New Years / Christmas Letter

Blessings to our family, friends and loved ones in the New Year 2007!

Christmas has slipped by so quickly with so little preparation on our part - no tree or decorations. We dashed up to Urbana (IL) for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to be with David & Alicia, Jacy, Aspen, Jadyn, Treighton, Echo; Racheal & Eric and Zachory. We had only gotten off the road Saturday morning and spent the day shopping before we even went home. Sunday after church, we took a Korean friend to lunch and then drove up to Urbana. All the kids and Alicia were with the other side of the family, so Peggy and I took Eric, Racheal and David out to eat on Christmas Eve. David achieved Urban Legend status that night at ‘Crane Alley Pub.’ He ordered 12 hot wings. The waiter was excellent. He came 3 times to the table to ascertain how hot David wanted it. David made it clear he wanted the hottest possible result. The cook specializes in hot stuff and has a supplier of Thai and Viet Namese peppers. He pulled out all the stops and used up his entire store of peppers. It was entertaining for us all as David began to sweat and hallucinate, but he was determined to finish all of it (with breaks to go outside for fresh air.) Next morning was Christmas. The whole gang came to our hotel to open gifts by the indoor pool, and all the kids swam.
Jacy (who turned 10 Christmas Eve) was the winner of our drawing at Thanksgiving, to go with us to Orlando for 11 days. He left with us Christmas Day. We drove our car down home to the truck, jumped in and drove to Florida with a trailer to deliver in Orlando. We had planned for a long time to visit our friends from South Africa when they traveled to Florida. Isaac & Lillian Kekana were in our church in Korea with their sons Kitso and Sam. Peggy especially got very close to them the year she returned to Korea without me. She stayed with the Kekanas every weekend that year (2001-02) to go to church. Isaac is the S. African ambassador to Guinea Conakry. Lillian’s brother Bannet Ndyanabangi lives in Virginia (Washington, D.C. area.) He is a public health doctor and travels to the Congo every 4 months. Bannet and Margaret have 4 kids. We had a wonderful time with these families. Jacy bonded with the boys - all much older than him. We all went to ‘Arabian Nights’ - a spectacular dinner show with Arabian horses & riders in costumes riding formations in a central arena. We went to the Kennedy Space Center - us 3 plus Kitso & Sam. Jacy’s favorite new discovery is sky-diving. He saw an ad for $5.00 off, so we took him there. It’s a vertical wind tunnel to simulate sky diving. Very cool! Jacy is addicted - so he says. Peggy has promised to pay for him to jump out of a plane when he’s 15. We went two times to ‘Sky Ventures’ for Jacy. There was so much more to this vacation, but those are the highlights of our Christmas week in Florida.

Just today we got home - Fri, Jan. 5, relaxed and ready to get started on 2007, which for us shall include moving to a new house and 40 acres. We are buying Peggy’s brother Larry’s place. The past couple weeks including Christmas and New Years have been full, fun and relaxing. It seems we missed the traditional parts of Christmas because we have been constantly on the go. We are thankful for what God has done in our lives and in our world by sending Jesus to be born in Bethlehem. That message must not be lost in all the busyness and tradition of Christmas. We love the unlikely life God has led us into at this time - trucking. It has been an adventure, hectic, grueling and rewarding. The trick is to live every moment to the fullest on the road or off, to give God the glory for what He has done for us, enjoy the process, make plans, dream, work hard, always be ready to speak God's Word into others' lives - all for Jesus. I am not satisfied with how I manage my time or my life. Many New Years Resolutions come to mind, but God is gracious and faithful. Trust in Him!