Merry Christmas (if I don't have your "snail mail" address) from the Sloans!

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”

2 Corinthians 8:9

When people ask “how are you” there are a few different answers you may give. One, is “fine” which is probably the most common. But really, we often just say this to stop the dreaded conversation that may follow when in truth, the answer you WANT to give is “not so good”. That puts the person who asked sometimes in the shocking condition of trying to figure out if they really have enough time to ask the follow up “oh no, what is wrong?”

There is no longer a “good” or a “bad” in our answer at the Sloan house because good or bad, every single thing that happens to us is sifted through the hands of a MIGHTY God who is ever with us. So my answer to the question about “how are you” would have to be “RICH”. We truly are rich. We celebrate the Rich One who became poor for us as we think of all of the things we are thankful for.

REAL

I have to admit I have had to face the reality this year, as three have obtained their drivers licenses, that life has become just a little more real around here. In less than two years they will be graduating. That is pretty real and every moment when we are together has become so much more precious. They are all good drivers and the fact that they go out by themselves driving around town has not been as stressful for me as I thought it would be. It is hard to believe that Matthew is in 4^th grade. How is kindergarten round up now FIVE years in our past? It is bittersweet for me some days. I love knowing them as they grow up and seeing who they are becoming. As much as I love holding my infant baby, seeing how God is growing them up is rich…truly rich. Reality is also the fact that sometimes we get stuck in a rut and so this year I am thankful that God answered a very specific prayer of mine for years that David find a job where he is valued for what he can do and bring to the company. In September he left Honeywell and started working at Samsung here in Cedar Rapids. We have been reaping the benefits of that for the last three months in so many ways. We have also been able to get started on our unfinished basement with the installation of a couple of egress windows this fall. We are ready to get framing and dry walling hopefully through the winter months. We have not just one employed teenager in the house with Ryan who has been working at Godfathers Pizza for a couple of years, but Stacey has also started working at the PlayStation which is a super great fit for her as many of you who have had her over to babysit can agree! At the end of the summer we were able to purchase, with the rest of my substitute teaching money last year, a new to us piano. It is a well-loved baby grand which has always been a dream of mine for the corner of the living room. I hear SO MUCH piano music in the house these days since it is so much more fun to play on a piano that stays in tune!

INTERESTING

Life is always interesting for sure! Dawn is busy keeping her fish happy and healthy. We did lose our beloved Bartholomew last February in the middle of the freezing cold winter. He was a 12 inch long gold fish that obviously had a very good life! Of course not being able to flush him, we spent the afternoon boiling water to bury him in the frozen back yard. Life keeps us busy with all of the children’s activities. Basketball season for Stacey has begun and so we will be in the stands on Tuesday and Friday nights watching her. She is the one in our house who will run an errand when we need her to. She loves the freedom of being able to drive. Ryan opted to not go out for basketball this year but that is okay, he is certainly busy enough. He is in show choir, jazz band, and a few honor choirs/bands. He ran cross country this fall and will go out for soccer in the spring. He is working on a few last merit badges and then will be thinking about an eagle project. Dawn is also in show choir and we are excited to hear their show soon. She has a solo in the ballad so that will be fun. She is also in jazz band, trying that out this year on the vibraphone. She and Ryan also both tried out for All State. Zach has really jumped into a lot of music too. He tried out for the OPUS honor choir and made it, so he joined 700 of the best voices in the state last month. We headed once again to Ames to listen to the concert. It is always very impressive. Zach will be in the Marion Jr. Honor band and is in show choir and jazz band. He is still composing songs on the computer program “Noteflight”. I really think his language is music! Matthew is singing in choir too and LOVES soccer. He had a great fall season and he has found that even though Ryan can make him cry sometimes out in the back yard kicking the soccer ball around, it gives Matthew an edge on the field. He has become very aggressive and gets right in. It is fun to watch him do what he loves. There has also been a lot more nerf gun wars here this year. I find nerf bullets everywhere I go in our house. (adds to my arsenal for the next time they start shooting at me!)

CHALLENGING

We would have to say life has been challenging at times. It has been a challenging year in many ways. We grew closer as a family this year which is definitely part of the richness of life today. We have been blessed with an amazing church home and the deepening of friendships that have been such a blessing. The day after the Opus concert last month, the results of a PET scan showed spots on my liver. After a biopsy the day before Thanksgiving, we found out the cancer has spread. It is a mutation which in this case is good news because there are more treatment options. We are thankful for David’s sister Michelle and her fiancé Troy who made the Thanksgiving meal that we were planning to eat with them on Wednesday while we waited to be discharged after the biopsy. It tasted wonderful! We are putting it all in God’s hands and He has already blessed us in our sadness as we grasp an idea of what lies ahead. We are thankful for the support of family and friends around us, not just David and I as grownups but also that God has put in place the perfect friends in the lives of our children to comfort and love them. You know, our kids have a very different perspective on life. We find the discussions around the table very thought provoking some days. I hate the way God has chosen to grow them, but I can’t doubt Him for the outcome. No one wants to tell their kids again that Mom has to fight, that we all have to fight. There were a lot of tears and hugs and tears and more hugs…and a lot of praying. We know we aren’t in control and we pray for His peace. We would love for you to pray that for us too, along with your prayers for physical healing.

HOPE FILLED

“And my God will supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus”. (Phil. 4:19) and He does. There is nothing that we would want to go through without Him and His grace. He sent His Son, as a baby, come down from the majesty on high to save wretches like us. If you don’t know Him and if you haven’t experienced the grace that comes from the God of the universe, He will hear your pleas. He hears ours daily and He provides the hope that will sustain us. As I left David’s office after telling him the news that Friday morning, a jeep pulled in front of me as I was coming to the exit of the parking lot. I noticed the license plate as a specialty plate from the University of Iowa. Then I zoomed in on what it said. “3XFIGHT”. I believe God works in the coincidences sometimes. Right then I realized that as Iowa fans look at the plate they would start humming the Iowa fight song “fight, fight, fight for Iowa”. But to me, the message was “third time to fight”. So there you have it. We have heard from some that they have seen the jeep and one who even snapped a picture for me. I am sure it is tootling around town. Our hope is in Him, and we pray that for all of you, our dear friends.

So the next time someone asks in passing “how are you”, I would have to truthfully answer “RICH, oh so very RICH”!

Love from our house to yours!!!