Well, We finally made it home after an eventful time away for Christmas. The van ran well (thanks for your prayers). We made it to Owego only one hour late for the Paris brothers Christmas gathering. All four with families present and accounted for(not an easy feat). Also present were Grandparents the Perrys(great to see them and an encouragement for them as well I think).
After that party disbanded we went down to Litlle Meadows to visit Kris's parents, who are staying at our old house while her dad is recovering from leg surgery (less stairs). We let a couple of the kids spend the night there and the rest of us headed for a motel. Melissa started throwing up Christmas eve and the we proceeded to pass around some type of 24 hr bug. We smoked a roast in the oven that hadn't been used in 7+ years (actually it turned out great) and were able to make it to church at our home (and sending) church West Endicott Baptist Church. Pastor Bob (I was glad to see him there, usually they travel for Christmas) had a great Christmas message, followed by three teens going forward to testify to accepting the gift of eternal life (the best Christmas present ever) and expressing a desire to be baptised and join the church. Amen.
We opened gifts and ate, then opened gifts sent from Kris's brother in Texas, then ate.
We ended up staying at the motel a few more nights then planned in order to get everyone well enough to travel, but we are well on our way to getting a free night!
We finally made it home without any excitement on the way (thank you Lord!) and celebrated Christmas again with just our family. We started with Jennifer reading the Story of Jesus birth in Luke chapter 2 then we took turns retelling of when each of us received that awesome gift of salvation. Pray for Gideon and Moriah as they are yet to accept, open, and try-on this incredible present from God. Well, I'm being summoned to play a game, so I need to go. Next post.... Haiti.