Christmas Letter 2024

This Christmas letter is the most I write during this season of teenage years in my children's lives. Believe me, life is happening...fast. Lessons are being learned and the Lord has been in constant motion in our lives since our move from California in 2021. But with the kids older and active on social media themselves, and my own life filling in with other pursuits the Lord keeps introducing, I find my time to write is limited in many different ways. One day, I believe the Lord will write the book in my heart. Maybe He already has in all the journals I keep, but I trust His timing.

The internet is not real relationship. For those who read my words here, thank you. But you and I both know, if I were to never post another word again and share on Facebook or Instagram, most people wouldn't care. My relationships are in my home and within the six feet of influence the Lord orchestrates around me every day. I want to choose to engage there, not here. I encourage each of you to do the same.

But posting the Christmas letter is a tradition, so enjoy, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our family to yours.

Dear Family & Friends,                                                                                                      December 2024

When I sit to think back over this past year, the word that comes to mind for our family is growth. With two teenagers in the house, our life is a constant rollercoaster in all the good and hard ways. I’ve learned to rely on Christ as my seatbelt and to take the days moment by moment. It is a good, hard season, priceless and pressing, proving my Jesus faithful and true, over and over again and again.

Savannah turned 17 in October, currently tackling junior year with maturity and grit. I’ve watched her navigate volleyball, friendships, her job at Chick-fil-A, and the increasing demands of school with grace, determination, balance, and an indominable spirit. She shines even when the clouds loom. Thank you to those who supported her on her Guatemala mission trip. That experience touched her heart, and she looks forward to returning in May. I’ve watched her mature in her relationship with the Lord, digging into His Word, partnering with friends to grow deeper together. Her growth in the Lord is what has anchored her through tough decisions and hard conversations. He is the source of her joy, and I am so proud of her.

Weston turned 15 in August, adding another driver-to-be to our household. I’ve watched him navigate soccer, friendships, and relationships this last year where he has been learning invaluable lessons. He has grown in his ability to communicate with coaches, teachers, friends, and even his parents. He has weathered disappointment and success with a steadiness found only in scripture. As a freshman, he continues to excel in his high-level courses, motivated by his career aspirations. I’ve watched him purposefully seek to hear from the Lord and respond in obedience. The Lord is his anchor and firm foundation, and I am so proud of him.

Joey is my rock star. He rides this rollercoaster of teenage parenting right beside me, and we scream and raise our hands and grip tight through the turns together, holding onto to one another with the Jesus seatbelt holding us both securely in place. He has grown in his ability to communicate and lead our family toward Jesus. His voice in our kids’ lives during this season is invaluable, and he accepts and steps up to the challenges. There’s really no one better at having hard conversations. I depend on his authority and wisdom and trust in his leadership. At work, new challenges have presented themselves, yet he endeavors to always grow and learn from them.  He doesn’t give up or lose heart but looks to the Lord to lead his conversations and objectives, loving, leading, and serving those around him as best he can. We have both grown together in our marriage this past year, engaging in some intensive and difficult counseling, learning how to change and meet each other where we are after twenty-three years of marriage. I wouldn’t want to ride this rollercoaster with anyone else.

Me? Well, in 2023 the Lord told me to “cast a wide net” where my interests were concerned, and this landed me volunteer opportunities at the Georgia Aquarium on top of continuing in leadership with Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). But the biggest fish caught in that net was my part-time job with Amber Grace Community. Five years of praying for “what’s next”, of praying for a job I can do on my own schedule still allowing me to be present when my kids get home from school, of praying that job could pay me what I’m worth, and the Lord answered in only the way He could by providing abundantly above and beyond all I could ask or imagine. I just had to wait on Him, His timing, and His provision.

Amber Grace is a non-profit organization currently building a residential community for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities on Berry College campus in Rome, GA, and I get the honor and privilege of being their administrative assistant. Working for my aunt and uncle building a community for my cousin is the cherry on top😊I am humbled by the opportunity, in awe of God’s perfect timing and provision, and excited about what the future holds for this organization. Onward and upward, as we like to say.

Looking back, I can see how the Lord has grown me in my ability to be still, to seek space where I meet Him, abiding and relying on Him for my daily strength. He has grown me in my relationship with my children and my husband, but mostly with Him. Opening my home to lead Bible study over the summer once again, I experienced the firsthand presence of the Holy Spirit and how He moves to speak and teach and reveal truth in the gentlest, most affirming, convicting ways. He is not a God waiting to slam the judge’s gavel or poke around in my life like an inspector looking for areas of improvement. His Spirit is Life and Breath and Light. The more moments of my day I’ve taken over this past year to engage with Him in personal conversation, contemplation, and just enjoyment of His presence, the more peace, clarity, direction, and fulfillment I have experienced.

Friends, have you made space in your life for Jesus yet this season? This year? Do you have fifteen minutes at the beginning of your day where you can sacrifice some sleep to meet Him for tea or coffee? When your emotions swell and threaten to overwhelm, do you recognize them as phone calls from Jesus? He wants to talk to you right then and right there about whatever you’re feeling. Can you say no to scrolling, so you can say yes to staring out a window and listening for and inviting Him to speak to you? Could you take a walk together instead of watching a show? My favorite is to turn the radio off in my car, envision Jesus is along for the ride (because He is), and just talk to Him, out loud like I would a friend. Where can you make space for what, I promise, is THE most important relationship in your life?

He stands at the door and knocks like a gentleman. He combs the hillside looking for the one lost lamb. He sets a table for us in the presence of our enemies. We hear Him in the still, small voice spaces of life not the fire and wind chaos. He calls to us in our wildernesses and meets us in the fiery furnaces. He shows up in the quiet of Christmas night born as a baby in a manger. He pursues us, longs for us, comes TO us because He loves us. For no other reason than a love we cannot fathom but long to experience.

Christmas is a time to look back and remember and rejoice in our Savior who came in the quiet, in the still, in the mundane, every day, ordinary space of a simple night long ago. He came to live among us, be with us, usher in a new kingdom, live a sinless life all so He could die for our redemption, so we could have a way back to the Father who created us to enjoy His fellowship. Who created us with a God-shaped hole only He can fill, and Jesus paved the way for that fulfillment with His own innocent blood.

New Year is a time to look forward in anticipation with new hope, new goals, new resolve. As I continue to study Revelation in BSF, I am reminded to look forward to Christ’s return as well—with new hope, new goals, and new resolve. The Lamb born in the manger will return as the King of Kings with a fanfare and entrance this world has never known nor can imagine. Find Him in the quiet, friends, because the next time we see Him, you will want to be considered one of His own.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Luke 2:14

Grateful we are children of the Most High. Praying God’s peace over you and yours this Christmas season. Praying you find ways to make space, to make room in the inn of your heart and life for the Soon and Coming King.

Blessings from our family to yours,

Joey, Jennifer, Savannah, & Weston Durham

Refilled and Poured Out

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:7

 "Lord, all of You. None of me. Please just fill me up. I really have nothing to give."

This was my heart's desperate, quiet plea right before going on a mission trip. Before the trip even began, I was keenly aware I was leaving on empty. Emotionally, I was managing grief. Physically, I was managing sickness. Mentally, I was drained by the preparations for leaving my family at home to go and minister to others besides them.

My Jesus showed up. Every day in a different way, God just showed up. All week.

Looking back, I just marvel. I was drained in every sense of the word, but also filled with a peace, joy and satisfaction that only comes from being an empty vessel used for God's purposes. Life felt abundantly full, yet I was keenly aware of just how empty I was in all the best ways.

I remember a friend questioning me at that point in my life. She thought I was stretched too thin. She cautioned something had to give eventually. Right? Maybe? Maybe not.

What if our capacity for serving God and being used in His kingdom is simply a matter of how much capacity we allow for being completely emptied by Him for His purposes every day? By how long we are willing to sit still in His presence and be refilled for the pouring out? What if it's that simple?

People say, "I can't do that. I don't have the money for that. I'm not gifted for that. That's not my strength. I could never commit to that. I can't give up that. I don't know how I can make that happen. I don't think I have the time."  And the list goes on. I've said all these things at one point in my life.  

Enter truth. God doesn't fit inside a box of I that I create. I'm limited, but He isn't. I can't sometimes, but He always can. Where I am weak and empty, He is strong and overflowing. However, I rarely experience His abundance because I'm too busy operating within the box of I where I create and I control. Inside this box are the things I know I can do, the things I know I am good at doing, things where I already have the resources, and the things I'm sure of accomplishing in my own ways and strength.

I can live a good, moral, godly life accomplishing those things inside the box of I, but I only experience the promised ABUNDANT life when I'm at the very end of myself with nothing left to offer or give, and yet I still say, "Yes," to God's calling, ways, plan, will, commands. I still walk through those open doors of opportunity He presents even when it's scary and hard, and I have nothing to offer but a vessel willing to be filled by Him.

Today, I'm sitting in a season of refilling. For a type-A, productive personality, this desert of activity feels like a punishment. Yet, I know and trust my Jesus. This is not a punishment; it is a gift--a season of refilling. I'm in a place where I know I need more of Him and His ideas and His plans and less of mine. Oh, I'm still trying. Trying to fill my days and my time, but He keeps putting me right back in my home and whispering, "Wait. Renew. Refresh. Find Me with you here. In this space."

The seasons of refilling are just as important as the seasons of pouring.

I wonder how many of you are willing to let go, take a step of faith, and step into a yes to God in your life that does not fit in your box of I? I wonder what glory and power God will display through you when you do? I wonder how many of you need to accept your season of refilling and discover God's abiding presence in your desert of activity?

"Father, I know my box of I well. I know what I'm good at, where I can serve, where I can add to Your kingdom, but I submit to Your plan, Your process of renewal. I will wait, I will pray, and I will seek Your face, and should the day ever come again when the rate at which I'm being poured out seems too great and too much, I will cling to You in that day as well, knowing You alone can turn water into wine and make two loaves of bread feed 5,000. You are the Source and the Gift; I am just the vessel. Use me as You see fit, Lord."