Christmas 2018

Greetings to all of our friends, old and new!  We hope you are enjoying a wonderful December!  This time of year we always reflect on the past year and God’s blessings to us.  We write this letter as a communication to our friends but also as a reminder to ourselves. 

We had some difficult times early in the year when my father, Don Schaefer, died of pancreatic cancer in February.  I am fortunate that I was able to clear my schedule and spend his last five weeks with him and my sisters in Arkansas.  I am glad that my Dad knew the Lord and that he is now with my Mom in glory, and I’m blessed to have a special bond with my sisters!  We spent countless hours together this year cleaning out our parents’ home, and we sold it last week.    So many memories! 

On a happier note, some awesome news is that our daughter, Rebecca, was married to Joseph Obenschain on May 26^th!  It was a beautiful day of celebration.

She and Joseph are living in Richmond, Virginia where Joseph is working as a helicopter pilot with the National Guard and Rebecca is working as an administrator at an engineering firm.  We are thrilled that they will be spending a whole week with us at Christmas! 

 Also this year, Noah graduated from high school!  This was not just an achievement for him but marked an end of an era for me.

I am now a retired homeschooling Mom! Noah headed off to Lee University (in Cleveland, Tennessee – just about 80 miles from here), where he has a full tuition scholarship and is double majoring in theatre and psychology (yes, he is the offspring of two engineers). He is loving Lee and the college life!

Our other boys are in Knoxville.  Nathan is finishing up his last year of Nursing School at the University of Tennessee and is hoping to work in critical care. 

Caleb is working full-time as the Sony expert at Best Buy.  

Terry is still flipping houses (see his work at H2HRenovations.com).  I worked a brief internship at an environmental engineering firm this fall.  It was fun, but I’m still not sure exactly what’s next for me – whether it’s career or ministry or a combo.  I was asked to lead a team of women to Lesvos, Greece this past summer to work with refugees (and Terry came along as our bodyguard, driver, and porter).  Looks like we will be going again next year – this time we’re planning to take both men and women to work directly in Camp Moria!  It is exciting to how God is working in the European refugee crisis.  And we’ve fallen in love with the tiny town of Panagouida on Lesvos, which is becoming a little home away from home.

One fun memory we had this year was when we took a brief vacation at Cedar Point, OH, and rode roller coasters for two days.  Rebecca was able to join us as she hadn’t started working yet, and we flew her to Columbus and surprised the boys by meeting her on the way up.  

I have concluded that this little trip really symbolized our lives together – ups, downs, twists, turns, fears, joys, yelling, waiting (lots), but most of all – SPEED!  We were reminded that life goes by fast.

“What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”  

James 4:16

Our prayer for you this year is that wherever you are this season, you will trust God and enjoy the ride He has for you!                                

Oh Baby!' It's Grand!

It started with a boat . . .

The first year we were married, Terry was really wanting to buy a competition ski boat, I had about $10K in savings that I brought as a "dowry" when we got married, and I suggested that he just go ahead and buy the boat!  He agreed but said that surely there was something I wanted that I could get some day as a sort of payback.  I said, "Well, I've always wanted a Kawai baby grand piano."  He said when we got a place that was big enough for one, I'd get it.  Well, about nine years later we moved into a house that was plenty big enough for a baby grand, but I decided it just wasn't really the time.  I still played my upright, and I think secretly I was worried that my kids would destroy a nice piano.

Fast forward to 2019.  We are on our second competition ski boat.  We don't live on the lake anymore, but we haul our boat to Melton Hill Lake to ski.  Terry's brother, Scott, was itching for a new ski boat of his own, and he approached Terry with the idea of joint ownership.  They would buy the boat together and keep it at Scott's dock. Seemed like a great idea.

So, Terry brought up the grand piano.  How about now?  He mentioned how I had just gotten inheritance money from my Dad's estate, and wouldn't it be nice to do something special with some of it? 

So here it is.  My baby.  My Kawai baby grand.  I play it almost every day and think about my parents and the sacrifices they made to pay for lessons and listen to my endless practicing.  The piano is beautiful, and we did not have to sacrifice our dining room for it - only do a little rearranging.  I even had black furniture in there, so it all goes together.

Merry Christmas to me!