Thursday, January 2, 2014

Christmas Letter 2013

post signatureSo this year I tried to cut down on the number of cards I sent out, but with large families and an even larger pool of work folks for Joey--that didn't happen:(  However, some of you who may have always received one in the past got dropped this year, and I apologize.  I guess that's life.  No offense was meant, and if you sent us a card, I tried to send one back to you as well, so without further ado...here it is:


Merry Christmas (And now Happy New Year) Family & Friends!                                                           

Ah, 2013.  You have been a year for the books, yet coming to the end of it all, I feel so at peace and full of joy, expectant for the year to come.  Strange, considering I began the year with three months of intensive physical therapy because my back went out shortly after I mailed last year’s letter.   Happy to report I was back up and running the Gobble Jog with Joey for the 4th year in a row this Thanksgiving!   

The month of April was good, but it was followed by May bringing only pain in the loss of our beloved babysitter of five years.  I had known her since she was 12 years old, and she was an intimate part of our family.  At the too-early age of 19, God called her home.  Her death still haunts the corners of our days.  I have grieved the closest thing I ever want to feel to losing a child this year.  Our Savannah has mourned her passing so deeply and tenderly.  This still casts a shadow over our lives as a family, and only time continues to let in the Light of God’s hope and comfort.

In the midst of the grieving though, we did have one of the best family vacations ever in June—such a sweet time of healing with family, only to be followed by an unexpected foot surgery for me and two small surgeries for Savannah in which infections had to be lanced.

Uneventful is NOT how you would describe our year.

The fall season brought us many firsts as well: a new future sister-in-love, (Congrats to my little brother Mark on his engagement!), both kids playing soccer for the first time (hilarious!), the schedule of a Kindergartner and a 4K preschooler, two new nieces, a nephew and a “niece”-cousin, and Upward basketball and cheerleading to boot.  Life has been busy, yet so good.

Thankfully, Weston and Joey both stayed well with no major bumps in the road to report.  Weston did have his tonsils removed in March, but the relief it has brought him was totally worth it.  He turned four in August, and he couldn’t be more witty or charming or sweet boy.  He definitely made the transition from toddler to little boy this year, and we couldn’t be more proud of how well he’s learning and maturing.   His thoughtfulness and laughter add a warmth to our days that is so needed.

Savannah turned six in October! (Where does the time go?!)  She couldn’t be more smart or loving or exuberant for life in all her pent-up enthusiasm for everything.  Starting Kindergarten at Midway Covenant Christian has been as natural for her as I always thought it would be.  She loves school as much as she loves everything else in life, and she has definitely inherited the Bounds family trait of being good at whatever she sets her mind to do.  She lost her first two teeth and learned how to swim and ride a bike on her own this year.  I caught a glimpse of her lounging in the back seat of the car today, and my heart ached at how grown up she looks.  Such sweet joy.

Joey worked with a new market this year as a financial consultant and still loves his new life as a corporate employee.  His travel schedule has become more routine for our family, and we thoroughly enjoy having him all to ourselves on the weekends=)

But the biggest announcement for this year was only a pipe dream this time last year, and it wasn’t even on our radar until the end of May, but God has been working in our lives as a family, and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that moving to California in July of 2014 is completely and assuredly His will for our lives and our family.  We could not be more excited!!!!

This was a surprisingly easy decision to make, but only at the end of a yearlong process and journey God took our family through. Ultimately, God has been teaching us what it means to trust Him, how to trust Him.  He showed me through the study of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph that nothing is too big for Him to dream for my family or me. Then He showed me that He, Creator God, would give our family a big dream that He would fulfill in His time, in His way, for His glory.  And we started to get excited!  The dream that God plants in your heart is so much more exciting than anything you can imagine dreaming yourself, and living in the knowledge that we are exactly in the middle of God’s will for our lives is a very freeing and safe place to be.  Trusting God and following His plan for our lives is worth the sacrifices we have and will make with this move.  There’s just no words to describe other than all the glory that may come from our lives goes to a Great God who is truly Good to us in every way.

Yes, the yearlong transition stage is not fun, and it is hard emotionally for our family here in Georgia and for us. There are moments of deep sadness when we think about what we will be leaving behind for the years to come, but those thoughts are quickly followed by all the hope for what these years will hold for our family during this journey and adventure together as well.  We cannot express how deeply God completely fills us in the fulfillment of this decision!  We simply cannot wait to get going!

But in the meantime, we are here, serving faithfully where called, ministering as needed, training up two beautiful children (inside & out), and resting in the peace of knowing God is going to work out every detail to get us to California in His way, in His timing.  For those who know me, it is strange to find myself so completely at peace in having no idea what is going to happen next—my heart and my God just assure me it’s going to be good=)

So we ask that you please support us with your prayers.  Pray for God’s will for the right school choices in California for our kids, pray for Joey as he takes on a slightly more challenging role in his job with this move, pray for his and our safety as we travel often between east and west coast between now and then, pray for our family as we continue to weather the waves of grief that inevitably ebb and flow in and out of our days for so many reasons, and pray for me that God would keep my eyes lifted to Him in the hard moments of this transition.

And for yourself and your family this Christmas season, I pray this letter encourages you to put all your faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and His plan for your life.  I pray it challenges you to take the leap of faith and step out into the unknown when God calls you to do something that just sounds absolutely absurd, regardless of what others may think or say or how they might react.   Trust God my friends!  It doesn’t make one bit of logical sense sometimes, but we are having the time of our lives on the days when we can really live in the Spirit of that trust.  May trusting in the God who set the world in motion with just His words bring you to a place of safe haven this season as well.

This verse has been my hope and stay this year; I pray it could be yours also:
“Trust in Him at all times, (your name here); pour out your heart to Him,
for God is your refuge.” Psalm 62:8

Wishing you and your family all the blessings of this Christmas season.  May the reminder of His perfect gift to us in the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ spur you on in faith that He is the Giver of all good gifts and big dreams!  
Trust and obey/ for there’s no other way/ to be happy in Jesus/ but to trust and obey. –John H. Sammis

Trusting Him,
 Joey,  Jennifer, Savannah, & Weston


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