“He who has the Son has Life,
he who does not have the son
does not have Life…”
1 John 5:12
Christmas Greetings to you from the Engel family! Just wanted to drop in for a little visit to tell you about our journey through the year 2000 and about our anticipation for the coming year. We live in such amazing times – such an increase of evil all around us, but the presence of God is so powerful and His promises to us so amazing that we do not lose heart! “We fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…” He truly is our Light and Defender, our Strength and Redeemer, our Healer and our Hope! I could go on and on about His wonderful attributes but I’ll leave you to do that as you prepare for His birthday celebration.
This year has been a good one for our family. In February we took a trip with a group from our church to work in an orphanage and a children’s home in Mexico. We had lots of fun loving on the kids, teaching them about Jesus and hanging out at the ocean with everyone. And God gave us such a treat when a bunch of turtle eggs hatched on the beach right in front of our motel. They could have hatched anywhere, at anytime, but I was convinced again of God’s great love for us when He caused this to happen where we could all sit and watch! So Ron acted as midwife, helping the weak little ones along, and counting them (exactly 96 little sea turtles!) while Daniel warded off any “would be’ predators as they crawled to the ocean.
Summer was full of highlights. In July we went to Camp Homewood on Quadra Island for a family camp. The location was amazing – right on the ocean where we saw seals and eagles and even had a deer grazing a few feet in front of our cabin. When we got home we had the privilege of having some dear friends and family visit so we were able to reconnect and play. (Of course this time was filled with lots of wiener roasts and picnics up at the orchard – one of our favorite spots to hang out and relax.)
This fall saw Daniel entering 9thGrade and Patrice entering 4th. They are growing up so fast it sometimes makes me want to cry! They’re delightful kids – such a gift from God. Daniel loves his involvement with Youth at church and has several very good friends. He’s an easy going, fun loving, and tall young man. He loves playing games, working on the computer, finding ways to earn as much money as he can with the least amount of effort required, and is presently playing on the basketball team at school. Patrice is into jazz dance and ballet and she is taking a “sabbatical” from piano lessons! She continues to keep the house full of INTENSITY- she loves sports, music, writing and she reads a mile a minute! Two of her favorite things are attending worship practice with Daddy (he still plays bass guitar) and going to hockey games with him! I attended a couple of hockey games thinking they could be potential family outings, but it proved to be more than I could bear and I have decided that hockey is alien to my understanding and lifestyle. I just don’t get it – it was all I could do to make it to the second quarter (or was that the 3rdperiod?) when I finally bribed Patrice to leave for a trip to Burger King. Thankfully neither my salvation nor our family unity depends upon my attendance of these events.
This September we also celebrated the 50thWedding Anniversary of my (Karen’s) parents! We had a wonderful evening of singing, stories, jokes and good food and fellowship with many special friends and family members to mark the occasion Mom and Dad are both in fairly good health and we are grateful to God to have such loving parents. Ron’s parents are also a huge blessing in our lives and they are persevering despite some health concerns.
The winds of change began to blow upon our lives this fall. Ron started to feel a real interest in a building project he had heard about that is going up next to the YWAM base in Kona Hawaii. He felt so much vision and life at the prospect of joining this project so he spent a week in Hawaii in October meeting with those in charge and “scouting out the land”. As a family we have prayed about and discussed this possibility. The kids have been positive and I have felt a real peace about going. (I can just hear your response…who WOULDN’T feel peace about moving to HAWAII?) Well, Ron has been offered the job of project manager for the condo development so presently a work visa is being pursued. They would like Ron as early as March but it all depends on the paperwork. I might follow a little later with the kids so that I can finish up a Prayer and Counseling course I am taking and so the kids can almost finish up their school year. WE are trusting God for further direction and guidance but are working towards this move unless He indicates otherwise.
So “our” seemingly never ending plans for building a dream home up at the orchard have now taken an abrupt change! In short order Ron designed a lovely small house that he is hoping to start building in the next week or so. It will be used as a rental property until we return. It’s a cold time to build, but having time constraints can sure move things along! I just wanted to make sure that we would have a wheelchair accessible house we could move into when we got back from Hawaii. Therefore we will probably sell the house we have lived in for the past 13 years and start on a new chapter in our lives…
So, until further notice we’ll still be content in Kelowna, dreaming of sunny Hawaii, and trusting God to lead us in paths of Righteousness whether that means remaining here or moving somewhere else! May the light and life of Jesus illumine your hearts and spread to all those you meet!
