Christmas Grace

This Christmas our prayer was for us to have a revelation of what it’s all about, and we were blessed with the knowledge that it is about our Lord’s grace.

Our eldest son Evan was stranded at the Vancouver airport due to heavy snowfall on his way here. He sat inside the plane for eight hours waiting to fly out. Skyping with him was the last we heard from him until he got to Bangkok. After finally arriving in Thailand he was placed on the waiting list for a flight to Chiang Mai on super-hectic Christmas Eve. He made the first flight out and arrived here 24 hours later than originally intended. The Lord’s grace allowed for him to get a seat and be here in time for Christmas.

Eric, our second son, took our motorcycle for a ride and its wheel was hit at an intersection by a speeding motorist. Another second and he could have been hit directly. As it was, he was thrown off the bike but survived with minor scratches and bruises. The teen who hit him spent the night at the hospital with a broken wrist and a battered knee. Eric could have easily died or gotten badly hurt, but didn’t.

We were all here last night eating our Christmas dinner. Not one of us was at the airport, the morgue, or the hospital, and being together as a family, we were all of us each other's Christmas gifts.


At God’s grace, at the very first Christmas, Jesus was sent to us so we could have him as our Savior. None of us deserve Jesus but He and God loved us way too much. Because of what He’s done on the cross, and the Holy Spirit, we can have abundant lives and someday live with Him for eternity in heaven. Merry Christmas indeed!!!

Best Birthday Ever

Since Evan was going to spend his 18th and first birthday on his own, we were naturally concerned that he might be lonely and sad that we couldn't be there with him. The week leading to his birthday, we started to pray for him, and his younger brothers earnestly asked the Lord that he would be blessed.



I emailed his roommate to see if he could somehow find a way to surprise Evan, but didn't hear from him. Friday (Nov. 14) was his birthday so Thursday night, (Thailand time), I asked my Bible Study group to pray for him. One of the ladies asked if I'd like her to contact one of her friends from Houghton to see if they could somehow bless Evan. I agreed believing anything was possible with the Lord but wondering if we were too late (Thailand just being 12 hours ahead of the US). Lo and behold, her friend no longer worked at Houghton but she had a cousin whom she then proceeded to connect with. Another friend was contacted and sure enough on Evan's birthday, right after we connected by Skype and sang and greeted him in the morning, the friend came around with a cake and a bag of goodies courtesy of the Womens' Soccer Team. The cousin later brought along some balloons! Indeed, the Lord blessed Evan through people he didn't even know, a statement that I knew the Lord wanted me to tell him. Evan did other fun things with his friends and possibly partied too much but in the end, he concluded that it was his best birthday ever.



We are truly awed by our Lord who has seen to it that our son is cared for much better than when we had him here with us. He undoubtedly loves Evan more than we do and is doing a great job taking care of him. Thank you, Lord. He is yours.