Reaching out…

Greetings,

Here we sit celebrating our fifth Christmas in Port Townsend. We moved here four and a half years ago with a then two year old Eli and a four month old Noah. Eli is now 6 and smack dab in the middle of 1st Grade.  Noah is now four, in Preschool, and learning to read. Eben is almost three and brings nothing but joy to us as he screams around the house wearing his super cape and secret identity glasses. This last July while we were with high school kids at Malibu Club in Canada, we discovered a new surprise – that we would be joined by another Shriner baby in just 9 short months. After six years of nothing but blue, the boy names are already picked out and the hand-me-down machine is running in high gear. We know what to expect. Now after three conclusive ultrasounds, we are becoming convinced by our doctor that our new little addition will be pink (a girl!) instead of blue. We are overjoyed and excited by this new addition to our family. We believe that she is God’s precious gift to us, a gift like God’s grace, undeserved and unexpected but incredibly cherrished.  We don’t have a name picked out, however if it were up to the other three boys, the name would either be “Dora the Explorer” or “Napkin”, and although there is a chance we may name our little girl “Napkin”, it is much more likely that we will continue to pray until God gives us the perfect name for our new little one. Feel free to send any name suggestions our way.

When we first got to town five years ago, with the help of our community, we remodelled our Victorian home, tearing it down to the studs and rebuilding it. Somewhere in the process Paul found himself in the attic on a hot day pulling electical wire, sweat was pooling on the rafters he was sitting on, as he was baking in what seemed to be a 3000 degree day.  Stealing a moment, Paul got a vision of what the house would be, kids running everywhere, laughter around every corner and that in this house that he was currently sweating off about what seemed to be about 200 lbs, would be a place for his family to not just age, but to grow.  His family would grow in maturity, strength, humility and love. And yet again we get to see it grow in size. This year we have see chaotic laughter, lego ships ardulously built into alien-crushing machinery, games of “Growl”, “Run” and “Ball-E”. We have seen artwork and thought that far exceed anyone’s expecatations. We have learned to play “War” and “Cribbage”. We have been amazed at the depth, width, and breadth by which we can love each other. And we are brought back to the place of Awe stolen in a moment years before while preparing for what was to come.

We are in the midst of our fifth year of being on staff with Young Life. Paul and Jess volunteer together. We have experienced great successes and frustrating failures. We have seen a mighty Creator heal high schoool students from their deep, deep wounds. We have seen lives transformed from what a student might belive their potential to be to what the God of the Universe believes their potential to be. We love the role that they get to play in the community of Port Townsend, continually struggling to strike a balance between family, profression and ministry. Somewhere between two mini-vans, 3.5 kids, guinea pig ownership, a mortgage, mulltiple jobs, field trips to the Wizard of Oz, students coming to live with us, bushy eyebrows, and a new pink monkey, God finds it in his sovereignity to bless our family with this ministry. We have kept a monthly blog about our Young Life adventure and would love to share it with you. ( http://www.jcyl.org )

Here we are at the close of 2008 staring at all the promise that the future holds. In some ways it feels a bit like Old Testament writers using the word ”Selah”, stressing the importance of where you have come from. It’s a bit like “Amen”, but differs from the word “Amen” in that it has a forever quality to it. So while we approach our “Selah” of 2008, our hearts stir with friends and memories from days gone by while excited about what the future holds for us as we grow for another year. Thank you for being a part of our lives and our Selah.

May the Creator of the Universe bless you, keep you, and give you peace!

Peace,

Paul, Jessica, Eli, Noah, Eben and Napkin Shriner