Nelsons' Christmas Letter - 2004
Hello everyone,
We hope all is going well with you and your family. We’ve enjoyed seeing and hearing from many of you, and we wish we were better about keeping up with everyone.
The biggest and saddest news of the year is that Kathleen’s mom, Barb (or Bonnie) passed away at the young age of 62. She fell quite ill for several weeks before she realized she had cancer. After a brief stay in the hospital she went to be with the Lord on November 14th. Although we greatly miss her, we know that in 1964 she put her faith in Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade in Omaha, NE. So it is an incredible relief to know we’ll see her again. She lived a life of love and service, and the world would be a far better place if more people were like her.
We also lost Kathleen’s aunt June about a month before that. We’re often reminded of the verse that says that if only for this life we have hope we are to be pitied more than all men.
The kids are all doing well. Jireh (13 mo) is still thinking about walking. He’ll take two or three steps and then chicken out. He might be our “climber” out of the whole bunch. Guess what he climbs up to? The piano! Do we have a talented musician in the making or just a sixth kid that is demanding a little attention? It’s a fine line, huh?
Malia (3) is a really funny kid. Her hair is curly and goofy, and her personality is pretty much the same. She walks around with two fingers in her mouth and her stuffed llama shoved right up under her nose. (It’s actually a horse, but it is more fun to call it a “Dolly Llama” although it is becoming better known as “Stinky”.)
Keziah (5) is still very snuggily. She started some pre-kindergarten work this year and enjoys learning. A couple of days ago she asked Kathleen, “How do you spell, ‘I love you Bob?’” After spelling it out Kathleen asked why she was writing that. She said it was for grandpa (who she met this year), and Kath informed her that his name is Larry. I guess if you’re a connoisseur of Veggie Tales, Bob and Larry are pretty easy names to mess up!
Silas (7) is still as bouncy as Tigger and is a total joy to be around. Although he has not gotten chubby yet, he still has a strange obsession with food. It was Kez’s birthday a couple of days ago and Silas was sitting in the living room, and looking very withdrawn and contemplative. Steve asked him what he was thinking about and he looked up and just said, “Cake.” I guess the concerns of a second grader don’t reach real deep.
Hope (9) is a sweetheart and is in third grade. She has really become mom’s helper, and is becoming a great babysitter. Hope is also learning how to cook, and can even bake a cake by herself (which I suppose pretty much makes her a super hero to Silas). She has definitely taken her position as the oldest daughter. Mom and she went to their first fancy “ladies only” party, an elegant Christmas tea at our church. Both of them loved the special time together.
Blaise (11) is really growing up. He can actually carry dad on his back for a few feet although it might still be a while before he can out wrestle him. He’s in the fifth grade and is an avid reader. Blaise has also been serving in church by helping run the Power Point. That’s a job that is much harder than it looks, and it can lead to some quite stressful situations…but he’s hanging in there.
Both Hope and Blaise enjoy getting up in the mornings and spending some time reading the Bible with Dad and some friends from church. The oldest four are also working on memorizing verses for a program at church, and they have a lot of fun doing that.
Kathleen has been busy home schooling the oldest three (or so), and trying to stay on top of the others. It’s a challenging task, but she does a great job. She has also enjoyed teaching a class on motherhood. She has consistently taught her class for the entire year now (twice per month) and has been able to both teach and learn a lot. Motherhood is a consuming and rewarding undertaking that is very life consuming, but she wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Steve has pastored at Summitview for nine years now and cherishes the opportunity to work with people. He is still studying Spanish and hopes to minister in that realm some day. As an offshoot of Kath’s Motherhood Class he also started sending out some weekly parenting e-mails to encourage parents. If you’d like to be on his mailing list you can e-mail him. You can also read the past articles at http://premeditatedparenting.blogspot.com/.
We’ve been married for 14 years now and someone recently commented that we’ve had it pretty hard. It is true that we’ve gone through three miscarriages, the loss of a baby during delivery, the early passing of two of our parents, and we’ve received numerous other bumps and bruises along the way. Of course, in another light, we’ve been really blessed. We have a wonderful marriage and have enjoyed the privilege of raising six of God’s little ones. Ultimately, our joy comes not from our circumstances, whether good or bad, but from knowing the Lord. Life will probably throw a few more curve balls our way, but one thing is certain. God loves us enough to send Jesus to live among us and die for us. There’s nothing more important than that, is there?
We hope you all have a great Christmas season and we look forward to the next time we hear from you.
Love,
The Nelsons <><
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We hope all is going well with you and your family. We’ve enjoyed seeing and hearing from many of you, and we wish we were better about keeping up with everyone.
The biggest and saddest news of the year is that Kathleen’s mom, Barb (or Bonnie) passed away at the young age of 62. She fell quite ill for several weeks before she realized she had cancer. After a brief stay in the hospital she went to be with the Lord on November 14th. Although we greatly miss her, we know that in 1964 she put her faith in Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade in Omaha, NE. So it is an incredible relief to know we’ll see her again. She lived a life of love and service, and the world would be a far better place if more people were like her.
We also lost Kathleen’s aunt June about a month before that. We’re often reminded of the verse that says that if only for this life we have hope we are to be pitied more than all men.
The kids are all doing well. Jireh (13 mo) is still thinking about walking. He’ll take two or three steps and then chicken out. He might be our “climber” out of the whole bunch. Guess what he climbs up to? The piano! Do we have a talented musician in the making or just a sixth kid that is demanding a little attention? It’s a fine line, huh?
Malia (3) is a really funny kid. Her hair is curly and goofy, and her personality is pretty much the same. She walks around with two fingers in her mouth and her stuffed llama shoved right up under her nose. (It’s actually a horse, but it is more fun to call it a “Dolly Llama” although it is becoming better known as “Stinky”.)
Keziah (5) is still very snuggily. She started some pre-kindergarten work this year and enjoys learning. A couple of days ago she asked Kathleen, “How do you spell, ‘I love you Bob?’” After spelling it out Kathleen asked why she was writing that. She said it was for grandpa (who she met this year), and Kath informed her that his name is Larry. I guess if you’re a connoisseur of Veggie Tales, Bob and Larry are pretty easy names to mess up!
Silas (7) is still as bouncy as Tigger and is a total joy to be around. Although he has not gotten chubby yet, he still has a strange obsession with food. It was Kez’s birthday a couple of days ago and Silas was sitting in the living room, and looking very withdrawn and contemplative. Steve asked him what he was thinking about and he looked up and just said, “Cake.” I guess the concerns of a second grader don’t reach real deep.
Hope (9) is a sweetheart and is in third grade. She has really become mom’s helper, and is becoming a great babysitter. Hope is also learning how to cook, and can even bake a cake by herself (which I suppose pretty much makes her a super hero to Silas). She has definitely taken her position as the oldest daughter. Mom and she went to their first fancy “ladies only” party, an elegant Christmas tea at our church. Both of them loved the special time together.
Blaise (11) is really growing up. He can actually carry dad on his back for a few feet although it might still be a while before he can out wrestle him. He’s in the fifth grade and is an avid reader. Blaise has also been serving in church by helping run the Power Point. That’s a job that is much harder than it looks, and it can lead to some quite stressful situations…but he’s hanging in there.
Both Hope and Blaise enjoy getting up in the mornings and spending some time reading the Bible with Dad and some friends from church. The oldest four are also working on memorizing verses for a program at church, and they have a lot of fun doing that.
Kathleen has been busy home schooling the oldest three (or so), and trying to stay on top of the others. It’s a challenging task, but she does a great job. She has also enjoyed teaching a class on motherhood. She has consistently taught her class for the entire year now (twice per month) and has been able to both teach and learn a lot. Motherhood is a consuming and rewarding undertaking that is very life consuming, but she wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Steve has pastored at Summitview for nine years now and cherishes the opportunity to work with people. He is still studying Spanish and hopes to minister in that realm some day. As an offshoot of Kath’s Motherhood Class he also started sending out some weekly parenting e-mails to encourage parents. If you’d like to be on his mailing list you can e-mail him. You can also read the past articles at http://premeditatedparenting.blogspot.com/.
We’ve been married for 14 years now and someone recently commented that we’ve had it pretty hard. It is true that we’ve gone through three miscarriages, the loss of a baby during delivery, the early passing of two of our parents, and we’ve received numerous other bumps and bruises along the way. Of course, in another light, we’ve been really blessed. We have a wonderful marriage and have enjoyed the privilege of raising six of God’s little ones. Ultimately, our joy comes not from our circumstances, whether good or bad, but from knowing the Lord. Life will probably throw a few more curve balls our way, but one thing is certain. God loves us enough to send Jesus to live among us and die for us. There’s nothing more important than that, is there?
We hope you all have a great Christmas season and we look forward to the next time we hear from you.
Love,
The Nelsons <><
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
posted by Steve Nelson at 2:05 AM
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