Christmas 2010

.

For God so loved the
world that he gave his
one and only Son,
that whoever believes
in him shall not
perish but have
eternal life.
John 3:16
(New International Version, ©2010)

Our nativity set is made of olive tree wood from Israel. We purchased it from a woodworkers' outlet store in Bethlehem, Israel. Bethlehem is about 7.5 miles as a crow flies south of Jerusalem.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem but he grew up in Nazareth which is about 80 miles or so to the north.

We visited most there and most of the other areas of Israel on our 1980 Holy Land vacation. It was five nights cruising the Mediterranean, seven nights in Jerusalem, and two nights in Amman, Jordan.

Our Christmas picture for 2010

Mrs. Jim and I wish
you all a very

Merry Christmas

and a super

Happy New Year!

Our annual Christmas mail-out newsletter:

Hello family and friends,

Merry Christmas! We hope this finds you all in good spirits and ready for 2011.

Our year has been happily consumed with church, kids, grandkids, friends, travel, golf, bridge, dominoes (Texas 42), eating, and pets. We are both healthy and try to pretend that we are a little younger than what we are!! Our biggest newsworthy events are Karen and family have moved to London, Jenna is graduating from the University of Houston December 17th (she has a job!), and Megan and James Valentine are engaged and are getting married September 2011.

Our primary travels have been to London as KP (now 17 months old) has moved there with Karen, Billy, and Bailey. They have a three bedroom flat on Circus Road that runs into Abbey Road of Beatles fame. (Paul McCartney still has a house in the neighborhood, St. John’s Wood.) The best news is that they will be home for Christmas! We also managed a summer Baltic cruise where we visited the capitals of the various countries and a fall trip to Montreal and Quebec City, Canada.

Individually, Jim continues to teach Sunday school. Mrs. Jim is now on the local Board of Directors for Family Promise, a nationwide Christian ministry to homeless families. You can “Google” Family Promise, as it is an organization that you may want in your community. It is so worthwhile and the rewards for the families and volunteers are abundant.

We wish each of you a Blessed Christmas with the Joy of Christ’s birth.

Love, Jim & Mrs. Jim

[Updates since the writing of this letter can be found on my blog, as will all of the above.]