Merry Christmas from Shafferland!

Originally I planned to share our Christmas letter with you here today, but after taking communion at church last night, I changed my mind.

Ryan and I usually go to a Christmas Eve service, but our church holds theirs at a time that conflicted with a family get-together, so we weren't able to attend. We were thankful, though, that they offered open doors for communion for a couple of hours prior to the service, so on our way to our Christmas celebration, we stopped by the church to at least participate in that.

Pastor Alex read some Scripture to us, and my mind locked in on a verse from John 1 - "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (verse 14)

We have seen God's glory.

We have.

In 2014, we have seen God's glory.

If you had read the Christmas letter I intended to post here today, you would have read about all our adventures for the year {possibly terribly boring for you since you already read about them when they happened!} - and that would have been the entertaining version. But the deeper version is that tucked into each of those things...we saw the glory of God.

We saw Him in the protection He offered in those long, long months of Polar Vortexing, when we drove for hours each day, just getting to and from work on ridiculously treacherous roads.

We saw Him in the money raised during our Share fundraiser last January, when our listeners shared not only of their resources, but of their hearts as they told stories of how God had been at work in their hearts through the music we played.

We saw Him in our travels throughout the state of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan, as we traveled through beautiful scenery and saw the magnificent creation He made - including the lamb that had just been born and lay, still wet and groggy, in the muddy field beside the road.

We saw Him in the exhausting journey of selling Ryan's house. In the days when we didn't have the strength to wait one more day, and then somehow we did. In the day when the offer arrived, and in the day 141 days later when the house closed and we were free from the burden that plagued us so long.

We saw Him in the remarkable way I was able to get through my dental procedure this summer and the subsequent healing that has taken place in the months following. We saw Him in the prognosis for full recovery.

We saw Him in the vehicle breakdowns - and the one vehicle DEATH - in our household this year. We saw Him in the way He provided loaner cars and a replacement truck for Ryan.

We saw Him in the times we shared together in prayer and Bible study - seeking always to know the next step He has for us and aching to be obedient in following.

We have seen His glory - all year long. Every day. He has been present in our lives and in our hearts, and we overflow with gratitude today.

We pray that you will also see His glory today. That He will be so present on His birthday and show you His love.

Merry Christmas...from both of us...

Ryan and Bekah