Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
It seems as if Christmas was just yesterday, and here we are through Lent (Matt's favorite season of the church year) and to Easter!
Matt has begun his last quarter of classes of his second year at the seminary, which means that we are only a short month away from discovering where we will be placed for Matt's vicarage. We are getting very excited and a little nervous.
During her spring break, Megan helped throw her sister, Shana, a bridal shower. She also spent time with the rest of her family; even Lani and Evan came down to help with the shower. Evan is really growing up fast! He loves to talk (sometimes in words that are comprehendible!), give kisses, and tickle! There was a lot of sister bonding, something Megan will miss dearly next year.
Matt is continuing to impress the congregation at Wood River with his developing preaching skills. He gave another moving sermon on Good Friday in front of a large family audience. Lora was quite impressed that he had the whole sermon memorized and didn't have to look at the printed version once.
Stay tuned for an end-of-the-school-year update and vicarage details to arrive in the coming months. May the joy of our risen Lord be yours!
June 2008
I know we promised an update sooner...but things just got really busy as the school year was winding down and we prepared to move.
So here is a summary of the things that have been keeping us tied up:
In April we received our vicarage placement. California-Nevada-Hawaii District, Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Milpitas, California. The nightmares Megan was having about nowhere-North Dakota could finally be put to rest. The service was beautifully done and we had family there to help us celebrate. The pastor from our new church, Nate Hartke, even flew out to meet us! Here are some pictures from Call Day.
Pastor Nate
Mom and Dad Tindall
Dad Baye
Sem Friends
After we found out where we were going to be spending our next year together the planning and packing began. We knew we would have a short summer in St. Louis because Matt had to be in California by the first week in July. So as the school year was winding down for both of us we tried spending as much time as we could with friends and family and started packing up our apartment a few boxes at a time. We also celebrated Shana and Kyle's wedding on June 7, and Megan's cousin Danielle and her husband Matt were married two weeks later. Sandwiched between the weddings we spent our time getting ready for and teaching VBS at St. Paul in Wood River. And before we knew it, moving day was upon us. Thankfully everything went smoothly--all the packing was done before the truck arrived, the rain held off until everything was on the truck, and it stopped again when we had to unload it at storage. Saying goodbye was hard--we will miss our family and friends very much in the coming year! 
Our roadtrip to California was also very blessed. We had beautiful weather for most of the trip and no car troubles! We were able to do some sight-seeing and vacationing along our way: we spent a day at the Grand Canyon, a few days with Megan's college roommate Alison and her husband Roger, we drove through Hoover Dam, and spent a few days in Las Vegas as well. Here's a look at some of our traveling
Somewhere in New Mexico--the beginning of mountains. There were a lot of signs for construction, but thankfully not a lot of work that held us up.
The Grand Canyon (South Rim)
Megan and Matt at the Grand Canyon
Megan and Alison Baum--she looks great for being 8 months pregnant!
We saw a lot of cacti in Arizona
Hoover Dam
Red Rock Canyon (near Las Vegas) and the car that made the voyage.
Matt and Megan at Red Rock Canyon
We drove on the strip in Vegas--lots to see and very impressive architecture.
We watched the fountains in front of the Bellagio.
These are the golden hills of California--not the ones being devoured by fires.
Our new church, Mount Olive, had a fully furnished apartment ready for us when we arrived. This is the front door to our new home. It's the bottom unit and one of eight in this building. There is a pool and hot tub located behind the leasing office. Our apartment has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, dining room, and a washer and dryer.
Our new bedroom
Matt is testing out our comfy couch. Also a peek into the dining room.
Matt is testing out our comfy couch. Also a peek into the dining room.
We are continuing to discover just how blessed we are to be here with our new family in Milpitas/San Jose. Everyone we meet welcomes us with open arms, and we look forward to the year we have with them.July 2008
One month down, eleven to go. It is incredible how fast July passed by! We have been adjusting to our new surroundings and settling in to our new home.
Matt was officially installed on July 13. He has been working long hours during the week and impressing the congregation with his preaching and teaching on Sunday mornings, but we are finding time to do some fun things in the area too.
We watched fireworks in Milpitas on July 4th with the Hartkes and some other members from the church we were meeting for the first time.
One month down, eleven to go. It is incredible how fast July passed by! We have been adjusting to our new surroundings and settling in to our new home.
Matt was officially installed on July 13. He has been working long hours during the week and impressing the congregation with his preaching and teaching on Sunday mornings, but we are finding time to do some fun things in the area too.
We watched fireworks in Milpitas on July 4th with the Hartkes and some other members from the church we were meeting for the first time.
Adam, one of the congregation members we met on the 4th offered to take us to The City, so we spent an evening in San Francisco admiring the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and Pier 39. We also indulged in a sundae from Ghirardelli's. Mmm mmm good!
Dennis Bunte came to visit--and to meet Matt for the first time. He came with some gifts: a lemon bush and a fir. Hopefully Megan's thumb turns a little greener or those plants will not make it back to St. Louis! We went to lunch with DB to Gordon Biersch, a brewery in downtown San Jose that had good beer and amazing garlic fries.
We took a road trip through some mountains (on which we found out that both Matt and Megan get motion sick...) and spent an afternoon with the senior youth group on their houseboat retreat at Lake Berryessa. Matt impressed the high school kids with his inner tubing abilities.Both Matt and Megan were volunteers at Mount Olive's VBS... just a few short weeks after helping out with VBS at St. Paul back in Wood River. The week was very impressive with over 200 kids and 80 volunteers. Not to mention that most of the kids from the community were Asian and only spoke English as a second language.
We experienced the beach at Santa Cruz with the junior and senior youth groups as chaperones/drivers. We saw a sea lion swimming a little off shore as we took a walk along the waves. The water was way too cold for swimming; although, most of the kids enjoyed splashing around even if they came out with purple lips.
Chris and Cheryl Ng, Mt. Olive's previous vicar and his wife, were still in the area and invited us to dinner with them at Firefly, a very unique restaurant in San Francisco. It was nice to meet them and talk about their experiences last year.We also helped out at a lock-in for the senior youth... but we clocked out at about 2:30 a.m. It's just not as easy to stay up all night as it was in college.
Matt played on Mount Olive's co-ed slow pitch softball team. They played on Monday nights through the end of July and ended their season losing in the first round of playoffs. But the team celebrated the fun they had and closed off the season with a pizza party.
The last weekend in July is a special event in Gilroy, California... the Garlic Festival! Matt and I were curious, to say the least, and had also heard some good reviews. We made it through the traffic and came upon what felt like a county fair devoted to garlic. They even had garlic ice cream, which we decided we had to try....not our best decision.
We celebrated our second anniversary on July 29. Matt took off from work a little early and surprised Megan with a beautiful bouquet of roses. We ate a delicious meal at Red Lobster and then rented some movies to enjoy at home.
The president of the congregation gave Matt some tickets to a Giants-Dodgers game. We took BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) for the first time, made our way downtown and enjoyed AT&T Park and some baseball.
Megan has been enjoying occasional Starbucks dates with Laura Hartke, the pastor's wife. She is relieved to have someone to relate with and talk about seminary and ministry experiences as well as teaching.Our list of things to do and see keeps growing and we hope we can get them all in before we head back to the Midwest.
August 2008
As the month of August ends and the new school year begins Megan finds herself missing the crazy last-minute preparations of getting a classroom ready and making sure she has enough copies of her syllabus. We knew that this move would mean Megan would be finding a new job. And after many prayers and searching (and a few recommendations from some church members) Megan has some part-time work. She is tutoring at Sylvan Learning Center in Fremont and will soon be subbing at Merryhill Elementary School. Yes, elementary school. Megan is a little apprehensive about going from teaching high school math to teaching every subject to kids as young as 5. God is definitely using this experience to stretch and grow her.
This past month was not quite as packed with exciting events as July was, but we found some time to have some fun.
Matt bought some tickets for the 49ers-Packers preseason game on August 16th. We made our way down to Candlestick Park and watched a not-so-impressive football game. Hopefully Aaron Rodgers and the line can pull it together before the season begins!
As the month of August ends and the new school year begins Megan finds herself missing the crazy last-minute preparations of getting a classroom ready and making sure she has enough copies of her syllabus. We knew that this move would mean Megan would be finding a new job. And after many prayers and searching (and a few recommendations from some church members) Megan has some part-time work. She is tutoring at Sylvan Learning Center in Fremont and will soon be subbing at Merryhill Elementary School. Yes, elementary school. Megan is a little apprehensive about going from teaching high school math to teaching every subject to kids as young as 5. God is definitely using this experience to stretch and grow her.
This past month was not quite as packed with exciting events as July was, but we found some time to have some fun.
Matt bought some tickets for the 49ers-Packers preseason game on August 16th. We made our way down to Candlestick Park and watched a not-so-impressive football game. Hopefully Aaron Rodgers and the line can pull it together before the season begins!
We made it to another Giants game as well. This one was in the afternoon, and our seats were in the sun. We forgot our sunscreen. The rest of that week was not so fun.We also had a wedding in the church--the DCE was married to a member of the congregation. California weddings are not quite the same as Midwest weddings.
For Labor Day weekend we took a picnic lunch to a park nearby that had a disc golf course too. Matt is planning an event with the church to go disc golfing and wants to try out all the courses in the area before then. We had a beautiful day for it and enjoyed some time outdoors with each other.
Matt had a couple "firsts" this month as well. Pastor Nate and his family went on vacation so Matt was able to lead church here for the first time all by himself. He also got to run the staff meetings. After Nate got back, Matt also got his first experience with an emergency hospital visit. One of our members had a heart attack while mowing his grass. He was in the hospital and on life support for a week before he went home to heaven. The joys of being a pastor are not always so joyful.September 2008
It's hard to believe that a whole month has passed by since I've last posted an update. Our time here in California is speeding by quickly!
Some of the things that kept us busy this month included a special potluck dinner at Jack (a retired pastor and a member at Mt. Olive) and Arlene's house where we met Roy Pina and several people from Round Valley, an Indian Reservation in northern California. A few weeks after the potluck, in celebration of Jack's 80th birthday, he sponsored a dinner auction for Roy, who is on studying toward ordination while he serves as a lay preacher at a church in Round Valley--with no pay. Ordination will allow Roy to administer the sacraments. The great thing about Roy being a pastor in Round Valley is that he is from Round Valley. Outsiders often have a difficult time earning the trust of the residents, due largely to the history behind their being moved to the reservation in the 1800s.
It was very interesting to meet the people from Round Valley and to hear their story.
Also in September, we were invited to dinner with the Wongs--another family in the congregation. Devonna was a superb hostess and prepared a very fine spread of Asian cuisine for us. She had seven dishes for the main course--chicken and black beans, chinese broccoli, shrimp and snow peas, sweet and sour pork, chinese noodles with pork, steamed black mushrooms,and ginger broccoli and beef... all served with white rice. And for dessert--because it was the Chinese Moon Festival--we had moon cakes. Everything was very delicious! We had a great time getting to know the family as well.
Matt attended the Greater Bay Area Men's Retreat, centered on the theme "Living our lives inside out." Rev. Bob Newton, the president of the CNH district, was the keynote speaker. Matt had the opportunity to lead one of the morning Bible studies at the retreat. He had a really good time, played hard, and came back sore.
Mount Olive also had its church picnic in September. Megan was involved in the planning and preparation to get the food ready for the day. It was a little stressful planning a meal for 200 people, but a lot of people turned up to help and stayed to clean up too. All things considered, the day was fun and no one went hungry.
Matt continues to deliver good and interesting sermons. He especially enjoys teaching Bible study. This month he taught a 3-week class on Ephesians. He is starting up a 6-week series on Matthew in October. But the Matthew class will not be on Sunday mornings. You see, Mount Olive has a growing problem. Well, not so much a problem as a blessing... Their attendance is up and they and will be switching from 2 to 3 services on Sunday mornings. That means that the Sunday School/education hour can only be taught by lay people, so Matt will teach his Bible study class on Tuesday nights.
Megan is blessed to be working--now at three different places. She is at Sylvan three times a week, on-call for subbing at Merryhill Elementary, and most recently is also tutoring at Milpitas Christian School twice a week. She had her first subbing opportunity a few weeks ago in a kindergarten classroom. Only one little boy cried, one girl asked when she could get her real teacher back and if the teacher's aid could teach the rest of the day, another couldn't figure out how to tie her shoes, a few of them picked their noses, and a few gave Megan some hugs. It was a crazy and exhausting day to say the least, and Megan is affirmed in her decison to not be an early childhood teacher.
And a few exciting things that started off the month of October:
Megan attended the Women of Faith convention that was in San Jose and was able to hang out with some ladies from church.
It's hard to believe that a whole month has passed by since I've last posted an update. Our time here in California is speeding by quickly!
Some of the things that kept us busy this month included a special potluck dinner at Jack (a retired pastor and a member at Mt. Olive) and Arlene's house where we met Roy Pina and several people from Round Valley, an Indian Reservation in northern California. A few weeks after the potluck, in celebration of Jack's 80th birthday, he sponsored a dinner auction for Roy, who is on studying toward ordination while he serves as a lay preacher at a church in Round Valley--with no pay. Ordination will allow Roy to administer the sacraments. The great thing about Roy being a pastor in Round Valley is that he is from Round Valley. Outsiders often have a difficult time earning the trust of the residents, due largely to the history behind their being moved to the reservation in the 1800s.
It was very interesting to meet the people from Round Valley and to hear their story.
Also in September, we were invited to dinner with the Wongs--another family in the congregation. Devonna was a superb hostess and prepared a very fine spread of Asian cuisine for us. She had seven dishes for the main course--chicken and black beans, chinese broccoli, shrimp and snow peas, sweet and sour pork, chinese noodles with pork, steamed black mushrooms,and ginger broccoli and beef... all served with white rice. And for dessert--because it was the Chinese Moon Festival--we had moon cakes. Everything was very delicious! We had a great time getting to know the family as well.
Matt attended the Greater Bay Area Men's Retreat, centered on the theme "Living our lives inside out." Rev. Bob Newton, the president of the CNH district, was the keynote speaker. Matt had the opportunity to lead one of the morning Bible studies at the retreat. He had a really good time, played hard, and came back sore.
Mount Olive also had its church picnic in September. Megan was involved in the planning and preparation to get the food ready for the day. It was a little stressful planning a meal for 200 people, but a lot of people turned up to help and stayed to clean up too. All things considered, the day was fun and no one went hungry.
Matt continues to deliver good and interesting sermons. He especially enjoys teaching Bible study. This month he taught a 3-week class on Ephesians. He is starting up a 6-week series on Matthew in October. But the Matthew class will not be on Sunday mornings. You see, Mount Olive has a growing problem. Well, not so much a problem as a blessing... Their attendance is up and they and will be switching from 2 to 3 services on Sunday mornings. That means that the Sunday School/education hour can only be taught by lay people, so Matt will teach his Bible study class on Tuesday nights.
Megan is blessed to be working--now at three different places. She is at Sylvan three times a week, on-call for subbing at Merryhill Elementary, and most recently is also tutoring at Milpitas Christian School twice a week. She had her first subbing opportunity a few weeks ago in a kindergarten classroom. Only one little boy cried, one girl asked when she could get her real teacher back and if the teacher's aid could teach the rest of the day, another couldn't figure out how to tie her shoes, a few of them picked their noses, and a few gave Megan some hugs. It was a crazy and exhausting day to say the least, and Megan is affirmed in her decison to not be an early childhood teacher.
And a few exciting things that started off the month of October:
Megan attended the Women of Faith convention that was in San Jose and was able to hang out with some ladies from church.
We also went to the CNH District Pastor's Conference at Lake Tahoe. It was a beautiful setting for three days of discussing the theme "Moving beyond the Worship Wars." While we were there, we ran into Rev. Scott Perry, one of the past vicars from Megan's home church in Red Bud. We were also able to catch up with some friends from the seminary who also were placed out here for vicarage. Here are some pictures to give you a glimpse at the beautiful scenery and the fun we had there. (We left on Thursday; on Friday Tahoe got some snow... we just missed it!)
October 2008
Two things have happened in October that haven't happened since we have been living in California. It RAINED!! and we had a VISITOR from out of state! I know you are thinking... "rain, big deal..." but if you go almost four months without any, you'll be happy for the moisture too! And as for our visitor: Andrew (one of Matt's friends and a groomsman in our wedding) came out for about a week.
So here's a quick recap of all the fun we had this month, but the pictures tell a better story. Be sure to check them all out too.
I posted about Women of Faith and the Pastor's Conference in September's update. Lake Tahoe was beautiful!!
Matt planned his first "vicar-sponsored" event to be disc golfing at a park in San Jose. We had a couple families show up for a fun afternoon.
Two things have happened in October that haven't happened since we have been living in California. It RAINED!! and we had a VISITOR from out of state! I know you are thinking... "rain, big deal..." but if you go almost four months without any, you'll be happy for the moisture too! And as for our visitor: Andrew (one of Matt's friends and a groomsman in our wedding) came out for about a week.
So here's a quick recap of all the fun we had this month, but the pictures tell a better story. Be sure to check them all out too.
I posted about Women of Faith and the Pastor's Conference in September's update. Lake Tahoe was beautiful!!
Matt planned his first "vicar-sponsored" event to be disc golfing at a park in San Jose. We had a couple families show up for a fun afternoon.
We hosted our first Life Group (small group ministry) at our apartment. There was only one other couple that could make it that afternoon, but November's meeting should be better attended.More dinners and fellowship with members at church.
Andrew's visit. Since he stayed about a week we had a lot of time to do some sight-seeing with him. On Friday (Oct 24) Andrew and Matt headed down to Monterey Bay. They took the scenic Route 1 and the 17 Mile Drive which took them through several golf courses, including Pebble Beach. They also went to the Aquarium. Then on Saturday we all went to Napa Valley for wine tasting. We stopped at Sutter Home, Beringer, V. Sattui, Frog's Leap, Francisan, and Round Pond. Andrew had so much fun in Napa Valley that he went back with Megan on Tuesday. We stopped back at Frog's Leap--they required a scheduled tour. But it was worth it! Free tour, great wine (best merlot ever!!) and beautiful orchards. We also stopped in at Robert Mondavi, V. Sattui (for lunch--great deli!) and at Domanie Carneros (good champaign).
November 2008
After a very busy October it was nice to have a not-so-busy November.
Matt continued teaching Bible study on Tuesday nights. His orignial goal of getting through the whole book of Matthew before Advent was a bit ambitious. We only got through chapter 16. After Advent, Matt might have a study for Matthew Part 2.
Matt's second "vicar-sponsored" event was a family movie night. We started up the church's popcorn machine and showed Disney's movie Wall-E on the big projector screen. Wall-E was a big hit--we had a crowd of about 50!
We met with our life group for the second time. Trying to find a day that works for everyone's schedules is quite the feat! We are finding that even when a day is scheduled that works not everyone will come. Last minute things come up, plans change, or babies decide it's time to be born.
This year we were not able to travel home to celebrate Thanksgiving with either of our families. But we had several offers from congregation members to join their families for the holiday, so we still had our fill of yummy Thanksgiving food.
Here are some of the things we are particularly thankful for this year: Gas prices under $2 (yes, even in CA--now down to about $1.81), the congregation at Mount Olive, family, old friends and new friends, good health, 70 degree weather in November, new haircuts that turn out okay, and for all the blessings God has abundantly poured out on us.
After a very busy October it was nice to have a not-so-busy November.
Matt continued teaching Bible study on Tuesday nights. His orignial goal of getting through the whole book of Matthew before Advent was a bit ambitious. We only got through chapter 16. After Advent, Matt might have a study for Matthew Part 2.
Matt's second "vicar-sponsored" event was a family movie night. We started up the church's popcorn machine and showed Disney's movie Wall-E on the big projector screen. Wall-E was a big hit--we had a crowd of about 50!
We met with our life group for the second time. Trying to find a day that works for everyone's schedules is quite the feat! We are finding that even when a day is scheduled that works not everyone will come. Last minute things come up, plans change, or babies decide it's time to be born.
This year we were not able to travel home to celebrate Thanksgiving with either of our families. But we had several offers from congregation members to join their families for the holiday, so we still had our fill of yummy Thanksgiving food.
Here are some of the things we are particularly thankful for this year: Gas prices under $2 (yes, even in CA--now down to about $1.81), the congregation at Mount Olive, family, old friends and new friends, good health, 70 degree weather in November, new haircuts that turn out okay, and for all the blessings God has abundantly poured out on us.
December 2008
December was a busy month! Matt had added Advent services to his weekly schedule and was preaching much more than normal. (And still doing an amazing job!). In addition to the Advent services, our December schedules were packed with more excitement: there were presents to purchase, cookies to make, letters to write, cards to mail, flights to catch, visits with both families, a graduation celebration, an unexpected funeral, a tree to decorate, Christmas parties, presents to open, food to make, food to eat, more airplane rides, and wedding bells to ring. Whew! And now we are catching our breath…and blowing our noses, coughing, and sneezing. Happy New Year!
December was a busy month! Matt had added Advent services to his weekly schedule and was preaching much more than normal. (And still doing an amazing job!). In addition to the Advent services, our December schedules were packed with more excitement: there were presents to purchase, cookies to make, letters to write, cards to mail, flights to catch, visits with both families, a graduation celebration, an unexpected funeral, a tree to decorate, Christmas parties, presents to open, food to make, food to eat, more airplane rides, and wedding bells to ring. Whew! And now we are catching our breath…and blowing our noses, coughing, and sneezing. Happy New Year!
Those were the highlights; here are some of the details.
We were very excited to be able to attend Shana’s CUW graduation on December 13th. We managed to stretch our stay enough to see all the Tindalls and most of the Bayes. We left San Jose early on Thursday morning (because Matt had to preach Wednesday night) so we could spend the evening with Megan’s family in Red Bud. Then we borrowed the family Taurus and headed out really early on Friday morning to Green Bay. We caught lunch at our favorite pizza place in Mequon and stopped by Concordia for a quick visit.
We were very excited to be able to attend Shana’s CUW graduation on December 13th. We managed to stretch our stay enough to see all the Tindalls and most of the Bayes. We left San Jose early on Thursday morning (because Matt had to preach Wednesday night) so we could spend the evening with Megan’s family in Red Bud. Then we borrowed the family Taurus and headed out really early on Friday morning to Green Bay. We caught lunch at our favorite pizza place in Mequon and stopped by Concordia for a quick visit.
We avoided much of the snow falling as we were driving, but were greeted by about a foot of snow on the ground when we arrived in Green Bay. Friday night we watched Matt’s sister, Rebecca, play basketball and then had an early Christmas celebration with the Bayes (minus Peter who was still student teaching in Nebraska).
Saturday morning we were on the road again—back to Mequon for Shana’s Baccalaureate and Graduation. (Yea Shana!! We are so proud of you!) After a delicious dinner at Nisleit’s we travelled to Beaver Dam, WI to Shana and Kyle’s apartment. There, we had Christmas Round Two and a much appreciated cranberry and vodka. J Sunday morning found us on the road yet again, this time back to Red Bud. Our visit to the Midwest was unexpectedly lengthened when we got the news that Megan’s Uncle Larry had passed away. Our comfort is in knowing that his faith in our Savior has brought him to a place where we will see him again. We count it a blessing that we were already home to be surrounded by family and we count it a blessing that Matt’s supervising pastor cleared him to stay a few extra days—and to even cover and preach for Matt on that Wednesday.
For the first time since we’ve been married, we bought a real (full-sized) Christmas tree to decorate for the holidays. That was indeed an ordeal! We decided to have it set up before our trip back to the Midwest so we could enjoy its decoration longer. So at about 8:00 p.m. a few days before our departure we started shopping. We needed the tree, a stand, a star, a skirt, lights, ornaments, hooks, and a saw. After all the trimming (which takes a lot longer if you use a saw meant for pipes instead of tree trunks) it was time for the lights! We bought two 200-light strands, and of the 400 lights, only 50 worked. It was a brand-new box, and the lights didn’t light! Frustrating! So at 11:00 p.m. Matt went back to Wal-Mart. Megan wanted the tree up that night! And by 1:00 a.m. it was done.
We had a bit of our own Christmas celebrating on the actual holiday too. We opened stockings and exchanged presents on Christmas Day. We were privileged to celebrate Christmas with the Hartke family, and Megan for the first time helped coordinate and prepare the big Christmas meal. (Nothing burned; no vanilla in the ham.)
The day after Christmas we were in the air again. This time we were flying south—to Dallas, TX for our friends Nick and Becky’s wedding. Matt had the honor of standing up as a groomsman for Nick. The weather was much warmer when we first arrived (upper 70s!) and though we were under a tornado watch, we only had gusty winds.
God blessed our December with safe travel, with great (and much needed) time with family and friends from back home, and with several good reminders to not let Christmas become ChristMESS. (Thanks for that sermon series Pastor Nate and Matt!) We hope that your December and Christmas celebration was blessed as well.
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