I thank You once again, Father, for the snow day last Tuesday. Since then it has been steady with work, a family Christmas yesterday and today, our normal worship services this morning but with an added Candlelight Service tonight. We will be able to catch our breath for a day before Massey comes home! We are surely blessed!
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This time of year, even with a change of vocation, is still taxing – physically, mentally and even spiritually. When we are weary, the devil doubles up on his attacks, wanting us to fall.
So, as I am want to do. I will take a short hiatus from writing until sometime after the beginning of the year. I am going to take time to recharge, to spend time with family, which as Massey gets older, is something Karen and I cherish more and more.
So for my last post of the year, I thought I would share our Christmas letter that we traditionally send out with our Christmas cards. My apologies to those of you will already have read it but to all a most Merry Christmas!
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It’s hard to believe that 2019 is almost gone; flown by and drug us along with it, willing or not! Our lives, as well as yours, I am sure, continue to be full to the brim with so many things that clamor for our attention. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to get it all done.
Karen continues to impact the lives of 1st graders, finding herself in her 18th year of teaching at Highland. I’m amazed at how she can motivate them to accomplish so much in the short time she has with them. Even children who struggle find themselves far exceeding what even they thought they could accomplish! She is a role model for what a teacher should be and does not get enough credit for her care and excellence! She is not an entertainer; she is a life changer!
Massey continues to keep his nose to the grind and hopes to complete his doctorate at Texas A&M next semester. He submitted his first journal paper this August to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers: Journal of Fluids Engineering, which is currently under review. He’s currently working on his next study and will be taking his preliminary exams when he goes back in January. He’s planning to start, finish and defend his remaining work by early May next year. He just recently got back to Aggieland after presenting at the American Physical Society: Division of Fluid Dynamics annual meeting in Seattle. He was quite excited at how well the talk went and at the questions he received afterward, not to mention the exploring and hiking he and some of his labmates did in the Pacific Northwest over Thanksgiving. They had a great time and we are looking forward to seeing the 1,000+ pictures he’s told us about! Because of the seemingly unending workload, he hasn’t been home since last Christmas, though we traveled to College Station to spend some time with him this past summer. We are excited to have him home here in a couple of weeks!
I have been out of retail for a year now and so enjoy my new occupation! It most certainly has its challenges, but I love the kids and I am coming to truly appreciate my fellow drivers and leadership – another family to love and another “church” to which to minister. I have never been a “crack you over the head with a Bible” kind of person, but my faith is there for all to see. I pray that the Lord will continue to use me in the midst of it all.
I continue my “part-time” responsibilities as pastor of the Beulah and Liberty Chapel congregations. Participating in an interactive group with pastors of other like-size United Methodist churches, I have recently challenged myself to ‘dream again’. We have done so much in the past through our ministry and in the last few years, it seems that I’ve just been able to keep up with the bare necessities. With the Lord’s help, I pray that he will let this old man “dream dreams” (Joel 2:28). Only He knows where He will lead us!
I continue to blog (morethanuseless.com) and have now made over 1,200 posts! Altogether I’ve had almost 38,000 views by nearly 18,000 visitors from 134 countries across the globe! God continues to bless my efforts. I claim Isaiah 55:11 NLT for its impact, “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”
We pray that you have sought out God in your life – if not He is diligently reaching out to you. We pray that His love and compassion fill you as you strive to fulfill His calling upon you – for nothing is more important. Merry CHRISTmas!
With a never-ceasing love! Thom, Karen, and Massey
Dec 22nd, 2019, Sun, 4:21 pm
