Blessed Christmastime!

Friends, it has been an incredible year! As we have just finished celebrating Christmas and look forward to what the New Year has in store, we are again and again reminded of what we have been brought through this past year. Here's a brief update as to what our Christmas was like:
- Aaron arrived home late on the 18th, as we were sharing a "family" evening with Chris' girlfriends' parents and extended family - a great start to the holiday time! SOOO good to have him home again! (He is doing very well in college, and is not having too much pain in his back at this time - PTL!!)
- I was privileged to be included in a luncheon for the staff that I worked with at the orthodontic office where I worked for 10 years up until the accident - they are still so supportive and encouraging!
- Christmas Eve was shared at home with our sons and Chris and Jason's girlfriends - a wonderful, quiet, peaceful and joyful time!
- Christmas Day was a relaxing day of good company, good food and a good nap!
- Sunday we had an amazing time of worship and sharing the goodness of our Lord this past year.
- Monday dear friends of mine from the arts community - my 'sisters' on the stage and in life - had an incredible birthday dinner for me!
- Tuesday Ben planned a lovely surprise birthday party for me! Even though I found out about it (he accidentally emailed the invitation to me as well!) it was still a fantastic evening. My sister and her husband and my mother came up from the coast for a few days, and it has been so wonderful having them here!!

I have to honestly say that I have never enjoyed a Christmas more than this past one, at least that not that I can remember. And I have never been so happy to celebrate a birthday - my 50th at that!! The only word that I can use to describe how this whole season of celebration has been is "thankful"! I am so grateful to my Lord and Saviour for allowing me to still be here and celebrate with my family and friends what He has accomplished in and through us this year. Although the stiffness/soreness are still there, and there have been times where I felt myself getting frustrated, mostly I've been able to keep my sights where they should be, and look to the good things that are a part of my life now. Because of the accident, I've been able to relinquish all of my outside commitments, and focus on that which is most important right now, resulting in the quietest pre-Christmas season in the last few decades! I thought I would miss the concerts, recitals, programs and all the rest, but I found it so relaxing! I was even able to do a few things that I have been wanting to do for a very long time - like making new Christmas stockings for the family, and some beaded snowflakes for the windows.  These projects and the wonderful food and other things that are part of our 'traditions' have all made this a very memorable end for a very memorable year!! Our hearts are full of thankfulness and praise to our Lord Jesus for His incredible gift, and most of all, for life!! I trust all of you have been able to experience the same, and that you will continue to look to Jesus for the joy of the season all year through!

Almost Christmastime!

Hey, friends and family! Sorry I let the Friday deadline come and go this week - with Aaron coming home, and in all the excitement for Christmas, it kinda slipped away! But what a weekend we've had already! It's so good to have all the boys home, and Chris and Jason's girlfriends as well. The tree is finally decorated, the new stockings are almost finished, and now we just need to plan and shop for the food! Our celebrations always include lots of good food - at least we think it's good!

It's been an interesting Christmas season. Usually this time of year I am very busy with concerts, recitals, programs, parties and so on. But this year there has been very little of that, and it's been good. There has been time to do things with my kids and husband, time to read and have coffee, time to sleep (!!) and just relax. Yes, we're still busy, but not hectically so. It's somewhat a forced quiet Christmas, but we're really appreciating it for what it's truly worth.

Today we enjoyed attending a performance of the Nutcracker, which was truly beautiful. I keep waiting for the time when I'll feel resentful or frustrated that I can't participate in productions like that any more, but it hasn't come!! I'm so thankful for what I do have, and for the many other things that I can do, that the other stuff just doesn't matter - honestly! I so enjoyed playing keyboards in church for the worship team again this morning - that is something that I find so fulfilling, and have great joy in serving that way, that I don't miss being able to sing. But I'm still working at it!

So as you all go into this week before the big day, may you also find peace, joy, love and a lot of good times with family and friends. And if you can't find it where you are, let me know when you'll be arriving here!!!

Much love, and Merry Christmas! May Jesus be the Reason for your Season!

Once more, home again!

Greetings from the cold north! Sorry that I haven't been able to post while we were away, but the internet connections were VERY slow, and quite expensive. So I had to make you all wait! But we have had an awesome trip, and a very enjoyable time with my siblings and their spouses in Cuba! Even though my luggage didn't arrive until 5 days after we got there, we didn't let anything spoil our trip. We had a great time of relaxing and resting, reading, snorkeling, and just having fun! We celebrated the fact that we were all alive and well, our anniversaries, and they even had the staff at one dinner sing me "happy birthday" and bring out a cake! Trust my siblings not to forget!! But it was also more than just a vacation - my sister called it "a vacation with a purpose". We were able to deliver medical and practical supplies to two doctors, an orphanage and 2 churches! We were also able to attend one of the churches, and shared an amazing time of worship and fellowship with them, even though we understood very few of the words being spoken. The pastor's wife translated for us, but the meaning and spirit of the service was more than clear! To see God at work transcends language barriers!

After arriving in Vancouver, I spent 2 days there having appointments again. I met with the urologist, the voice clinic, my physiotherapist from GF Strong, and the neuro-ophthalmologist. The urologist wants to run some more tests on me, so I'll be back for that in January. The doctors at the voice clinic noted that my voice has improved a lot, and that I am doing what I need to do to keep improving. The best news came from the neuro-ophthalmologist. My eyes have improved as much as they are going to, and so now he wants to have me see a specialist that will schedule surgery to correct them completely! We had hoped that they would improve on their own, but that's okay - the surgery will set everything back to normal. The success rate is 90 - 95 %, so that sounds great to me! It's day surgery done under local anesthetic, so it won't even be that bad. That will be scheduled for sometime next spring.

So we're back at home, relaxed, refreshed and ready to get into Christmas. Things were just starting to show up in the stores before we left (except at Costco, which has Christmas stuff out in August!), but things are sure in full swing now! Usually we are able to ease into the season - this year I feel like I've been hit with a Christmas sledgehammer!! But it will be a meaningful celebration this year, that's for sure. Aaron will be coming home next week Friday, and it will be so good to be back together as a family again. It should be the most restful Christmas that we've had in a while, as I am not involved in anything at all! Usually this time of year is so busy with concerts, recitals, church programs to prepare and be involved in, but not this year! So it should actually be a time of doing what we should be doing - celebrating the birth of our dear Saviour and Lord, and enjoying our family!!

We trust that this season will be as meaningful for you as it will be for us! May you find the time you need to focus on what is important, and to treasure the ones you love!

Bye for now!!

Just a quick post before we leave for our holidays! We are off to Cuba for 2 weeks!! We are taking some things down (medical supplies, school supplies, toiletries, etc.) plus some specific things that the church has requested. PLEASE PRAY that everything makes it down safely, and that the customs officials will not confiscate any of the items. We are really looking forward to visiting the church in Veradero that my sister and her husband have been in contact with. We pray that even there we will be able to be a blessing and a help to the local people.

So I won't be able to post for a few weeks, but once we're back I'll give a full report!\

Enjoy the snow for us!!

Home again...for now!

Once again we made the trip back from the coast today - well, today was only the drive from Williams Lake where we stopped to share the evening (our anniversary!) with friends and spend the night. Breaking the trip up this way sure was a welcome break!

We had a good week - Ben completed the work he needed to do on the file he was working on, and I had a great time playing! I even got to go shopping in Bellingham, Washington, for a day - boy, did I sleep good that night! We were even able to get together with my siblings and their spouses for a super (as always!) dinner at my mom's. All of us were married in November, so we had an anniversary celebration, leading up to the big celebration coming up next week when we leave for Cuba with the same siblings and spouses! It's going to be an awesome time that we are all looking forward to very much. It's been a difficult year, and somehow that makes it seem justifiable! But just to make sure, we're making this more than just a holiday. We're taking down some badly needed items that will be distributed to the local people through a church contact. Pray with us that all the items get through safely, and that there will be no difficulty at customs. And that we will have a safe, healthy holiday!

Back to our trip of this past week - I thought I should share that the drive from Hope to Williams Lake yesterday was a bit difficult because of the snow and ice on the road. We passed 5 vehicles that were on their side in the ditch and 2 accident scenes. After one of them, we simply had to pull over to the side of the road for a few moments to pull ourselves together. It's not easy to witness tragedy in any form. But again we focus on what God has done, the miracles He has performed in our lives, and how we may yet continue to give Him the glory. We know that He isn't finished with us yet! And for that we are so thankful!! So all in all, it was a good week, in spite of challenges. The upcoming week will be a busy one, getting everything ready for the big trip. Pray that our focus will not be deterred from what God wants to accomplish in our lives. May we never, ever be too busy for His work to be done!

Almost forgot!

Friday came and went, and I didn't post - sorry! Things are just about the same here, although I just got a phone call that my great-niece was born last night...the first great-grandbaby in our family!! So welcome to the world, Kayla!! It's a pretty wonderful place for now!

We are all doing fairly well, and rehab continues. Some days are still frustrating, but on the whole progress is still coming along. My workouts at the gym are now concentrating on making my gait (the way I walk) better and smoother. I've had some problems with the jerkiness of my walk, and am concerned that when the snow comes that it will be even harder to get around. So that is my focus right now.

An update on Break Forth - they have decided that we will not be able to share this year, due to lack of time in the schedule. Hopefully another year, though!

Ben and I will be heading to the coast for the coming week - business for him, some unscheduled time with my family for me! It will be so nice to be down there with no doctor's appointments to go to!! We are planning on being home next Saturday, so I'll let you know how it went at that time. Blessings for your coming week!!

Blessings...

Today I was sent a link to another blogsite, that of a gentleman who had a biking accident in August. He has a C2 fracture, and has just been moved to GF Strong. He is a quad and on a ventilator, but is confident that God is working out His purposes for him. What a faith! I was so challenged as I read his story. Right from the start he was strong and holding onto the strength he found through scripture and prayer. I felt almost chastised as I remembered my weaknesses and doubts. But I know that each of us takes different ways to get to where God wants us to be. I'm just so thankful that my Lord and my God was patient with me and surrounded me with people who encouraged me (especially my precious family!) to keep looking to Him to get us through. And Praise God, He is!! Pray for John as he transitions into life at GFS, that he will find the patience that he will need as they determine his treatment goals, find him his "rhythm", and adapts to life in the ward. There will be so many things that he will need to learn, and my prayer for him is that he will be a testimony to the many others on that ward that have so little hope!
This has been a good week for me - although Ben has been gone, and I haven't slept as well as I would have liked to, but I feel stronger again today. There are so many little challenges to overcome each day, but still the biggest one is to stay in the Word. I was again reminded as I read John's blog of how much I depended on my Lord and Savior in the beginning, because there was no other option. Now that I am again more or less self sufficient, it is so easy to go back to depending on myself. But it is not in my own strength that I can live this life, regardless of how well my body works or doesn't work. It is only through His power and His sustaining grace that I get through each day in a way that will bring Him glory, and that's what I'm here for! Lord, may I never forget that! Thank You for that reminder today!
Find your strength in Him today!! Hang in there! Judy (Ben comes home today!!!!! YAY!)