Voila! 2016 Rowan Christmas Letter

Twelve long, excruciating months … each day you walk to your mailbox with great anticipation only to realize that it is not Christmas season. Your heart sinks. No Rowan Christmas Letter. What will you do?! It’s the only real piece of mail you get all year! You try to find solace in reading other pieces of literature but it’s no use. Shakespeare, Dickens, Hemingway … they never sent you any Christmas letters. Oh, the humanity!!! Well, the humanity can now rejoice because today is that day! It’s officially Christmas! Grab your fruitcake and eggnog and read along to find out how we are making America great again! Last year Jenny started working as the Nursery Director at our church. I have now come to realize that this was her ploy to continue to be surrounded by tiny children as much as possible. You see, Addie, our baby, started kindergarten this year and the lack of infants has affected the very career path of my wife. This fall Jenny was given the opportunity to preach at our women’s meeting at church. Despite this being her first full sermon, she was magnificent. (I am not a woman, but I was able to bypass security with a clever disguise in order to hear her.) Three people responded to the altar call for salvation! Basically I’m married to a Billy Graham-Martha Stewart-Baby Whisperer-Beauty Queen hybrid. She is my greatest achievement in life. Recently, you may have heard in the news of record gun and ammo sales. That was me prepping for Elena Kay as she entered middle school. So far so good. She has not started incessantly listening to any boy bands which, of course, is the greatest indicator of her interest in the male persuasion. Despite the adult examples they were given this year, Cassia and Josiah decided to go ahead and run for government office. Josiah landed a 2nd grade class representative appointment. He has some excellent ideas on how to deal with the Chinese currency manipulation. (i.e. punch them in the face) I was with her, but apparently the Alanton Elementary 4th grade is not ready for a girl treasurer. I tried to tell Cassia she should show off her numbers chops by counting to 60 during her one minute campaign speech. Alas, she decided to go her own route … which is best for all of us. Addie … sometimes I pretend play she is a newborn baby and she loves it. This is helpful to her development in no way, shape or form. I don’t care. As long as she doesn’t regress into pooping her pants I will do this as long as I want. I wrote this letter … 2016 goals have been successfully reached. Earlier I had some fun with the elections and while there were polarizing issues, people and rhetoric that doesn’t change the reality that Jesus is King of kings. He is actively working in the hearts and minds of the leaders of the world to bring about His purposes. Just as He is with each one of us. We pray for our leaders but God’s attention toward us is focused on how we lead ourselves, our families and our community. I wholeheartedly believe we are to do that while having the best time ever! This past weekend our pastor wrapped up his message with the statement, “Live full, die empty.” It is a great thought to consider. Every day we have a choice to fill our lives with many different thoughts, attitudes and actions. I pray our thoughts will be filled with hope, our attitudes with thankfulness and our actions with love. The world around us is searching for people that will live with such fullness. I know the Rowan family is much fuller because you are in our lives. Merry Christmas!