Though we are coming close to the deadline, we wanted to write our holiday letter to you. In our usual effort to save a few trees, we are using electronic media, with the hopes of also reaching as many of our friends as possible. Thank you for being one of them and for reading this post!
What a year it has been! Every year brings new adventure and this one has been no different. Our family has been active in school, work, exploration and fun and now we are looking into increasing the population in the Johnson-Pierson house. (More on that later).
Our children continue to grow in exciting ways and
participate in lots of learning experiences.
Roland completed his first year of Cub Scouts and having left behind the
status of Tiger Cub is now active in his Wolf Den. He has rekindled his love of trains and we have
been spending a lot of our time lately at the Southeastern Railway Museum in
Duluth, Georgia.
Vivian has startled us all by entering her “tween”
years. (Who could have seen that coming!) She has rediscovered her interest in horses
and art, and makes horse drawings and paintings for all her friends and family.
Both kids are having a great time in school. They have been commended by both teachers for
the progress they are making and they have enjoyed making new friends.
Todd continues to do great work in our growing youth
program at Christ Church. He led them on
their first trip this year to Disney World as they took part in the YES – Youth
Educational Series – program. This
helped the group not only bond with each other, but grow personally from all that
they experienced. He continued to work
with them through the fall even as he battled kidney stones and related health
issues. Todd continues to use his
talents as a percussionist in our worship at Christ.
Nancy continues to pastor Christ United Methodist
Church in Roswell, Georgia. The
congregation is filled with wonderful people and wonderful things are happening
there. She continues to look for ways to
worship God and serve others both inside and outside of our walls. Nancy has been blessed through both this and
her previous appointment to remember that she can sing, and she has become a
loyal soprano in the choir.
This year, Nancy has also had several devotionals
printed in the Upper Room magazine. (The
next one is in the upcoming edition, on January 4.) She is praying for the time and energy to
continue to devote to her writing and her blog (as well as her cooking), and
praying for God’s direction as she moves forward.
An interesting new
addition to our family this year has been our new camper. Back in April, we bought a pop-up camper (the
largest we could pull with our mini-van), and have had some great trips and some
of our best family time in it. So far, we
have visited locales around Georgia and Florida and we hope that it will help
us explore many new destinations.
By far the most exciting
thing we have done this year is our application to become foster parents. It was, for us, nearly a year’s process to
take the classes, complete the forms, and have the home study visits. We have now accomplished all of this and are
waiting for our final approval. We don’t
know when we will have a child placed into our home, but we pray that it will
be God’s timing and that we are able to share God’s love in this new endeavor.
In this season, we
fight the common battle to keep our hearts trained in the right spirit; to set
aside the stress and busyness of the season and remember the miraculous grace
and love of our savior. We live in that
grace every day. The trick is to be
mindful; to be reminded in each day and each moment of the love of our God that
infuses our lives, and to remain thankful.
May God bless you in
this holy season of new birth. May you,
like the shepherds, perceive the presence of angels awakening you to the light
of Christ, and may you live in that love throughout the year.
Blessings,
Nancy, Todd, Vivian and
Roland
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