Christmas letter

Well this year has not been as bad as last year but I have had some set backs.  I only had one lithotripsy and only five stones.  Some of you may be saying "Five stones is good?" Since I had two hundred last year five is good.  My kidney function is staying at forty-five percent so that is where it will stay for now.  I was on steroids for almost a year and let me tell you if you have never been on steroids for a year you do not know insanity.  I couldn't take anti-inflammatories anymore due to my kidney function so steroids were the only medicine I could take until I was MRSA free for a year.  I am MRSA free but did have a series of staph infections that are finally under control.  I'm now on a biologic called Orencia but it will take about four months to see if it will control my RA symptoms.  I am in a lot of pain all the time pretty much everywhere.  I have gotten used to this reality and tried to make the best of it. 
Some friends of ours went to the mission field this fall and we miss them.  We are proud of them and inspired by their personal stories of faith.  Knowing that others are not taking their faith for granted gives me the inspiration to continue after God's plan for me.  I may not have an organized ministry as we typically think of ministry but this year has taught me that what I consider random God considers ministry.  God has been good this year despite losing some friends and family.  Meaghan Jones, Larry Hicks, Jean Williams and my husband's aunt Judy Doughty will be missed.  Experiencing their absence has made me realize how important it is to tell people how much they mean to you instead of passing up those opportunities assuming they know.  You can't get those moments back.  I am grateful for the time God gave me with them and that He graced me with their lives.
I am still keeping my nieces and have been enjoying the time I have with them.  I've been making the most of it even if I don't always feel well.  They teach me just as much as I teach them.  Lessons on forgiveness, grace, love, and compassion pour from them.  They challenge me to understand these concepts myself before I teach them.  I think God has given me this time with them for a reason and I'm humbled to be apart of their lives.
I am still discipling and teaching Greek.  I have some upcoming projects that I'm excited about but what God has for me next year is wide open.  I've learned to live in the present instead of living for the future hoping things will change or get better.  We miss so much in relationships, ministry and in the church by living in the past or the future. I was able to finish translating 1 John and interpreting it.  I also read and did an overview of Isaiah and hope to study it more thoroughly this coming year.  Finally I've been doing a study on Paul which has been a great reminder that he was just an ordinary guy who trusted God for extraordinary things consistently.  He understood our struggles and our successes but wanted all of us to walk through our journeys as a body.  I hope for my friends new and old and my family that we move forward to the potential that God knows we have in Him through faith.  I also am excited about what God is doing at Woodland Park.  We have had a great deal of illness, death and loss but we are still able to keep ministering.  God is good all the time.  Why?? That's His nature!