(Here is our annual Christmas/New Year's letter for those of you who aren't on our family's mailing list. It's very belated at this point, but it's the thought that counts, right? :)
Our
2017 was filled with more blessings than the snowflakes that currently cover
our property (there are over 2 feet of them!)—and we hope that yours was
too! This March will be the second year
that we have lived in our home in Montana City, and I have to say that the
“honeymoon phase” still has not worn off.
I continue to wake up most mornings with a heart overflowing with
gratitude to God for the blessing of our home and land. It is such a joy to watch our boys climb on
big boulders, mountain bike around our trail, zip-line through our pine trees,
and watch all the wild animals that visit us each day. So far we have seen a mountain lion, a
bobcat, mule and white-tail deer, bull and cow elk, marmots, some bear tracks, and
too many bird varieties to list. We had
lots to be thankful for in 2017. We had
lots of challenges too (I probably shouldn’t
list those!)J. But I try to remind
myself that God is good, all the time. May we praise and
trust Him both in good times and in bad!
Paul is still with the
FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) for the 11th year. He enjoys what he does and is now in a
position where he teleworks from home, which is a great bonus. I love it when he is able to come upstairs to
refill his coffee cup and steal a kiss from me in the kitchen. J This year he was asked to join the school
board at our kids’ Catholic school, which was quite an honor, and he sure seems
to enjoy helping the school prosper. He
helped design a new parking lot for the school and facilitated putting in new
playground equipment this past summer.
Other hobbies he enjoyed this year were mountain biking, making
chokecherry wine, and cutting firewood from our forest. I like being married to a handsome lumber
jack! J
Joseph is 16, a sophomore
at St. Andrew Catholic School, and the highlight of his year was getting his
driver’s license! He is sure growing
into a handsome and holy man, which really hit me this past summer when I saw
him giving his brother Isaiah a ride on his shoulders while we were hiking at
Glacier National Park. I realized he
only has a few summers left with our family, so I will try to treasure every
minute of it. His passions include: baseball (especially pitching), violin, piano,
downhill skiing (especially trick skiing in terrain parks, much to his mother’s
dismay), mountain biking, 80s music, and drawing.
Michael is 14, a freshman at
St. Andrew’s, and the highlight of his year was harvesting 2 deer during
hunting season. He loves being in the
great outdoors—whether he has a rifle in his hand or a camera. He is growing
like crazy, and even surpassed his older brother in shoe size. His interests include: downhill skiing, hunting, wildlife photography,
80s music, basketball, and baseball (especially playing short-stop). Which reminds me that another big moment for
Michael this past year was winning the city baseball tournament with his
brother Joseph. It was so special that
they were able to be on the same team, which might not ever happen again, so I
think it will be an unforgettable memory for them.
Dominic is 11, a 5th
grader at St. Andrew’s, and the highlight of his year was either going to
grandma’s house or Glacier National Park over the summer. Seeing mountain goats up close is pretty
awesome, but so are grandma’s cookies! J He also got one of the sweetest teachers on
the planet this year, so that was a high-point for him. His hobbies include: LEGOs, video games, downhill skiing, sledding,
card games, board games, cello, piano, and did I mention LEGOs? J
Nathanael is 7, a 1st
grader at St. Andrew’s, and he says the best part about his year was going to
school and playing with his friends. He
is becoming a BIG BOY so fast! This year
he got BIG new front teeth and can read BIG chapter books—that’s BIG STUFF! His BIG interests
are: LEGOs, Garfield books, sledding, video
games, baseball, and just having fun with his brothers.
Isaiah is 4 and is doing preschool
at home with mommy. The highlight of his
year was hiking like a champ at Glacier National Park! This was the first year he didn’t hitch a
ride in the backpack-carrier, which made daddy’s back happy and it also made
Isaiah feel like such a big boy. He sure
is getting big…and smart too! He likes
to announce to people that he can count to 1000. Next year he will start Kindergarten! That means I will have no more kids at home
during the day and I will have to decide what I want to be when I grow up! J
For
now, though, I am very content being a chauffeur for my sons, spending time
with my faith-filled friends, skiing, hiking, taking pictures, mountain biking,
and blogging our family memories (www.atotustuusfamily.blogspot.com). In this
New Year, I am also going to try to trust
God more. That may sound simple and silly,
but I know it’s something God desires me to work on. I’m really good at stressing out—I’m not so
good at trusting God to work things out. L I’ve been re-reading the Diary of St. Faustina, which is so inspiring. For those of you who
have never heard of St. Faustina, she was a simple nun from Poland who Jesus
appeared to in the 1930s numerous times and asked her to write down His words
that He wanted the whole world to know. He tells her that one of the things He
desires most from people is their trust in Him. Allow me to paraphrase from St. Faustina’s
diary a few ways we can trust Jesus more:
·
to
trust that He loves us unconditionally—we
don’t have to be perfect to please Him; He is pleased if we simply accept His
love and mercy, and try to love Him however imperfectly in return!
·
to
trust that no sin of ours is greater than His mercy—he actually delights in forgiving us and never tires of it either!
·
to
trust Him to take care of everything,
believing that He will work all things towards our good, so we never have to be
anxious about anything!
Jesus
wanted the world to know this so much that he asked St. Faustina to have an
image painted of Him with rays of love and mercy pouring from His heart with
the words, “Jesus, I trust in You” at the bottom of the image. May that become the daily motto for us
all! I’m sure it will lead us closer to
Jesus, fill our hearts with peace, and greatly console His heart too! May you be open to all the graces God wants
to lavish upon you this year! Please keep
in touch and stop by if you’re ever in our neck of the woods. Our door is always open!
Love
through Jesus, our Savior, Healer, and Trustworthy Friend,
~Paul,
Maria, Joseph, Michael, Dominic, Nathanael, and Isaiah
“Tell
all people, my daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches me with trust, I fill
it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself,
but radiates them to other souls. I am offering people a vessel
with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That
vessel is this image with the signature: "Jesus, I trust in You." The
graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is — trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will
receive.”
(Jesus’ words in the Diary
of St. Faustina: paragraphs 1074, 327, and 1578)
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