December 2003
 Our
last picture as a family of four. Look for our daughter Lindsey to be born
sometime around Christmas (or probably after)
"Time and change will surely show..."
It is hard to believe that we are in our fifth year here at
Michigan. How much our lives have changed in the years we have been here. Since
coming to Ann Arbor, here are some of the things that have changed in our lives:
¨ I
(Nate) now own more Michigan clothing than Ohio State clothing. Some of you may
think that I am a traitor, but I’m only following Paul’s example of becoming
“all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1 Corinthians
9:22)
¨ Nate’s
favorite store used to be Best Buy; now it is Home Depot. As a result we have
updated almost every room in our house as well as the outside of our house.
¨ Both
of us have lost weight over the past year and a half. Shelly now weighs less 9
months pregnant than she did before she began losing weight. Nate has lost 45
pounds and has gone down two pants sizes. He now weighs less than anytime since
high school! Four years of all you can eat buffets at Ohio State, four years of
sedentary studying in seminary, and another four years of unhealthy eating
habits had allowed him to slowly put on the pounds. Weight loss has been
relatively easy for both of us—having accomplished it by simply eating less and
eating healthier.
¨ McDonalds
has become the restaurant of choice for half of our family.
¨ Shelly
has learned how to cook massive amounts of sloppy joes for over 40 hungry men
when my guys come over for dinner.
¨ We
still read a lot, but instead of reading 800 page novels with small type we read
10 page books with big pictures.
¨ Nate
thought his language learning was over with Hebrew and Greek. He has since
learned to translate toddler conversations.
Ohio State football went from being in disrepair and out of
control to having won a national championship! Unfortunately some things don’t
change, as once again we lost our shot for the Big Ten title to Michigan!
Kids' Corner
How amazing it is to look back over the past year and see how
our children have changed! As I think of last year at this time it is hard to
believe that both Andrew and Lauren were still in diapers. How much easier it is
to be down to just one! And Lauren will probably be out of diapers in the next
couple of months. But, for a little while, we will soon be back to experiencing
two in diapers and two diaper bags again!
Lauren was just beginning to talk at this time last year. Now
she talks in sentences and can tell you all about something that took place. She
is beginning to sing songs, too. Mealtimes are fun as she often breaks out
singing something that she makes up.
Andrew is able to talk so much better. Sometimes he amazes us
with his vocabulary. He absorbs everything and sometimes we just shake our heads
as he is telling about something he saw or something that happened.
As we look forward to the next year we are excited to see the
ways in which our children will continue to grow and learn. As we hear of
children as young as 3 or 4 understanding why Jesus came to earth as a baby and
later died for our sins, we wonder if this might be the year when Andrew really
understands that and realizes that he needs to place his faith in Christ.
|
