Looking back at 2008, Nathan and I celebrated 25 years of marriage this year. Nathan has always wanted to go on a cruise. We did just that the first week of August. We went to Cozumel, Grand Cayman Island, and Jamaica. We won the “Not so, Newlywed game” and the “Amazing Race” on the Carnival Triumph. It was a trip of a lifetime. I say that about every trip I go on though. I love to go anywhere.
We are parents with no one below teenage years now. Derek is taking a break from college. He is seeking God’s direction about what he should do. He wants to be consumed in the satisfaction of the LORD and in that, find wisdom, faith, and direction. God is his fortress. He is praying about going to Southwestern Theological Seminary and participating in an Undergraduate program they have in Music Ministry. He is employed by a local grocer and is also still interning at his Church. He has not lived with us since he went back to college his sophomore year. He presently shares a house with a friend from high school (and several cats).
David is a very talented musician. He bought his third guitar with his Christmas money. He continues to play in Revolution. It is an ensemble of fiddlers from both of our local high schools. He is the electric bass player. Check him out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P77B2yQkH0o He continues to play the stand up string bass and perform in all-region orchestras. We found out he is dyslexic this year. We started the school year out finding out that he needed reading glasses, but his English teacher noticed things no one else has in 10 years of schooling. I knew David could not spell, but other than that he had great ideas and his grades always reflect how smart he is. Not until History classes did he really start having trouble. David is very intelligent and over the years he has just figured out how to compensate in so many ways. We are very proud of him. He will be taking some pretty in-depth and long tests at the end of January to see if he will be granted more time to take the SAT and ACT.
Daniel is still the athlete in our house. He is in the middle of basketball season right now. His team is undefeated. This is his last year in middle school. Next year he and David will have one year together at the school where Nathan has taught for 23 years. He plays the baritone in the band. He will perform in the All-City Band this year. He received a Wii this year for Christmas and we are all enjoying it. We plan on all getting fit this year with Wii Fit.
We have been very blessed by our heavenly Father this year. I took on a new job at Abilene High School. I am now a Library Technology Aide. Our library has seventy computers that I keep up and running. My job is never the same on a daily basis. I miss my friends at my old school especially my roommate last year. It was her first year and we grew very close. She has had a very hard Christmas season. Her daddy passed away just before school was out for Christmas. I know she will never stop dancing, but I pray God puts a beautiful new step into her routines as she worships God this year.
We have a new couples class at our church. It is great to see how they have grown together. They are young married and it is so great to see them form such wonderful relationships that I believe will last for a long time. Especially with www.facebook.com at our fingertips now. If you haven’t tried it you should. It will connect you with friends and family that you might not see very often or even thought you would never see again.
Our year started out a little rough. Derek and his girlfriend for two years broke up. It was hard on all of us. Last night though Derek told us that they were still good friends and talk all the time.
We have had several friends serve overseas in the war we are still in. They have all gone and come home safely. We still have friends that continue to come and go. We pray God’s protection for all of them.
I lost a dear friend on Christmas day. Teri Payne went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She left behind a 6th grade daughter and her husband. I also have a friend that her son is serving his second time in prison. We are praying for him as he awaits a hearing coming up this next week. His sibling is also going through a very difficult time right now. I pray God will bless this family with peace this year.
Several of my friends that have battled cancer this past year are doing well now. Praise God for His healing touch in Jan, Susan, Linda, and Lesa’s lives. I am not sure where I got this but it is written in my journal this year.
What Cancer cannot Do…
“It cannot invade the soul,
suppress memories,
kill friendship,
destroy peace,
conquer the spirit,
shatter hope,
cripple love,
corrode faith,
steal eternal life,
silence courage.”
I also have friends that are grieving the loss of precious babies. In the past two years I have had three friends go through still births and some others go through miscarriages. I have even had precious families receive an adopted baby and then the mom change her mind. Nathan has had two students pass away just this school year. Life is certainly hard at times, but God is still on the throne.
My dad had an angiogram right before Thanksgiving. He had to have two of his five bypasses opened up. His defibrillator has not gone off on his pacemaker. He is still looking for a job that will meet his and my mom’s needs.
God continues to move in the part of China that I went in 2001. One of the friends I made while I was there serves in Bangalore now. Some friends of ours are asking God for direction for their lives here in the states. We are praying for God to speak words of direction to them this year. They are like our own family. We love them so much. Nathan did their wedding. He did everything but the vows with them. The female accepted the LORD while she was in his physics class years ago. One of her good friends led her into asking Jesus into her heart. She was so excited and told Nathan when she was going to be water baptized. She babysat the boys for us. Her husband helped us with the boys when they got older with rides and such after school. Then the next thing we know we are doing pre-marital counseling with them. They have a beautiful 2 year old now.
Several friends were married this year- Titia, Kim, Christen, Sarah, & Cameron. I pray God will continue to bless their marriages.
We are all still wondering about 2009 as we have a new president take office. God, show us how to pray for Barak Obama and his family. We have several friends that we are praying will accept Christ in 2009.
The Nease Prayer for 2009 is that God will be glorified in Nathan’s and my marriage, our family, our schools, our church, and our daily lives. We pray that the LORD will give peace and comfort to our friends that are hurting and grieving because of loss. We pray that Daniel and I will have a safe trip to Washington D.C. and back again. Thank You for providing the funds for us to do this trip one more time. We pray that our Youth at our church will grow in the LORD as they ski spring break. We thank you Father for the athletic ability you have given Daniel and that he will use it for Your glory. We thank you for our boys’ friends. We pray you will give them courage to share Christ with the people they come in contact with. We pray that You would bless our parents physically, emotionally, spiritually, and financially. We pray for our neighbors that they would all come to know Jesus as their personal savior. Thank you for our friendships with some special neighbors. We pray you will show us how to reach out to some other neighbors. We pray for an older neighbor that lost his wife. Now his son and his wife live with him. Please blend his household so that they will all get along and live in harmony.
Father, help us in our pursuit of holiness. We desire to honor You above all other values. We want to choose the right over the easy and benchmark our choices against Your righteousness. The Nease family wants be an example “in speech, in conduct, in faith, in purity.” (I Timothy 4:12). We want to be pure and blameless until the day of Christ (Philippians 1:10, NIV)
In Jesus precious name, AMEN.
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