I just wanted to share with you another place that I and some friends of mine have been writing and we would love to have you join us there. We have started a group blog called Mustard Trees. It is written by women (though we did have one guest post by Katie's brother) for the purpose of encouraging other women in their Christian walk.
My friend Katie just wrote a post entitled: Hunky Dory. I really, really appreciated her thoughts on where our safe place should be. She also has written one called Separated After Birth which shares some stories and lessons learned while she was a missionary in Ukraine.
Lisa, a friend of mine from out west who also homeschooled her 4 children (2 boys and 2 girls), recently wrote about 4 Things I Learned While Raising My 4 Kids. In all the things we worry about getting right as parents she speaks of some of the things that are truly important. I think you will find it encouraging. Lisa also wrote a good post on Do You Love Your Neighbor As Yourself?
I think you also will enjoy Marette's post on How to Turn the Corners and Not Miss the Curves. She has some good thoughts on living life even in hard times. She says: "Life is all about staying at the cross and loving people. Learning how to handle the corners in life gives us the credibility to tell another one coming behind us, “you can do this- I made the corner. Slow down, keep your eyes on the road and follow the lines and let the Holy Spirit direct your steps.”
Bethany wrote a good post called To Worship Him and another called "The Joy of Christmas" which has a message that is good for far past Christmas time.
I wrote on being Transformed by the Renewing of Our Mind. That is something I have been meditating on a lot and seeking God's truth on it. It was very helpful for me to write out my thoughts and I hope it is helpful to others as well. I also wrote about Partners in Prayer sharing how this has been a life changing practice for me. I am so grateful to have people that I can get together with regularly to pray with.
I hope you will come on over to Mustard Trees and be encouraged in your walk with Jesus!
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22 & 23
2023 was a good year. Not one that didn't have any challenges or trials but one where we saw God at work over and over again. A year filled with God's Grace - gifts stacked one upon another. God's faithfulness showing up over and over again as we breathe each day, as we have more than enough to eat, as we get to spend time with the many beautiful people in our lives. I just get overwhelmed thinking about how good God has been to us!
Here are some highlights from 2023
In February Megan and I were able to take a quick road trip to Ankeny/DesMoines, Iowa and spend a weekend with our friends James and Jessica (as well as getting to see other friends in the area). They took us on a fun tour of DesMoines and we were blessed by our time of fellowship.
We had a lot of snow last winter which is a far different story than this winter where at this point we don't even have a complete covering of the ground. We all enjoyed the snow but Aaron definitely got the most skiing in. Last winter he even tried some back country skiing on some fun slopes around here. I had a lot of fun joining him one day and got some great exercise when we decided to cut through the woods to hike back to the car (rather than following a trail) wearing our heavy ski boots.
Our church hosted a Retreat in March and a bunch of the kids put on a play for it. I got the ball rolling to have a play but was so incredibly blessed by the many that helped out to make it successful. Mara did a great job of totally re-writing a story and making it into a very nice script, others helped with directing and props and the kids worked really hard to do a great job at acting. The Retreat over all was a blessing and a great time of fellowship.
April found our family going to Ireland to visit some missionaries there and do some exploring. It was a wonderful trip that we will long remember.
The gift of getting to see some more wonders of God's creation, to spend time together as family, to meet more of God's people clear across the ocean, to learn some history in truly fun and exciting ways was just incredible.
Jonathan filmed a documentary about the Tuttle family going to Ireland while we were there.
The gift of being the Mom in this family of mine is such a blessing. I am so grateful for each one of them and that they desire to serve Jesus Christ.
In May (I am pretty sure) Jonathan moved down to the Twin Cities to try out new things. My nephew Harrison had bought a house and is renting out bedrooms to some other boys from church. Jonathan went to be part of that household. He has enjoyed getting involved at the Woodbury Church of Christ and meeting new people down there. He went down as an assistant manager at Caribou and it looks like he is about to become a general manager. He has been getting back into doing more filming again and He and Thomas work together on a Podcast called "Salt of the Earth".
In June our family was pretty excited to welcome Ewan Peregrine Drake. He is a delightful addition to our family. After 3 or so somewhat challenging months of colic he has grown into a quite happy little boy. Mara and Thomas have their hands full with two very busy little boys but they are doing a great job with them. They are also very active in church, hosting and leading the youth group among other things. Thomas has started preaching fairly often and is part of a group that is being mentored to be elders some day. Mara raised a big garden. Malcolm is a very articulate 2 year old who keeps us laughing much of the time. Thomas was offered a job as a teacher in Cass Lake, MN this fall. He is teaching STEM to 5-7th graders.
In June Aaron left to spend much of the summer (9 weeks, I think) at Flaming Pines Camp. That is a nearly 2 hour drive away, North East of here. It is a Bible camp. Aaron was a camp councilor and that was a good learning and growing experience for him which I think ,for the most part, he enjoyed a lot. He also got pretty well acquainted with another councilor up there named Harper which has caused him to talk on the phone a lot more than he used to and take extra trips this fall.
When Aaron wasn't at camp he worked construction, as an Arborist (I think his favorite job) and now working with machines at the same place his uncle Luke works. He is happy to have a steady inside job this winter but looks forward to working with trees with Andrew (a friend from church) again this next summer. Aaron also continues to learn a lot about Car Mechanics as the older cars/trucks that he likes to get always seem to need work. I think he has learned a ton through the process so that is a blessing. We are incredibly grateful for his good friend Sam Wolkoff who has worked with Aaron on his vehicles hours upon end.
Megan also spent several weeks at camp either as a worker or a camper.
All of us except Aaron (who was up at camp) headed out to Colorado at the end of July along with other youth from church and attended the Nationwide Youth Round-up. My sisters, Martha and Anna also went and I enjoyed getting to spend time with them. We also camped with a group from Plainview, MN. We had fun spending time with friends, listening to good Bible teaching and worshipping with a couple thousand others on the mountainside.
With both my kids at camp much of the summer I thought I might get lonely but I ended up keeping my house pretty busy without them. We were pretty booked with AirBnB guests this summer and then when SuSan's (a special needs lady from church) apartment building got condemned she lived with me for a month and a half. My mother-in-law also sold her house across the road so that she could move near her youngest son and so she stayed at my house for a few weeks too and my brother-in-law was here for a week as well. I wasn't lonely and I am very grateful. There were some pretty good memories made during those times.
The kids all got to do some fun traveling this summer too. Their dad took each of them on a big trip. Megan went with him to Italy, Aaron to Alaska, Jonathan to Iceland and Mara and Ewan went with him to Maine and other states on the East coast. It is pretty fun that they were able to experience those things.
In late August my Sister-in-law, Holly went to be with Jesus after around a year of battling cancer. We grieve our loss but are so grateful that she doesn't have to be in pain any more. Peter and Holly (and their daughter Jaten) traveled all over the country working on log homes. Peter had last been working in Sisters, OR but they had gone to Boise, ID to try out a new treatment. Holly died while they were there. It was a blessing that their oldest son, Nic, and Holly's parents were able to be with them for the last couple of months. After Holly died Peter and Jaten decided that they would come back to Bemidji to be by family. My brother-in-law, Travis and I both flew out to be with them and to help Peter drive his two big rigs back. It was a blessing for me to get to spend that time with all of them.
Megan started her senior year of highschool (homeschool) and her Sophomore year of college this fall thanks to a program Minnesota has where Juniors and Seniors can go to college for free. Megan is wanting to graduate with her associates this spring so she took 17 credits this fall and has a lot for the semester coming up as well. She works really hard at her schoolwork and her grades show that. She took a public speaking class this last semester so we had a couple of parties at our house so that she could have an audience to give her speech to. For one of them we had a multi-course dinner party and asked everybody to dress elegantly. It has been some fun times. She also took a film appreciation class so we had a big film showing party as well. Good thing I like having company. It has been fun for Megan that not only did her cousin Jaten move back to Bemidji but her cousin Beatrice also moved to town. Megan has really been enjoying getting to hang out with cousins and friends.
Mid September found us as it usually does up North at Jackpine Retreat. Our whole family (except Nic who lives in California) was there.
In October my Uncle John and Aunt Donna came to visit. All of our family was able to get together to spend time with them. It can get pretty crowded and noisy when we are all together but it is pretty fun too. I thank God over and over again for Godly parents and all of my siblings, their spouses, and all the grandkids who love and serve the Lord.
Our lives were enriched this fall by this group of kids (plus a couple more that aren't pictured) that came from various countries to go to school for a semester at the University here. They went camping with us in September, many came to our place for Thanksgiving and we enjoyed other times with them as well. I would love to travel the world but really what is most interesting about the world is the beautiful people in it. I really loved getting to know these kids a little bit and learn about their countries and cultures. And if I get to travel the world more they said I am always welcome to visit.
Some others that have added beauty our lives this year....
In the fall of 2022 I started hosting monthly neighborhood potlucks. That has now been going on for over a year. I have loved getting to know my neighbors better. Of course not everyone from the neighborhood comes each month but there is a lovely group that pretty much does and then others come from time to time.
I am still working at Netzer's floral and am blessed by the fun environment with my boss and co-workers there. I also teach 20 plus music students a week, they can sometimes challenge me but they also bless me and I am so thankful for them. I was grateful for another good year of doing wedding flowers with Abbi's Bridal Design.
On Sunday evenings I lead a Ladies Bible study at a friends house in town. I love the time we get to dig into God's word together. We come from a lot of different religious backgrounds so the discussions can be really fun.
We are incredibly blessed by our church family at the Bemidji Church of Christ as well. I am so grateful that I don't have to try to do life alone or even with just my family. Having a group of believers that truly care about me and encourage me in my walk with Jesus is so wonderful. There are several women in the congregation that I meet with outside of our regular church time to study with and/or pray with and that has truly been life changing for me and my walk with Jesus.
In December we always like to go on a walk to gather greenery to decorate our home. It was perfect that it snowed that morning. It melted later but we enjoyed the snow for our walk.
Ewan has become some a happy guy. We just love him!
Christmas found all the kids here at home which was wonderful. My parents, Peter and Jaten also joined us for lunch and then on that weekend we were able to spend time with our other in town family as well.
Last night, New Year's Eve, was our traditional game night party. We had a great turn-out (we ended up with 50 people at our house) and I enjoyed having everybody here. I think most of them had a good time too. :-) God has richly blessed us. I am looking forward to seeing what He has in store for us next year.
I would love to hear about your year and areas you have seen God working.
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