Christmas Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

My, this year went fast. We enjoyed family, friends, and travel the entire year. We called 2010 our win-win year, and it definitely lived up to its name.

Our kids are doing well. They are all employed so that is a good thing. Teresa and Jess are in Kimball where Jess is a freshmen in high school while her mom holds down two jobs. Tori is almost a naturalpathic doctor....she hopes to be finished with her coursework by the end of the year. Her husband Caleb and all three children are living the dream in the house that Caleb built in the woods by Eureka Springs. Mandy and Dustin are gainfully employed in the KC area as CNAs. Chad is a senior at Pitt State and will graduate this spring with a BS in math. He will start student teaching and coaching after the first of the year in Gerard.

We enjoyed our travels this year to Las Vegas, the Grand Tetons, and Dallas. We plan to visit New York and see the Broadway show WICKED and also see the Rockettes at Radio City before Christmas. We've also enjoyed numerous trips to NE and AR to see family. A week ago we saw the Mannheim Steamroller perform in Topeka. What a great way to start the holiday season!

This year has not been without its challenges, though. Frank lost his dear friend Mike, who played football with him in college. At least we had a little time to say goodbye through our many visits with him and his family before he passed away on November 7.

This coming year 2011, our theme will be to enjoy a little bit of heaven. As we celebrate the birth of our Lord, we plan to shine His light wherever we can, to enjoy life to the fullest, and appreciate every day for what it brings.

Love and Light,
Patty and Frank

Visit our Video Christmas Card! Peace and love.

Effectual Prayer

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). We know that when we ask God to give us our daily bread that He is more than willing to give us all that we need.

Our real need is greater awareness of Divinity in ourselves and others. In other words, instead of telling God how big our mountains are, we need to tell our mountains how big our God is. I've heard this put many ways, but one of my favorites is that instead of "surviving the storm, we dance in the rain."

It is really all about perception. For instance when my daughter had her motorcycle accident, of course I prayed for her healing, but an added benefit which occurred is my increased awareness of the preciousness of life. Even though she still has some discomfort from the accident, she is very thankful for the empathy she developed for other people who have injuries or illness. When I saw all that she was willing to do to regain use of her legs, I began to affirm my own life by wanting to take care of my health. Both Frank and I woke up to the idea that we could exercise and eat right to take care of ourselves more and have a better quality of life.

After awhile, we lost focus but then lately regained it again as we watched a dear friend struggle with cancer. The best way to handle life's challenges in my opinion is to "stop thinking about the difficulty, whatever it is, and think about God instead" as Emmet Fox suggests.

He calls the sense of separation from God a major tragedy of the human experience. Through illness and injury, sometimes we realize that this could happen to any one of us, and we realize that it is essential to stay aware and close to our Creator and have a mindset that allows faith and trust in keep us from worry. We can use our positive imagination to visualize a wonderful outcome to any circumstance we encounter.

If we believe that that we are blessed and that all things work together for good, we can not help but feel relief that a Higher Power has it all under control. God bless.

Light and Love,
Patty