Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Christmas Letter, 2011

Dear Friends,

It’s hard to believe that yet another year is coming to an end. As I reflect upon the past year, I realize just how amazingly blessed we are, and how exciting it’s been to watch God work in our lives.

The biggest news from our family this past year is that God blessed us with a daughter. Olivia Jo Griepenstroh was born on October 27th, weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces. Despite the many challenges that come with having a new baby and two kids, we are very happy to have her and the joy that she brings. Judah has been a great big brother, and he’s very good at being gentle with her. One of our biggest concerns with having another baby was how Judah would adjust, and so far he’s done as good as we could have hoped for.

In addition to adjusting to life as a big brother, Judah learned how to walk in early August. Not only can he walk like a champ now, but he can also run, which means that Lindsay and I find ourselves chasing him all over the place. Judah can also talk a little bit. His widening vocabulary includes bye, see ya, Judah, hi, outside (kind of), num num (when he’s hungry), Dada, night, and he can even make the puppy sound! He loves to go outside whenever we give him the chance, and his favorite toys seem to be the ones that make music. He also likes kicking a football and wrestling around in the living room.

Lindsay is primarily a stay at home mom, but she is also managing a website for a yarn shop in Minneapolis. It’s a great side job for her because it doesn’t demand too much time and she can work on it when Judah and Olivia are taking naps.

The media department at Maranatha continues to grow and reach new heights. My job is to promote Maranatha through the many different forms of media, and God uses that to bring people to camp to hear about Him and/or grow as Christians. Over this past year I’ve grown into my position a little more, and now I am comfortable knowing what needs done and how to do it. Getting to that point has allowed me to think outside the box more and expand on what camp has done before.

Outside of work, I usually stay somewhat busy with wedding videos. This year I did three weddings, and next year I already have two booked. Once again I played flag football in the North Platte city league in the fall and coached Junior High wrestling for Maxwell. I also tried a basketball league, but that was just okay for me. I think it’s pretty obvious that God didn’t create me to play basketball competitively. Getting involved in those things has given me the opportunity to get out into the local communities and meet people outside of camp that I wouldn’t have otherwise met.

We are certain that 2012 will bring just as much as excitement as 2011 did. We’d like to thank those of you who have supported us through prayer or finances over this past year. Without you we wouldn’t be able to keep serving God at Maranatha Bible Camp.

We hope that all of you have a great Holiday season, and we are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends.

With love,

Bill, Lindsay, Judah, and Olivia

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