I think most everyone who would want to read this got it, but just in case you did not read our Christmas letter and want to, here it is. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please send your address to beautifulservant@gmail.com.
Dear Family and Friends,
We are humbled by how blessed we have been this year. God has been doing a lot in our lives and we want to take this time to play a little catch up. This past year we reached some huge milestones. We have been involved in ministry at our church in numerous ways. Jon and I are the Directors of our Sunday school class and we have been leading Bible studies throughout the year. I (Jen) have continued to be involved with Weight Watchers and have been at my goal weight for over a year. We hope that you take time to read the rest of our letter to see what else we have been up to this year.
In January 2010, Jen’s sister, Vivian and her finance, Daniel, announced that they were expecting. We were excited to be an Uncle and Aunt. Vivian was good about sending us texts and pictures throughout her pregnancy. It was so exciting to follow along as her body changed and adapted to the baby growing inside her. Kenneth’s due date was September 9, 2010, however he was on his own time frame. Vivian even went as far as offering him bribes to try to get him to come out, but nothing worked. Finally, on September 17th, 2010, 8 days late, he made his big debut into the world. It was love at first sight!! We were not able to be there, but we are so thankful for technology that has allowed us to see Kenneth. He wasn’t even 24 hours old and we were Skyping with him.
On May 8th, 2010, Jon graduated from LeTourneau University with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Science. Jon worked so hard to earn his Bachelor’s degree. We were so blessed to have Jon’s family with us for graduation. We also had a few friends; Mike Wiley and Michelle McMartin fly down to join in the celebration. God has provided so much for us along the way that we want to share some of those things with you.
1. Tuition Breaks – LeTourneau’s flight program is incredibly expensive. However after much prayer the Lord provided me (Jen) with a full-time job at LeTourneau in 2008. This meant that starting in June 2009, Jon did not have to pay tuition for his classes. Praise the Lord that we do not have even more to pay back in student loans.
2. Campus Housing – Thankfully we were able to live on campus in Married Housing for 3 ½ years! This saved us so much money.
3. A Flight Job – Before graduation, God provided Jon a job at LeTourneau, as a full-time flight instructor.
4. Your Prayers – We are so thankful to all of you who lifted us up in prayer during this time!
I (Jon) was given a great opportunity to help a friend ferry his Cessna 182 up to Alaska. Our trip from Longview to Kingdom Air Corp would take about a week. However, it ended up only taking us four days. I was able to help my friend fly the plane up before I had to come back to the lower 48 for a mission’s trip to New Orleans that our Sunday school did. If I had the opportunity to fly up to Alaska again I would do it in a heartbeat! From Alaska I got on a plane and headed to New Orleans to meet up with some of the men in our Sunday school class. We decided to go work with Samaritan’s Purse for a week, trying to help rebuild a community, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Our group of 4 guys joined several other groups from different churches. When I got there we hit the ground running. The first day I was there we ended up nailing the floorboards onto the base of the elevated house. During the week when we were working we had the privilege of meeting the couple that was going to be moving into that house. Two of the guys on our trip were also able to minister to a guy that stopped by; they ended up sharing their testimony with him and praying for him. One of the highlights of the trip was getting to listen to the all men’s choir of Franklin Baptist Church practice every night, and then getting to go to the concert the night before we left. Overall this summer I was able to travel much more than I have in the past, and God taught me a lot.
This Christmas Jon and I are traveling to Chengdu, China, to be with Jon’s family. We will also have an opportunity to connect with several friends while we are in China. We will be sure to give you an update after we return to the states. We are leaving on December 16th, 2010 and will return January 7th, 2011. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel this holiday season.
Finally, we want to ask that you would be praying for us throughout this coming year.
This December 2010, we began to payback Jon’s student loans. This is an incredible burden. We do not know how these student loans will all be paid off. However, we know that God will continue to provide for our every need.
1. Pray that we would have the financial resources necessary to pay off our student loans.
2. Pray that God will give us wisdom about jobs and where He wants us to be, because we want to be in His will.
3. Pray that we will persevere during this time that we are trying to get on the Mission field.
4. Pray that we would continue to be involved with ministry at our church. We want our relationships with God to grow.
God Bless,
Jonathan and Jennifer
Family and friends signed our picture frame.
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