blessed by this little one.
v
Mercy
continues on with her ballet. Irene is progressing well with her flute and also
was allowed to join the high school girls’ choir with her sisters. It is great
to see all three older girls singing together.
v
Patience
has adjusted to having a younger sibling and loves to make Lana Kay smile and
laugh.
That’s the outside of our family. The inside is a lot harder to discern, but here are some glimpses:
Ø
God
has shown Himself faithful through a hard pregnancy and taught us how to lean
into Him more for strength!
Ø
God
has shown us our own weakness and how He is sufficient!
Ø
God
has taught us how to love our family more!
Ø
God
has blessed us and thereby shown us so much of His love for us!
Ø
God
is giving us grace day by day as we take on the adventure of simultaneously parenting
an infant and a senior and everything else in between!
Ø
God
helps our children grow in grace and we are depending on Him for their
salvation and future!
Ø
God
has stretched Brian at school and given him new opportunities to influence and
encourage others with a Biblical perspective!
Although harder to see, these are the things that truly define our year. God at the center… God providing amazing experiences… God working in us to do what He deems best… as we learn year by year to delight in, depend on, and rest in His great goodness and grace. May God bless you this coming year with more of Himself, that in realizing His love for you personally, you may love and trust Him more deeply.
Love, Brian, Jennifer, Alice, Mercy, Irene, Patience and Lana Kay Huseland
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