Hello!
It has been a record year for our family! So much has happened and God has been so good!
This year has been just too much to capture in one Christmas card but I think a Family Year End blog post might just do the trick! So, to all who read this last blog post of 2017 please think of this as a Christmas Card from our family to you :)
Our year began with a bang as we decided after much prayer, research and counsel, that surgery in Germany would be the right fit for Mom. Shortly after that the Go Fund Me page was set up and by January 25th we were already blessed to have $10,768.00!! It was an exciting time as we watched the total grow!
As we prayerfully waited for the Lord to bless us with the total we needed, I (Alix) began the first of my "world travels" for the year! I was so blessed to be able to head down to Alabama with friends for the Grace Life Church of the Shoals annual True Church Conference! Along the way our group was able to tour the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter in Kentucky!
After I got back from my trip plans towards fundraising began! Our first fundraiser was hosted by our home church in Selkirk, Grace Baptist. We felt very blessed to have so much love and hard work put into one night :)
We were gifted with $12,535!!! The Lord has brought us $48,852 in approximately 3 months!! He definitely gives good gifts to His children; what a faithful God we serve.
The next few months Mom's condition continued to worsen but the Lord is faithful in still bringing bright spots into our lives even through the pain. Our family loves spending time together and as the painful months kept coming we adapted to accommodate Mom as much as possible. From her new patio chair so she could still enjoying spending time outside with us to girly Sunday afternoons by the fire with snacks with a good historical period drama :)
March to May we teamed up with so many to make the Steve Bell Fundraiser on May 11th a reality! Wow, what a blessed evening that was!
$70,000 in 5 months...what a amazing miracle!! Hitting that goal was incredible; the realization that Mom was actually going to Germany and getting that much needed surgery left us feeling so thankful!
The next 7 weeks or so were filled with fun, packing, preparations....and just a little stress...just a little lol!
On June 19th we left for Germany, a good portion of the trip and Mom's recovery have already been recounted in this blog so I won't go into any further detail. Before I leave this topic though I do want to say how much God used that trip and its varied trials and blessings to grow all of us. We learn't so many lesson and I'll forever cling closer to my God because of it!
I have compiled the rest of our year and a few of it's many highlights in these next photos. It's been quite the year of firsts, from trips to Alabama and Germany to Luke getting his learners level driver's license and hunter's safety certification! From learning to dance The Spaniard and attending the Pride and Prejudice ball at the Fort Garry Hotel, to relearning how to walk in Germany; what a year!
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from the Janzen Family! Thank you for all your support, prayers and love this year, we so appreciate it! May you and yours have a blessed Christmas season filled with the warmth of God's love and the hope the Savior's birth brings us!
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6