Merry Christmas Letter 2015

Merry Christmas from the Merrys!

We hope this season finds you and those you love in good health and thankful for those who surround you. Whether it’s the turmoil taking place on the other side of the world, or circumstances much closer to home, we can all be reminded of how blessed we are on many levels.

This season also reminds us of the undeserved love God has shown to each of us. While reading through Isaiah, we're reminded of God’s initiation of love toward us. One of those passages says “’Come now, let us reason together’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’” How amazing it is to be reminded that God first reached out to us. When we “find” Him, we are reminded that even though we were the ones who were lost, He never gives up on us.

Here’s an update on our family, starting with the smallest….

Vivien (15 months) continues to thrive and be a source of joy for the family! Viv had her open-heart surgery in January. Seattle Children’s has been absolutely amazing in how they have cared for her along this journey. We are so thankful for the many doctors and therapists working hard alongside of us. In September, we celebrated her first birthday – and were amazed at the showing of 140 people! She has become a lady of many accessories – most of which are pink! You may see her sporting her new glasses, hearing aid or ankle braces. She can bear weight on her legs a little, give you five with a bit of prompting and is learning how to clap.

Iva (3) has turned into the comedian of the family. Her funny one-liners and silly facial expressions always provide moments of levity. She has turned into an animal lover - both real and stuffed and keeps about 20 animals on her bed – all of whom have names and individual personalities (as improvised by Iva). She is our first and only child who has never been afraid of real dogs or any animal. She usually ends up chasing them around rather than vice versa. Iva loves to give out hugs and is always eager to cuddle with anyone willing to read her a book.

Lucie (5) has loved her first year in kindergarten. She is always an eager student and puts great detail into her writing and artwork. “Little Lu” is the most likely to make friends wherever she goes. She often come back from church or co-op saying “I met a new friend today”. She is never at a loss for meeting new people and sharing her contagious smiles. She is thoughtful and sensitive. She also loves any kind of crafts and looks forward to church and co-op for this reason.

Silas (8) continues to hone his engineering and chemistry skills in all he does. He always wants to figure out how things work. His creations usually involve flight, and he makes good use of any resources he can find. He loves to experiment with any new ideas he comes across. He’s enjoyed basketball and baseball this past year. Over the summer, he and Todd went on their “manly man” campout, where they built a homemade hovercraft – definitely a highlight! He is also loving piano and is very talented, creating his own songs and sounding out new ones.

Maggie (11) just celebrated her birthday and continues to grow into a young lady. She is a true leader and loves coming up with games and activities that all the siblings can do together. She loves drawing and can often be found sitting at her easel with a new creation in mind. She is also taking piano and is definitely a musical "natural". She is an avid reader and can often be found curled up on the couch reading. Certainly a highlight for her has been her friendships through co-op, basketball, church and AWANA. All of our kids are surrounded by great friends who love them well.

Molly keeps trying to squeeze every ounce of joy out of all the varying entertaining personalities of the kids, knowing they grow up fast. Savoring each moment brings both laughter and tears as life with five is both hair-pulling-crazy and delightful. As Jen Hatmaker says, "The baby years are short, kind of like five minutes…underwater." Toddler years would also apply. Despite having children in diapers for the past 11 years, knowing that these years truly are short causes her to slow down and take time to enjoy Iva's funny little speeches, kiss Vivien's sweet cheeks, listen to Lucie's thoughts and make sure she has time for good conversations with the older ones before bed. At the same time she knows she is better mom when she has some quiet moments to write, exercise and think, finding that these are the times when she hears Jesus the most and relishes them. She has spent more time writing lately and finds that the hours go by quickly when she is putting ideas on paper Thanks to Todd and the grandparents, alone time, as well as some girlfriend time to catch a rare play or dinner can actually happen occasionally. She enjoys date nights with Todd (and usually Viv) about twice a month and is often found scheming up elusive travel plans and dreams. She is attending a women's' Bible Study at church twice a month as well.

Todd continues to love his job at Medic One. The challenges of the job never get old, as there is always something more to learn in medicine. Homeschooling the kids has become another full-time career and source of great times with the kids. Though it is a ton of work, it really has become a delight to him. He still enjoys running and dreams of half marathons, someday including Vivien in these as well as she gets a little older and can enjoy the scenery from a jogging stroller. When work doesn't interfere, he has also enjoyed a weekly Bible study, connecting with godly men at church.

Mittens - We have reluctantly (if you know Todd) welcomed a brown and white tabby into our family. And though Todd sat down and had a family meeting to try to prevent her from being named Mittens, (since, as he pointed out, she does not have mittens and every cat is named mittens) he did not prevail. He calls her Mittenless and has shortened it to just Les now. She showed up at our door one day, received lots of strokes and cuddles from the kids, and has been back ever since. We held out for a while before feeding her but finally gave in. She did a good job in persuading us to keep her, because even after Iva picks her up by her head, or under her forelegs, carting her around, hind legs swinging, she is completely gentle and just comes back for more. She is our garage (not indoor) cat and Todd has conceded to put a cat door in. We got her a kitty bed under Todd's workbench and she is free to come and go as she pleases. What pleases her most is to sneak into the house and we occasionally find her darting out of the closet or out from under Lucie's bed. But most of the time we win and if anyone sees her stealthily creep in they start yelling and the chase is on! They are very happy to have her.

We have started to attend Highlands Community church in Renton and appreciate the Biblical teaching, the faithful believers who are rooted in their faith, the close proximity to our home, as well as lots of opportunities for the kids to be involved. Our children are thriving there and if they ever have to miss church or any activity at Highlands because of sickness, tears usually follow. We are grateful for where God has placed us right now.

Gran's 100th Birthday!

We had the opportunity to take two recreational trips with the kids and Grandparents this year to Port Angeles for spring break and Seaside in the summer. We visited family in Pomeroy as well, as Granny Melquist turned 100!and we had a great time celebrating. Todd, Molly and Viv got to take a few days away alone to Vancouver Canada. Next year we are looking forward to celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary with a trip to Maui. Don't tell anyone but Molly is also turning 40! next spring and considers this exactly what she would want for a birthday gift.

Vancouver

Seaside!

In a more philosophical vein, we have been thinking a bit lately about how Jesus wants us to understand that His yoke is "easy" and his burden is "light." The enemy wants us to believe two extremes. Either that walking with Jesus is not going to be difficult, therefore causing us to be disappointed when we realize that we do have a "yoke", a "burden" and a "cross" we must carry. But on the other extreme, he wants to make the Christian walk emotionally feel harder than it has to be. While there are seasons of the former, it seems like Jesus has been talking with us about the latter lie.

At this time last year we felt like we were barely hanging on, figuring out life with 4 kids plus a special needs baby. As we said before, sometimes life gets so busy that you feel like instead of daily asking "what should I do next?" we are asking "what should I neglect the most?" Living life this way often brings feelings of guilt and inadequacy, as if we were living irresponsibly.

We are learning that sometimes we make life harder on ourselves by thinking we have to be responsible in areas that Jesus may not be giving us as "burdens" or "yokes". Instead, we compare ourselves to others or take on things because of others' (and more often) our own expectations, rather than because Jesus is actually asking us to carry those burdens. It is so easy to believe the lies that our hands are tied and we have no choices or that we must do a certain thing because we think it's right when it is actually not something Jesus is asking us to do. This is actually pharisaical thinking. Mt 23:4 "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear and lay them on people's shoulders."

We are learning to let things go and ask the Holy Spirit what is most important for our family and what is just pride and self-sufficiency. This involves understanding our limitations as well as our gifts, creating time and space for margins for things we love to do and letting go of things that we don't. It doesn't mean that we don't work hard or do hard things. But it means we evaluate our life based on the callings and gifting that the Holy Spirit has given us personally instead of looking around at what others are doing and feeling guilt or comparison. It means evaluating everything and asking Him, "is this something You are calling me to do, or is it just an expectation I have for myself?" Even asking, "Do I enjoy this? Do I have alternatives?" is part of learning this wisdom.

When we feel "stuck" as if we have no choices or no way out we need to step back a bit. Sometimes He allows us to be in a difficult place for a season. If the burden and yoke seem too heavy to bear and we know Jesus has called us to it, we may not be receiving the grace that He is giving us to carry that burden or receiving the gift of His presence to bring us through it. But other times when we feel the burden is too heavy - it is because it is! It isn't His design for us to carry it. He may actually be allowing us to feel "stuck" because He wants us to re-evaluate what we are doing and think outside the box. As our focus is listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit about our calling, gifts and joy, we are learning let go of burdens. Again this doesn't mean that we don't do hard things or that there are no burdens or yokes. But it does mean we understand that He will give us grace for the burdens He has called us to while realizing value of throwing off ones He has not.

Abundant life sometimes feels like an overused phrase in Christian circles. Yet these are Jesus' words not ours. Sometimes hear something so often that we choose to waive it away or dismiss it. He said He came to this earth to give us LIFE. Not just regular life but life to the full. Abundant means, "over and above, more than is necessary superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon".

LIFE has been our theme this past year. As you may know, Vivien's name means LIFE. Celebrating her 1st birthday was a reminder of the life God has given her.   When we were first married Jesus spoke to us, first separately, then together through the theme of Deuteronomy 30 which is "Choose life". Those verses from our wedding still hang on our wall today. Finding our LIFE in Jesus consists of enjoying our relationship with Him, with family, with community, walking out the work and living out the calling He has set before us. At Christmas of all times, we need to remember that LIFE is the reason Jesus came. This life is freely given to all who choose HIM. It is the reason for Christmas.

We celebrate Jesus life and the life He has for us, this season with you.

Merry Christmas!

Much Love,

Todd, Molly, Maggie, Silas, Lucie, Iva and Vivien

PS - Enjoy the pictures of our 2015 in the post below!