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| Seven precious young blessings |
We greet you this Christmas in the name of Jesus, the one whose birth we celebrate.
Over the years our annual letter, and those from many of our
friends, have become an opportunity for reflection on the old year, and anticipation
of the days and months ahead.
It’s just one year since we moved from our home of 30+ years
in suburban Melbourne, to Kyneton in Central Victoria. It was a *big* move! And a good move!
One of my (Joy’s) mother’s ‘sayings’ was “Count your
blessings!”. We have many blessings, and
today I will mention just a few.
We have been blessed with a lovely home that’s all on one
level, which may be a significant feature as we get older and our bodies need
repair work. Our home is warmed in
winter from the North-facing windows and a wood-burning stove, as well as
central heat when we need it. We enjoyed
our first winter. The house is also well
protected against the summer heat, and we are thankful for the central cooling
on very hot days. It has become our daily
custom to step out of the living room into the fresh morning air, cup of tea in
hand. We are thankful for the wonders of
sunrise and sunset, changing seasons, and every other aspect of creation.
We have been blessed to have our family around us. We are constantly thankful for the health and
growth of each of the grand-children, and for their parents.
We have been blessed to have friends and family members
visit us.
We have been blessed to have a new community, getting to
know folk who have accepted us into their lives. We have joined the Presbyterian Church in
Gisborne, a picturesque old place with a warm welcome. We are looking forward to the establishment
of the Presbyterian Church here in Kyneton.
We are experiencing drought at the moment, and have a system
of pumping water from our little dam, into a 1000 litre drum on a trailer, and
pumping it out to water the fruit trees and gardens. On very hot days we have been going out to do
the watering before breakfast. We have
been able to keep the fruit trees and a vegetable garden looking happy, with
watering twice a week. The little Bonsai
trees need to be watered every day.
We have been blessed with good health, and are thankful. I can say now that I needed to retire from
midwifery practice – I had not realised what burnout was! We would like to thank those who pray for
us. We are seeking to be faithful in our
prayer for others.
This letter is to be posted on our blog http://joyandnoelannual.blogspot.com.au/
and we hope to have a suitable photo taken
when we see our young ones for Christmas lunch, to add to the blog in due
course. Thankyou for the letters, cards,
and electronic messages that we have received.
We wish you a happy and safe Christmas celebration, and continued
blessing in the new year.
With love, Joy and Noel
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