For those who may not have gotten our Christmas letter this year, I provide it now :) Merry Christmas to all!
(by the way, Tim is the author of our annual letter)

December 18, 2006

Perhaps it would have been wise to include a tardy slip from the principals office with this years Christmas letter. I suppose it would be just as appropriate to write a theme paper on the topic of tardiness, as it seems the arrival of annual inspiration for this letter is somewhat later than usual. Today is rather wet and brown and very Monday; hardly an inspiration of Christmas joy. But, the good news in all of this regularness and plainness is that Christmas is a simple celebration of a birthday. Feelings are nice, sentiments often enjoyable, but the fact of the matter is that God Himself became a little baby and was born into our world with all of its everyday brownness. Majesty reaching into Monday mud; a cheerful thought indeed.

This year is marked by a number of contrasts: ending of life and beginning of life. On December 25 of last year Dad called to let me know Mom was in the hospital with pneumonia. Thirty days later on January 25 we laid Mom to rest at the end of her earthly journey. Her body was simply rendered unusable by the feisty spirit it contained. The cancer in her lungs made life here too un-life-like. Among her last words to me a week or so before her passing were “…my Jesus will see me through this…”. Clearly, He did. Trivial words to some perhaps, but eternal treasures to me, her youngest son, now overlooking age forty. I am glad Jesus makes it possible for me to say “See ya later Mom.” As you read this, please have the wisdom and courage to own Christ as the one “…to save His people from their sins.”

This local branch of Bergeron Inc. received child five into the fold on March 2 of this year. Quinton Thaddaeus Bergeron (“Fifth Courageous Shepherd” or “you need guts to have five nowadays”) came from nearly the same mold as Jot and Emma; blond hair, blue eyes and of considerable size. He crawls now and shows a clear preference for real food over that yucky baby stuff. Hannah walked on her first birthday and Quin may just do the same. The lad is healthy and fits in with the rest of the crew pretty well. We plan to keep him.

Faith passed the four year mark about a month ago. Her vocabulary is on the way to catching up with her zeal for life. Dresses and tights and hair pulled up “like bear ears” identify this smaller version of Hannah. Brown eyes add to the attitude don’t they? Faith is likely the most independent of the lot. She will disappear for hours on end simply to play with her ponies or Barbies. Never short on opinion or the eyebrow action to back it up, Faith will be one to stand on her own regardless of what you think of her. (Rental contracts for Faith are available on the family website. Reduced rates for ’07.)

Emma continues to live out her middle name ‘Joy’ most of the time. She is in constant transition between Faith and Jot (typical for a middle child?). The teams switch back and forth regularly, but it is unlikely her allegiance to Jot will ever be truly swayed very far. Jot was away from home recently for a few days and Emma spent most of the time worrying over him. “Will he get enough to eat? Does he have his pillow and blanket?” I guess if neither of them finds good matches for marriage they will have each other. They certainly squabble like old married people now, so they have plenty of practice and would do just fine it seems to me. Emma is facing birthday seven in Mid-March and carries herself pretty well for being six-almost-seven.

Everyone needs a Jot. We have one and I can’t imagine life without this nearly-ten-year-old. He is still devoted to the essentials of life and shows no signs of wavering. Cereal, toast, Buzz Lightyear, Rescue Heroes, Sunday School and evening Bible stories are the life sustainers for the second of five in our home. He is tender hearted and mostly gentle (unless he can get his hands on sticks from the woods). He is reading like a champ and does pretty well during the school day in our home. Medical issues are still a part of life for Jot and consequently the rest of us. It is about time to revisit some of the issues with his left eye area now that nearly nine years have passed since his initial big surgery. No major concerns at the moment, but it’s time to have a look again to see how he is doing.

Still commanding the position of eldest is the tall and slender Hannah. She is growing into quite the responsible young lady as she rounds the corner to age thirteen in early February. Hannah is occasionally left in charge of the others while Mom & Dad get a few minutes out of the house. Quilting, baking, making, inventing and the like are still a big part of Hannah’s favorite activities. She also has opportunity to hang out with some folks her age a few times each month in Philly at the Junior High activities at church. She seems to like those quite a bit. Occasional part-time work for a lady in the Pocono church puts a few dollars in her pocket. She is a terrific help to everyone and a good kid all around. The little ones in the church nursery like her as do the adults she helps each month. She is coming along in her school work and learning how to learn here in the Bergeron home school. Seventh grade is just about half-way over at this point.

The entire family still functions best on regular routines. School happens during the week at the kitchen table. Jen has everything organized and running pretty well. In spite of our best efforts, there always seems to be something out of the ordinary happening that keeps us all on our toes. Church, school, chores and the like fill our week and keep us grounded in reality. This season of life sees a lot of the same stuff each week. We have made some excursions here and there. A visit to Ohio over the summer was full of sitting around, crafting, quilting and coloring. The heat kept us indoors nearly the entire time. It was good to simply spend time with people. We have hopes of a trip or two in 2007 but those details have to wait until next year’s letter.

Anniversary seventeen was the marker for Tim and Jen this year. The Lord has been gracious and has allowed us to grow and learn together for these years. We are approaching the 20th year of knowing one another. Married life is terrific and gets better with each passing year. We are learning from past mistakes and hopefully gaining wisdom as we move forward. Date nights are a regular part of our week and are often just a few hours of togetherness with a book or a game after the gaggle is in bed for the night. In fact, tonight we may actually go out somewhere and leave Sgt. Hannah in charge.

As I close the annual epistle, I hear little feet thumping, the dryer running and the rhythmic sounds of math and phonics lessons upstairs. This is the good life, carefully hidden directly in front of us. There is belonging, purpose and plenty to do. All of that goodness is granted to us by our Maker. Please set aside a little bit of time today as you read this fine piece of literature and assess what is happening around you. Are you pleased with how your life is going right now? Are you ready for eternity? The contrasts of life have faced us this year and by the grace of God we have grown in the midst of it all. Our prayer for you is for the free operation of God’s loving-kindness and mercy to overflow into each area of your life. May God richly bless you in the upcoming year.

With love and fond affection,

The Bergeron Family