Jardon Christmas 2010

2010?!?! Can you believe it’s already the end of 2010? What a crazy ride this past year has been! We have been so blessed this year being our first full year as Amelia’s mom and dad ☺The joys of being a parent are so incredible it is hard to even put words to. We love Amelia so much! She has blown us away by her sweetness giving us hugs and puckering her lips for kisses and calling “mama” and “dada” when one of us is away. It’s hard to believe how much she has grown and developed in this past year as well. She started walking at 9 months and is now running (sometimes away from us!) at 14 months, she’s got 8 cute little baby teeth and she’s beginning the growth of her vocabulary to include “mama”, “dada”, “dog” haha!, “nana” which started at meaning banana and turned to mean any food, “hi” and “bye”. She loves going down the slide at the park as well as pushing her little baby in her little baby stroller all over our neighborhood! We love every minute with her!

We have been so thankful for our small group and our church, Mission Community Church. We are growing deeper in our friendships with our “New and Expecting Parents” group. We have been spoiled by our friendships and are thankful to finally have an established group we can fellowship with weekly. We recently began a study called “Protecting Your Family” by Charles Stanley which teaches about the role as a parent in understanding the spiritual battle over the family. There are so many destructive things out there today (drugs, violence, peer pressure, negative influences from the media, etc.) and it is imperative that we as parents help our children learn the truth of God’s Word to build them up to be strong in knowing who they are as God’s creation so they can withstand these negative influences. We find ourselves challenged and excited for this part of parenting always reminding ourselves that it’s not just the two of us but God is our helper and will guide Amelia down this path with us.

Work for me (Andrea) has been going well. I find myself exhausted from being stretched so thin at work not to mention the tear in my heart every time I leave Amelia at night but I am constantly thankful to have this job when so many people are unemployed. I continue to love being a nurse in spite of all these challenges and I know God has me exactly where He wants me. The past few months God has been showing Adam and I that He has a “Promised Land” for us in the near future that consists of a “place” where I will be staying at home with Amelia and Adam will be sponsored on tour. Deuteronomy Chapter 8 and Hebrews Chapters 3 and 4 talks about a Promised Land that God has for every believer. This is a place (not necessarily physically) where the believer experiences a closeness to God, answered prayers, abundant blessings and a peace and knowledge of being completely in God’s will and along the path He desires for you. This looks different for every believer but it is clear in the Bible that God desires this for every believer and it is up to us individually to believe Him to bring us there. He has taken us on a wild ride these past few months in challenging us to a deeper faith in Him and believing what the Bible says about this Promised Land and that it does exist for us. We are anxiously awaiting what this next year will bring as we venture closer to our Promised Land!

As for me (Adam) I have been playing the best golf since we’ve been out here. My scoring average in 2010 was 69.4 which is my lowest competitive average in my life! My eyes are on Qualifying School in September of 2011 to receive my PGA tour card. Until then I will continue to teach at View Point golf resort until the winter visitors flock back to their homes. I continue looking for a sponsor in creative ways and for the finances for Q School next year.