Christmas 2007

Here's our Christmas Letter for 2007:

Dear Family and Friends,

What a year this has been! It’s hard to believe that a year ago Evan was only nearly three months old! He sure has grown up since then! Much of the beginning of this year was spent getting used to being parents and getting Jon through his last 2 quarters at the seminary. We are so glad that chapter in our lives is over! Hallelujah!! J

In April we received Jon’s call to be the youth pastor at Cross View Lutheran Church in Edina, MN. We were admittedly a bit nervous because Cross View originally wanted a pastor of adult ministry rather than a youth pastor. We prayed about what to do before Jon’s interview with them, and we felt that being honest that he didn’t want the job was the best thing. You can imagine our surprise when they took his information back to the church and decided to call him as their youth pastor! God’s ways are certainly higher than ours…and we trust that He has a very good reason for our placement here.

So in June we packed our bags and headed for Minnesota. A member of our new church allowed us to temporarily stay in one of his townhouses for three months free rent while we looked for housing. Praise the Lord! It was such a blessing to have the time to get to know the area before making such a big decision. Early on, we decided that buying was our best option since renting a large enough space wasn’t going to be much cheaper than a mortgage payment. It was such a leap of faith for the both of us to buy a house, but God is faithful, and he helped us out big time!

We ended up buying a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom split level 10-year-old house about 25 miles west of church. We took a lot of slack for the distance, but it is so worth the commute! God came through for us bigger than we could have hoped for our first house (starting with our wonderful realtors, Mike and Linda)! The house also came with a play set for Evan and a basketball court behind the garage…not to mention awesome neighbors on both sides!! God is so good! We have done a lot of work to the house already. In September, Lani’s best friend Bethany and her daughter Lily came out to help with the painting. (What a big blessing to have their help!!) Then we had the hardwood floors refinished and replaced most of the lighting and door fixtures throughout the house. It has made a big difference! And it is so amazing to have space. And even more amazing to know that we won’t be packing up to move again next summer!! Did I mention that we love to be able to see the stars?! (And isn’t it funny that we have a cornfield in our back yard!!)

Jon has already enjoyed the benefits of being a pastor so much. God is really working through him in this place! In July, while Jon and the youth were in Orlando for the youth gathering, Jon was the one who had to break the news about the 35W bridge collapse. Turns out that his cell phone was the only one working since he still had his Saint Louis number.
God is so good! Thankfully, no one from our congregation was on the bridge, but it has certainly been a wake-up call for Minnesotans everywhere!

Jon has done so much to help restructure the youth program already. He has implemented a head/heart/gut/hands/feet model for “why we do what we do,” he’s in the middle of getting the right people on the bus for the youth board, and he has added a weekly junior youth group to help make the transition easier and keep kids coming once they are in high school. We both teach Confirmation on Wednesday night—we are totally loving the “Here We Stand” program that we use! On Sunday nights, we both lead the two youth groups. The junior high meets from 5 to 6:30, and the senior high meets from 7-8:30. It makes for a long day, but it’s such a blessing to only have it take out one night a week! The kids are great with Evan. They have been such a big help. It’s like Evan has about 30 big brothers and sisters! J

Speaking of Evan, it’s hard to believe that he’s a year old now. He’s such an independent little man! He’s completely walking on his own, he’s very into making big messes in his room (and his pants!), he’s signing up a storm (mostly more, drink, eat, bath, light, fan, all done…and most recently PLEASE! Woo hoo!!), and he’s learning to talk. He’s had two haircuts. He has 12 teeth (YIKES!). He loves to play the piano, mommy’s guitar, and the drums. He loves to dance…especially in church. His favorite book is “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” He knows how to press the buttons on each page to make the music play. He can operate a cell phone (he’s called Lani’s dad twice now!). He loves to smile and laugh. He really loves to give kisses and high fives. He knows how to work the crowds on Sunday mornings—good thing they like him! He is absolutely hilarious. Part of the hardest thing about parenting Evan is holding back our laughter to tell him no. He’s a very creative and charming child! (He reminds us a lot of our good friend Karl Hesterman… J)

Last month we added the newest member of our family—a baby shnoodle (schnauzer/poodle mix) named Moose. It’s like having another child in the house. The cats don’t really like him so much, but we’re hoping they will learn to at least tolerate each other. At least two of them are brave enough to be in the same room as him! Evan enjoys playing with Moose…and telling him that he’s bad. (After having Moose for only 1 week Evan learned how to say “bad dog!”) The two boys get in lots of trouble together! While Moose is still learning to be potty trained, we have taught him how to sit and fetch. He likes to chew anything he can put in his mouth…including Evan’s nookie. But he brings us much joy…and laughter too. J

Lani is back to working part time for Stephen Ministries. It’s such a blessing to be able to work while Evan is napping in the morning!! Right now she is developing a website to help the customer service have better product knowledge at their fingertips. It’s a big task, but it’s something that she really enjoys doing! When she’s not working for Stephen Ministries, she’s working on the Sunday morning Bible Study that she is leading for Revelation. Two more weeks and we’ll be done! (It has been an intense journey!J)

This Christmas we are so thankful for the opportunity to host both of our families for our first white Minnesota Christmas in our first home (we’ve already gotten over 12 inches of snow this month!). We are thankful for a real Christmas tree (thanks, Mike and Linda!), for good health, for love, for friends and family, and most of all for the gift of our Savior. We pray that this letter finds you and your family well. God’s richest blessings to you this Christmas!

Love and hugs,




Jon, Lani, and Evan (and Moose)