“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. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”  Isaiah 6:6-7

Newborn children are a joy and cause for celebration.  We rejoice when we hear news of friends and family welcoming a child into the world.  How much more so, should we rejoice at the advent of the Christ-child come into our world to dwell with mankind!  He was no ordinary child.  Jesus came in the fullness of deity, yet humbly stayed in the tent of an earthly body that He would sacrifice to death on a cross to bear all our sins.  This tender little baby was simultaneously the Mighty God who could bear the debt for our sins that would take all of eternity in hell for us to repay.  He overcame death and rose from the grave to give us eternal life through faith in Him.  One day He will come in power to establish an ever-lasting kingdom.  We look forward to the day when there will be no more pain, suffering and adversity.  This is a wonderful reason to celebrate this Christmas! A savior was born of a virgin just as God had prophesied.  And just as He who promised is faithful, so will His love with accomplish the promises He has made of his future reign and our reign with Him.

From our little family to yours, we wish you a most joyous Christmas Day and a Blessed New Year.  May you ponder anew the miracle of Christs’ birth and our redemption through His perfect life, perfect sacrifice and perfect righteousness.   No matter what your Christmas celebrations entail may you pause in prayer and reflect on the child that was gift to us.  This is the biggest and best gift given!  May you also enjoy the company of loved ones and cherish your time together.  None of us knows how much time the Lord has lent us upon this earth.  Today, I’m thankful that the Lord has taught me to not to take those whom I love for granted nor each day I wake up with breath and life with them.  You are all in my thoughts and prayers.  Thank you for your continued love and support.  Despite the distance or time between us, you are near and dear to our heart.  We covet your continued prayers for our little family.  We miss Josh and the holidays are not the same without him.  However, God is using this difficult season to draw us closer to Christ and to each other.  The boys are doing well and adjusting to many different changes and challenges.  Noah is almost half way through 6^th grade!  We continue to home-school, and he is still getting straight A’s.  Go Noah! Little Nathan just achieved a major milestone as he learned to go potty on his own.  They are both growing by the day.  Noah grew four inches in just this year alone!  He is now taller than me.  Nathan’s preacher vocabulary keeps getting sharper.  We are excited to be  buying a home in Santa Clarita, CA.  The Lord has provided in amazing ways.  We love the home the Downer family has shared with us and are indebted to them for their kindness.  However, it will be so good to unpack all our stuff from storage and start life in our own home.   The church Josh pastored is in the final stages of selecting a new senior pastor.  We miss them dearly; but are all settling in at Grace Community Church and enjoying all its rich teaching.   I recently became a member again and am excited to serve in whatever capacity the Lord would have.  Progress is being made on Josh’s book…the transcribing for his last series on ‘Suffering and the Sovereignty of God’ is now done! We have big dreams for the new year and know we serve a big God.  Please pray for the boys to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord,  for writing job opportunities to open up, and for Josh’s book to be published and leave an impact on as many as God would touch through his life and legacy.

Hugs,

the Seibert’s