We were home the WHOLE month of December and it was good.
We continued walking five miles a day, praying for snow, and preparing for our family Christmas reunion: the first one in New England since 2015 and the first all being together for Christmas since 2019.
We had very high expectations.
Ministry events in December included Engagement Matters, the Patriots women’s study, and LOTS of counseling, but that left plenty of time for decorating the house inside and out, getting together with friends, wrapping and sending packages, sewing Christmas jammies, making gingerbread houses, and preparing for our long-awaited reunion which was to commence the 22nd of December.
Our first “fake” tree ever…which made total sense since we would be spending our reunion in Shapleigh, Maine, at a friend’s lakefront home.
But first: the weekend of Dec. 9–11 was Engagement Matters (EM). The December EM weekend is usually the smaller of the two EM weekends, so we were thrilled with a great turn-out and even more thrilled by the couples who came. They were a delightful group, thoughtful and interactive and oh-so grateful. We heard from many that it was time well spent and very beneficial. One of the couples had attended the April conference seven months ago as a pre-engaged couple, but returned as an engaged couple “to listen with different ears.” As they left, they told us they gained even more this time around. All praise is His!!
Hosted by Matt and Beth Ide in their Hollis, NH, home, our team of the Ides, the Blatchleys, and Kelly Plosker pulled it off like experts and made significant investments in the lives of the attendees. The Ides presented on finances and Kelly gave her “Top Ten Tips” talk and both were well received. The Blatchleys interacted, made helpful comments, and made sure the food was served and cleaned up after. We are so blessed to link arms with such servant-hearted, hard-working, non-complaining people.
The Engagement Matters attendees who carved out an early December weekend to invest in their relationship. A delightful group!
Paul and I taught four foundational sessions plus a session on temperaments.
Matt and Beth Ide did a great job presenting on Biblical values regarding finances.
Kelly Plosker presented “The Top Ten Tips” and, as always, was both informational and entertaining.
Carl Blatchley (back row) interjects some wisdom.
The team, sans Kelly: on our right, Carl and Cathy, and on our left, Matt and Beth.
Of special joy to us was having Kristyn Taylor and her fiancé, Trevin, fly in from Washington State to attend the conference. Kristyn’s mother, Stacey, grew up at family camp in California, so our relationship with her family spans about 4 decades. We were so encouraged to see Trevin and Kristyn’s hearts for the Lord and wisdom in their perspective on life and marriage.
The Patriots women’s study met three times after we returned and concluded with a Christmas celebration. It was truly such a joy to spend every Wednesday morning I was in town with these women. Such a privilege. I hated to see it end.
The last session with the Patriots women ended with a Yankee gift swap, which always evokes lots of laughs.
In between counseling and meeting up with friends, the great matching jammies caper began. Especially exciting was picturing getting a photo of all of us together wearing them this year. Sew on!!
Three bolts of flannel are now needed for our “there are no little children anymore” pajama sew-athon.
And gingerbread house construction: for the first time in years I had no “Elf on a shelf” to help with this now 51-year-old tradition. I managed by myself, but I hope it’s a stand-alone event.
The finished houses were delivered before Christmas, with one unfinished house to be done with the grandkids during the reunion.
In our fully-decorated house, it was great fun to host a few events. Since the mid-90’s, I’ve been getting together once a month with three women who bonded in my Mom to Mom group, now almost 30 years ago. I loved being able to host them on a cold December morning as we celebrated the birth of Christ as well as our long and deep friendships. Each of these women walks a difficult life journey with children with disabilities and I have nothing but profound respect and honor for how they’ve navigated challenging life circumstances. It’s always good to be together.
Christy, Pam, and Patty are heroines in my book.
It’s not often that the Macraes and we are in town at the same time, but when we discovered we were on the day we drove in to Boston to pick Lisa up, we dropped in for a short visit with them and their googly-eyed Christmas tree. Though brief, it was very sweet to hang out with such dear friends.
Doug and Julie by their googly-eyed tree, which must “see you when you’re sleeping…”
Though we were absolutely thrilled to pick Lisa up at Logan on the 20th, the fact that our reunion was beginning to deconstruct was underscored by her arriving alone, rather than with the 5 Garcias. Gabe had tested positive for Covid on the 17th. :( With great hopes that they would be able to travel the 23rd, Kari rebooked their tickets.
Meanwhile, we (Paul, Lisa, and I) had a great time wandering through downtown Boston, enjoying the lights and the ice skaters at Frog Pond. It was a perfect night.
One of our favorite things . . .
We took in the lights, listened to the bells tolling from the Park Street steeple, and enjoyed the not-too-cold weather for strolling in the night air.
We met up with John and Marilyn Nugent at a diner for a pre-Christmas breakfast the next morning and loved catching up with these dear friends.
A very fun morning at a diner was shared with John and Marilyn Nugent.
And we continued to prepare for the rest of the family to arrive. Meals cooked. Presents wrapped. Snow clothes borrowed (for the California kids). Amazon packages arriving daily for the Garcias so they wouldn’t have to pay for luggage.
We were set.
The Johnsons drove up from Northern VA on the 22nd and we all headed right to Maine to beat an impending storm, due to bring 1–3” of rain the next day.
And then we got the call.
Kari (who had recovered from Covid in May) tested positive. Truthfully, we were all pretty devastated (by what I know is a First World problem).
We know we’re far from alone in having plans canceled this season but that didn’t lessen our own disappointment.
So the non-reunion went on.
Just after the Johnsons arrived on Thursday, the 22nd … we were all smiles to be together.
The place we stayed was spectacular and a daily walk was both refreshing and challenging. It. Was. Cold!
We did all the things we had planned . . . just with half the people.
We made it to a wonderful Christmas Eve service at a local church.
We had our “Happy Birthday Jesus” party.
We read aloud “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” by Barbara Robinson as a family.
Rachel and Auntie Lili frosted the “namecard” cookies for Christmas dinner.
And we wore our matching jammies, which fortunately all fit this crew. Garcias eventually got theirs just after New Years. So that photo will wait . . .
Rachel was pretty thrilled and relieved to answer the door bell on Christmas morning to discover that Santa had found them at their vacation spot. It seems that now, at the ripe old age of 7, she’s pretty convinced it’s Papa in that red suit, but there was still a small percentage of wondering. (Notice that he did heed the “leave your shoes/boots at the door” rule.)
Rachel gleefully announces that Santa has arrived!!
He stayed long enough to pose for a photo with the “Littles.” And then he was off.
On a beautiful sunny and crisp day, we took one final walk before the Johnsons headed south.
And thank heavens for Internet!! The 3,000 mile separation was significantly reduced via FaceTime. Ana and Rachel did gymnastics “together” daily, the boys played Minecraft, and the families played “Wits and Wagers” and “Farkle” multiple times.
It was a lot better than the proverbial “kick in the head” as Mama would say.
Well, as they say, “the best laid plans . . .”
The sting of disappointment of our unmet expectations has subsided and Lord willing, we’ll all be together for a reunion this summer. What “was supposed to be” has been displaced by “what is,” which is a family that wants to be together and will keep working to make that happen. We are very aware of how blessed we are.
The new year entered quietly as Paul’s (fortunately) not-severe bout with the flu grounded us from our plans to be with the Johnsons and Lisa in NoVA. We didn’t make our traditional egg nog, nor did we see the “ball drop,” but not unsurprisingly, when we wakened on Jan 1, 2023 had come in anyway.
We have many great plans for 2023, but after these past few weeks, we’ve been reminded to hold our plans “loosely,” since there are many unknowns lurking that may cause changes.
It’s also been comforting to know that God wasn’t surprised by any of these things and that we can trust that His purposes are fulfilled by whatever ends up happening.
Last night the HIM Board met over dinner (except those on zoom … haven’t figured out how to serve a meal via zoom yet!) and as we enter the 21st year of HIM’s existence, we are overwhelmed with gratitude for each person who serves so faithfully on the board. We are surrounded by such quality, supportive, gifted people. So blessed.
We’re so thankful that God’s plans for them has included serving on the HIM Board, most of them for the entire history of HIM.
Two couples “zoomed” in and Kelly Plosker arrived after this photo was taken. How we love these folks!!
And so we press in to a new year with confidence that “man makes his plans, but God …”
What great comfort we have in knowing we have a good, good Father and we can trust Him with His plans.