Friends,

Since last we wrote, much has changed and yet much has stayed the same.  We live in a new city, Michael has a new job, Christina is seeing new doctors, and Geneva is fast mastering the English language.  Our God and Savior remain ever the same, the source of our hope and our provider of purpose.

Michael spent 2008 clerking for a federal judge in Denver, an invaluable experience for this newly minted attorney.  We were blessed with a new job opportunity after the clerkship, where Michael joined Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons, LLP, a large Colorado law firm which has a unique specialty representing churches and other religious institutions.  This required us to move over a weekend from Denver to Colorado Springs last January.  Michael is grateful for his new job and loves spending time at work defending Christians and the cause of religious liberties.  The view of Pikes Peak from Michael’s office provides a constant reminder of the beautiful surroundings of our new home city, Colorado Springs.  After a good and challenging year at the new firm, Michael looks forward to many more.

Christina spent the last year living with near-constant pain, as she has for the past several years.  As a saint, she lives with headaches and disabling pain on a daily basis.  A positive change this year, Christina has been seeing an excellent internal medicine doctor who has provided a lot of new information about many systems within Christina’s body which are in dysfunction.  We have discovered, and started to address, problems with Christina’s protein retention, digestive track, adrenal glands, hormone levels, as well as a large list of foods that Christina has an insensitivity to. Among the foods we have had to cut out of our diet, gluten, sugar, soy, most preservatives, turkey, apples, and many others.  Christina has also begin seeing an excellent chiropractor here in Colorado Springs three times a week. We have faith that these changes will pay long-term dividends with Christina’s health, and we continue to have faith in God’s ultimate plan for us in this trial.

Geneva is a joyful little girl who blesses us and brings a smile to our face every day.  She loves to ask questions, has been playing Mom with her toys of late, delights in things play, and run laps inside our house.  There are pictures of many fun days with Geneva throughout the family website.  As Geneva matures in comprehension of our prayers and reading of Bible stories, we both are fast learning what it means to have faith like a child.  Geneva is the first to have us pray for strangers who need protection whenever we drive past emergency vehicles. She is very musical and loves to dance, and can’t wait to take ballet next year when she turns three.

Through the excitement and upheaval of moving, meeting new friends and seeking out a new church, we are living an adventure following Christ.  More than ever, we are reminded of how gracious our God is, and how he works all things for his good, even when we do not understand his ways.  Romans 5:3-5 speaks of where suffering produces endurance, how then endurance produces character, and then character produces hope.  That is the path we continue to pursue.  Merry Christmas, come and visit anytime, our house is always open.

Michael, for Christina & Geneva