How exciting to celebrate Christ’s birth again! This is truly our favorite season! Of course we’re blessed to live in joy year round because of Christ’s entrance into our world – intriguing since through Jesus the heavens and earth were originally made.
2021 has been an unusual year for us - two people who grew up in the rather calm fifties. Such social turbulence and medical confusion! Thank God we’re resilient as children of the King of Kings, Lord of Lords and so are you.
Our Personal News:
Praise God, Wayne, my husband, had a good report on his latest heart echogram! His heart function is back in the normal range.
We plan to winter in Florida again where we spent last Feb. and March. We’ll bring along our laptops so writing continues. Wayne spends several hours a day researching and writing. What fun after all these years of marriage – almost 60– to see him as an author. He has many people who look forward to his daily blogs. (E-mail me your address if you’d like to be on the list.)
While in FL we had a fun week with our adult daughters Tamara and Pam who joined us in March to celebrate Wayne’s birthday. We also had pleasant times with dear friends in Ocala. Can’t forget the beauty of experiencing Door County, WI in July. This October we celebrated my birthday in Branson, Missouri with our daughter Pam and son-in-law John. We enjoyed the incredible Jesus play and visiting Dogwood Canyon and other sites.
Our home base, a thrice-expanded cottage in the woods, is truly a refuge. We awake every morning filled with praise to live in God’s beautiful setting although I did become ill with Lyme’s disease for two months courtesy of a deer tic.
A few years back, I closed my marriage and family counseling practice of several decades. Now I’m now privileged to counsel countless couples virtually via YouTube videos on my channel which gives me great joy.
I sensed the need to be an advocate for children this year. I spoke at our local school board about the psychological damage that masking children does to them by creating an atmosphere of fear in what should be a safe place. Child suicide is rising at ever earlier ages and masking doesn’t permit kids to experience facial cues necessary for healthy socialization. Cloth masks, it’s been proven, don’t stop the spread of viruses and children rarely get seriously ill from Cov anyway.
We have no objection to adults choosing vaccination (although it’s been proven natural immunity is way better) but we oppose vaccinating children with an experimental serum when there’s no scientific knowledge of long term effects. Sadly we have a family member harmed neurologically by the J & J vaccine and we await the day when more research is done.
Over and over God tells us not to live in fear – it’s the most frequently given command in scripture. There seems to be something evil at work in the world creating tension and fear, but not to worry. Our God will right all wrongs in His perfect way and time.
I love having frequent conversations with Him throughout the day. Some of them evolved into my latest devotional God’s Near, for helping draw people closer to Him. Recently, I completed another new book in 2021, another children’s fantasy novel, Mystery of the Silver Shells - Book 3 in the Tommy Smurlee series.
I hope to spend 2022 reading and relaxing more and enjoying extended times of contemplative prayer. With 4 adult children and their spouses, 7 amazing grandchildren, 3 great-grands and a world gone wild, I have plenty of prayer opportunities.
We want you to know we appreciate you! We’re all in this together, simply trying to live our best life day by day. I love that Christmas is a season to be enjoyed all year in our hearts and with friends and family at every opportunity.
Our prayer is that this Christmas you will experience the rich emotion of deep unending joy. Joy, joy, joy in Jesus today, tomorrow and always is what Christmas is all about.
Sending love,
Judith and Wayne
