December news

What a joyous Christmas we had! God-honoring church services in beautifully decorated sanctuaries especially blessed our hearts this Christmas. The month of December began with a trip from Indiana to Florida. The weather was cold and rainy and we witnessed an accident on the highway that reminded us we are not truly safe anywhere in the world.

On December 4 we moved into D&D Missionary Homes and are staying in a nice two-bedroom apartment in St. Petersburg. It's very comfortable and we are able to work and rest sufficiently but about a week after moving in a very scary event happened. On December 11, Mandy experienced the symptoms of a heart attack. We live about five minutes away from the Tampa Bay Heart Institute and Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg and Larry rushed her to the emergency room. Initial tests showed it was not a heart attack, but women typically "hide" the actual effects of a heart attack so the doctors wisely admitted her to the hospital. The heart pain continued all that day and was helped with the treatments they gave her. However, the enzyme tests the next two days revealed it was, in fact a minor heart attack. They also did a heart catheterization and that test showed no blockages. The cardiologist concluded it was a blood clot that dissolved and moved on. We are so thankful that there was no major damage.

Our friends, Mark and Julie Pippin host a Christmas Party every year for the church family of First Christian Church of Seminole. About 50-60 people gather at their house for games, fellowship, good food and celebration of the birth of our Savior. It is one of our favorite Christmas activities. All of our friends have greatly blessed us since we returned. Our prayer is that God will use us to bless them as well.

Christmas day was spent in the home of our daughter and son-in-law. Sarah and Tim (Hayes) just recently moved into a brand new home in Kissimmee Florida. It was beautifully decorated and included a 9-foot tree. Mandy was able to bake cookies to give as gifts which is one of her favorite traditions. So we all gained a few more pounds from that and the sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie! We had a wonderful time laughing and reminiscing about our favorite Christmas traditions. It was difficult watching "The Christmas Story" while we had so much to talk about.

We visited two churches in Florida this month. On December 2nd we visited Chapel Rock Christian Church in Indianapolis and on the 9th we visited First Christian Church in Inverness Florida. One of the favorite parts of being missionaries is that we get to meet lots of interesting people and have made many new friends. God has poured out so much blessing to us through His people.