December, 2009

Dear Family & Friends:

We never expected to write an electronic Christmas letter but this has been a year with a few unexpected twists. As most of you know, Karla lost her job on January 16th. This was a shock to all of us. The fi rst week was a blur as we tried to come to grips with the loss. Work had always been an enjoyable part of Karla’s life. While still dealing with the loss, she immersed herself into bible reading, prayer time and depended on the support of friends and family. Everyone was terrifi c and helped her to get through those early days. A verse from Isaiah 30:18 has had s i g n i f i c a n t meaning, “the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are those who wait for him!” As we

wait for what is around the corner, we are reminded that the Lord is gracious and compassionate.

There are many highlights this year – especially with some extra free time. As a family we traveled to Southern Alabama/Pensacola, FL in May and camped and stayed with family there. We also traveled to New Orleans for a day and visited some good friends in Mississippi. In August, we drove to Baxter State Park and climbed Mt. Katahdin – the end of the Appalachian Trail. We were not the physically fi t newly married couple that we were when we hiked the trail 22 years ago, but it was

MERRY CHRISTMAS MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE GINGERICH’S 2009FROM THE GINGERICH’S 2009

At the Top of Mount Katahdin after a grueling climb into the clouds.

Fellowship and enjoys his work. Along with all this he also is a computer technician for friends, local churches and whoever needs his help. He has a bag for each of his jobs and we joke about how many bags he’s using

on a given day.

Karla has loved being at home this year. After being sedentary for 9 hours a day, she has enjoyed losing a few pounds and achieving better health. She was able to spend a week with her

folks this

s u m m e r and a few days this fall while her g randmother needed some extra help. This was such a wonderful time with family. Spending more time with Bill and the boys has been great. It took a few weeks for

fun to climb with our boys

who were frustrated they

had to wait for mom and dad as they fl ew up and down the

mountain. After climbing the mountain, we vacationed with friends and camped at

Bar Harbor. In October we traveled to Missouri for the Coblentz reunion and then t o North Carolina at Thanksgiving for the Gingerich reunion. We feel very fortunate to have such good families.

Bill transferred his social work license from Maryland in the spring. Ten years ago it was a daunting task but this year the board had it complete and Bill had it in hand in one week and two days. Truly God’s hand was in this process! He was hired by a local Christian Counseling agency and has a small caseload as a therapist. In S e p t e m b e r , we attended a Christian T h e r a p i s t c o n f e r e n c e in Nashville and had a w o n d e r f u l time. Bill continues to work part time as a sound technician for our church, Mechanicsburg Christian

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Zachary’s First Day of

High School

Nicholas’ Throwin for

Bellefontaine Travel

Soccer

Nicholas on top of High Windy at the

Gingerich Family Reunion.

30th, in a head fi rst slide into second base, he heard a pop and was unable to move off the ground. He was diagnosed with a n avulsion fracture and his leg had to be non w e i g h t bear ing f o r

several w e e k s .

After a q u i c k

recovery, he was back on the baseball fi eld to fi nish the

season. This fall he played on the JV team at school and did well as

the team’s starting goalie. He was then asked to join the varsity team for the tournament

schedule and his team earned a district runner up award.

Nicholas turned 13 on November 30th – yes, we have two teenagers in the house! He has grown in maturity as well as height and is taller than his mother. He continues to be home schooled (another one of Bill’s jobs) and enjoys doing his work in his pj’s. This

everyone to adjust since she tends

to “take

over” or “direct”

things more than what they would like. Of

course they don’t complain that s h e now has time to drive them to their many actviities, fi x some torn c l o t h i n g , make meals and do laundry, etc.

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O c t o b e r 5th. After four years of home school and four years of Christian school, he ventured into public school w i t h over 200 in his freshman class. His mother was nearly physically ill the fi rst day but he had a great time and has adjusted very well. Zachary is a good judge of character, has chosen his friends and decisions wisely and we are proud of the growth we see in his faith. After several years of patiently waiting, he was asked to play bass guitar on the church worship team. He also runs the computer when needed and likes to be involved. On May

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Nicholas’ Travel Soccer Team after 2nd place Win

Hanging out with Alyssa and

Andrew Foronda in Bar har-

bor, Maine.

Zachary playing baseball for the Bellefontaine

Travel Team.

Zachary camping out at Big Lagoon State

Park in Pensacola, Florida.

your family receive His special touch this season.

Bill Karla Zachary Nicholas

fall he took on the newspaper route and his parents have been

impressed with how well he handles this new responsibility. Nicholas enjoys soccer – he played on an elite team last spring and the travel team this fall (Bill was the Ass’t Coach), likes getting together with his friends, chatting with his friends on facebook and is looking forward to snowboarding this winter. He got a dog last March “Toby” which is a family fi rst. Toby was a rescue dog so it took some time to adjust. He’s become one of the family and even Bill is known to pet him occasionally.

As we celebrate our Savior this Christmas season, we thank Him

for the many blessings He has rained on us this

year. We ask that you and

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Coblentz Family Reunion at Windermere in Missouri.

spending quality time with the Foronda’s in Bar Harbor,

Maine.

Cousins at the Gingerich Family Reunion in

Black Mountian, North Carolina.

Visiting at Brian and Betsy’s house near

Gulf Shores, Alabama.