This year marks our second Christmas away from home, our family and all of our friends at ROL and around Lethbridge. Things are a bit different this year though as we are celebrating inside the completed first stage of Rio Vista Guest House!
This room with the tree in it is what we call the "Common Room": this is an area where teams can come together while staying at Rio Vista and do Mission Field briefing and follow-up as well as a quiet room for prayer and relaxation. Eventually we will provide a computer center with Internet so teams can communicate with their families back home.
I am sure many of you are familiar with the saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" I write to tell you that it is more true than I could have ever imagined.
This year we are especially mindful of our immediate family, separated by a great distance between Canada and the D.R. Both Laura and I have extensive families with four of our own children as well as numerous brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces and this year our first grand-daughter! While I realize our decision to move to the D.R. would come with the sacrifice of limited time with our family and loved ones I must emphasize the condition of our hearts during this most important season. Even though we are here without our loved ones; our children, our parents, and our friends it is during this season that family is most on our minds. Even when we still lived in Canada our large, extensive family always tried to come together to celebrate the season. Maybe not all together, but whoever could, they did get together.
It should come as no surprise that now while we are here in the D.R., I wish we could have all of our children around us to celebrate Navidad in our new home. This year however, it will not be so. Our hearts look forward to the time when we can be together. I want to encourage our readers to seek out the time you don't think you have to reconnect with a brother, sister, father, mother, son or daughter. Make the time to include as many as you possibly can in your busy lives regardless of their circumstances or yours.
For Laura and I we will at the very least, be available to skype with all of our family during the Festival of Navidad. Later when we make our way back to Canada in the new year (No date yet!) we will definitely take the time to seek out our loved and immensely missed family; then we will take the time to deliver the hugs and kisses , gifts and blessings to as many as time will allow.
Laura and I would very much appreciate your prayers for our family, especially for our children Johnathan, Gabrielle, Forrest and Louellen;as well as our grand-daughter Liliko Rose.
We love and miss you all immensely
Bless you all at this special time of the year, Feliz Navidad a Todos!
God willing we will see you soon!
Mike and Laura
No comments:
Post a Comment