Christmas 2008 - Rice Family Update

Christmas On the Rice Road
Family Update 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings! Well, we are so amazed and blessed to all be alive to welcome the end of yet another year, the year 2008. (Note: this part of the letter was written earlier in the month.) It now looks and feels like winter ought to in early December in the Midwest. As I write, it is cold and snowy, and I am wrapped in my cream fleece blankey, a gift from Ben which keeps me from turning the heat up higher and higher and icicles from growing from my fingertips. We will put our Christmas tree and decorations up in the next few days, and we're all very excited to welcome in this season this year as we celebrate again that God the Father- in all of his love and justice- sent a Savior to this world, for us- for us to claim as our own and follow. He came in the form of a baby, just like we came into the world, yet he had no beginning. Whoa!

I remember being so struck last year by the whole Santa story, talking with others about how to handle Santa with the young kids. The thing that kids love about Santa is the magic. Is he real? Is he coming to my house in the middle of the night to bring fun gifts? Is he coming down my chimney and every chimney in the world? Is that really possible? What if it is? What we need to capture for our kids and for we ourselves again is the incredible “magic” of the REAL Christmas Story!!! There are angels appearing to people and giving messages from God! There are thousands of angels singing in the sky! There's a star that inspires astronomers on a cross-country camel trip to find what it's pointing to! There's an evil king trying to wipe out his feared successor! There's a baby born with no earthly father! Isn't that magic? Aren't those things unheard of in our day? Let's not settle for second and third tier stories of make-believe, when we've got the REAL THING staring us in the face in the Word of God. Last night we watched with the kids one of the old, old tv shows that told the story of St. Nick and how he came to be the Santa that we all know and love. (We're not opposed to this story, just don't want it to take all the glory.) I had never seen it before, but was amazed that when Mr. and Mrs. Claus got married, they talked about them doing so “before the Lord” and that when Santa got older and decided he could only do his gift-giving once a year, that naturally they decided to do it on Christmas, the “most holy night” when the best gift ever was given. Wow! That was a different generation, wasn't it? This year I want my children to be reminded that all good stories start out with an anchor in the true, magical story of Christmas, and all hope and goodness flow out of that one.

I feel like our lives have simplified in some ways this year. This may be due, in part, to us leaving “the baby stage.” Maren turned three on June 2nd and has gained much independence in all areas of life. She is even doing two mornings a week of preschool at Cornerstone Christian Academy, and reports that she likes it very much. She's very excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday this year and asked me the other day in Target, “Are we getting a present for Baby Jesus?” :) Another simplifier for us this Fall has been that Ben has taken the Fall off from studying for the actuarial exams. We were all so excited when he passed Exam 4 in the Spring and could put that behind him. Only five more to go. He's beginning to study now for #5. Pray for him!

In other school news, Whitton (8)- our lover of all things football- is now in 2nd Grade with Miss Kalal at Pepper Ridge Elementary. Sylvia (6) began her elementary school career this year in Mrs. Morgan's Kindergarten class and loves everything about it. We've been very happy with the school and teachers and feel very much like the public school system is a great place to carry the light of Christ.

Summer highlights included a short trip to a furnished cabin in southern Illinois in the Shawnee National Forest (http://www.rimrocksdogwoodcabins.com/). We did some hiking and climbing at the Garden of the Gods and some other spots and just had a great time playing together. The kids really loved being in this cabin all together in basically one room and living on this property with a bunch of farm animals all over the place. The peacocks were an especially big hit...not that those really qualify as farm animals. Also in the summer, we had coach-pitch baseball for Whitton (a little too low-key for our competitive boy), tennis for Sylvia (a little too much talk about the high school boy coaches in the off-practice time), State Farm Day Camp for Whitton (1x/wk for 4 wks, for like $6/day!), and lots of time at the State Farm Park Pool. It was lots and lots of fun, and Ben got to come with us quite a bit too (after work, of course).

Well, the biggest change in our year, by far, was our change to a new church. This was something both Ben and I thought and prayed about for a long time. But earlier this year we both came to a place where we agreed that it was time to look elsewhere, though it would mean leaving many wonderful friends. (We wouldn't be giving up the friendships, after all.) In around August, we began going to Grace Church in Normal (http://www.gracenormal.org/) and have felt totally at home ever since. There are many things we all love about it, but primarily we find that there is an unswerving commitment to preaching God's Word as the standard for our lives and our walk with Him. Everything revolves around this, and that's what makes the ministries, the teaching and preaching, the leadership, the people...powerful. God is obviously at work there in the hearts and minds and lives of his people. We love it.

One exciting thing we got to experience in September/October, soon after moving there was a two-week series of services, a Summit, that revolved around topics of revival. A 20-or-so person team from the group Life Action Revival Ministries came and completely “put on” this 10-day summit with two pastor/teachers bringing the Word and a team of really gifted college students and young adults to do the music worship and run the kids progams for all ages through high school. At first I think we were a little skeptical, in part because the week-night meetings went from 6:30-8:30, which would mean our kids would get to bed more than an hour past normal bedtime. But we just gave it to the Lord and he said to prioritize him in this, and it turned out to be an incredible experience for all of us, including the kids. We came away with a new awareness of God's holiness, grace and forgiveness, our own sin that was hindering our walk with him and with others, our need for a repentant heart, and the joy that only he can fill us with. And so we pray that God will begin a new work in his people, in this age, something inexplicable apart from the presence of God, radically reviving the hearts of his people.

At Grace, all the kids have had their first experience this year with Awana, Maren in Cubbies and Whitton and Sylvia in Sparks. It's been a great opportunity for them to memorize scripture and learn more about God's Word while wearing cute vests and having a bunch of fun.

In family news, Susan has amassed a little more free time this year with Maren being in school a bit, and has used the opportunity- along with our whole family- to befriend some young women from different walks of life. Rie (from Japan) and Soniya (from India) are international students, Qyanna and daughter Jamesha are friends we made while they were living one of our shelters here in town. We've been honored to get to know these ladies this year and have them in our home from time to time in hopes of showering them with the love of Christ. So I haven't been spending all that time on Facebook! I've also just recently gotten plugged into a fun writers group for women. Both Ben and Susan have run in a few races this year to keep our fitness level one step above “Pretty Bad.”

In broader family news...let's see, where to start...Matt and Jennifer (Brummund, Jen's my sister) are busy with homeschooling and church and being salt and light in their Forest Park neighborhood in St. Louis. Matt coached a football team this Fall for Seth (nearly 14), their oldest, and a bunch of guys from the neighborhood. Seth and Claire (12), are at a junior high magnet school and doing great. Emma (10) and Maggie (7) are homeschooled by Jen, and Ike and Kate (both 3) are busy just creating havoc for the rest of them. We love being together whenever we can make it happen.

Mom and Dad Schuster have been crazy busy this Fall with Operation Christmas Child as they serve as regional organizers for that work of Samaritan's Purse in their slice of northwest Indiana. Nearly 3000 shoeboxes were collected this year, about 1000 coming from their own church, Liberty Bible. The boxes are filled with gifts and a booklet sharing the Good News of Jesus and sent to many countries around the world. They even got to go to the processing “plant” in North Carolina after Thanksgiving for a week to help out. Mom has been challenged for many years with health problems related to her rheumatoid arthritis and lung disease. She's gotten some help with her breathing lately as her doctor put her on oxygen, so she really is breathing easier.

Andy, Ben's brother, returned home from seven months in Iraq in March and we were all very happy to welcome him home. At Whitton's school (Sylvia wasn't there yet), Pepper Ridge, we were surprised that what was going to be a classroom visit turned into an all-school assembly and parade around the school complete with posters that many classes made, the newspaper taking notes and photos, lots of waving flags and 'Born in the USA' blaring in the gym. It was truly memorable. Andy then left in late June for Cameroon (West Africa) where he works in the Embassy, in part, helping to train Cameroonian troops. He is home now but will return after the holidays until June again. He's still thinking and praying about next steps.

Mom and Dad Rice are well, though Mike will be undergoing two knee replacement surgeries this month. (This happened successfully on the 17th.) We'll be praying for the tough road to recovery there. As Andy put it, 'All aboard the pain train.' :) Mike continues to work for a shuttle service that transports railroaders around central Illinois. They've also done quite a bit of travelling this year. They are, indeed, the roadtrip queen and king.

Thanks for reading for this long. We pray you have a wondrous Christmas and New Years with family and friends. We'll be spending time in LaPorte, IN, with the Schusters, Mattoon, IL, with Mom and Dad Rice and Andy, and St. Louis, MO, with Mom and Dad Schuster and the Brummunds. God bless you in the new year and may he rule in your heart throughout it.

Much love,
the Rices – Ben, Susan, Whitton, Sylvia, and Maren