Christmas

On Christmas Eve this year, my precious nephew, Seth Ari Voelker, was born. We get to meet him for the first time on Sunday and could not be more excited. Every time I read about my brother being a Dad, I seem to get tears in my eyes.

A couple hours after we got the news that Seth was born, we found out some dear friends (Nancy & Abraham) who moved to Portland a couple years ago had lost their baby girl, just weeks before she was due to be born.

In November, I had spent a weekend in Seattle with Nancy and some other girlfriends. One morning I laid my hand on Nancy's belly and felt her girl moving. It struck me that morning that I probably wouldn't feel that in my own womb again, and I got all choked up with the miracle of it all. I feel so blessed to have met her little one in this way, that she gave me this memory I will never forget, even though I won't get to meet her face to face until we meet in heaven.

Christmas Eve, I also found out that another long time friend had lost her step dad to a sudden tragic accident when he was trying to help the neighborhood remove a tree from some power lines.

Through all this, we cried, we rejoiced, we prayed. We loved on our children, showered them with gifts and Christmas memories and had a wonderful time visiting all the family in the area. (despite the many complications due to snow & lack of 4 wheel drive on our suburban)

My heart has been so full of all these things, I did not want to ignore them on my blog, but I didn't know how to write about them (or wasn't ready) either.