Thursday, December 23, 2010

Merry Christmas to All!

I wish I could send a Christmas card to all of you, but because that isn't possible, I thought I would post one so at least I could send you our Christmas wishes!  I also included our annual Christmas letter.  Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all of you!



Dearest Family & Friends                                                                                                                                                December 2010

Merry Christmas and Happy 2011 from Childress, Texas!  Last year, I decided not to include a letter in our Christmas card, but I’ve picked the tradition back up this year as we have had a very blessed and busy year!
                  I think Richard and I will remember 2010 as “the year everything changed in a hurry.”  I’ll start with the newest addition to our family, Sadie Mae.  Richard has always wanted a “cow dog”, so when I saw a post on Facebook about a border collie/blue heeler mix that needed a good home, I mentioned it to him.  We ended up taking Sadie into our home.  Despite some puppy behavior we are trying to get out of her, she really is an obedient, sweet, and smart dog.  
                  I am still teaching high school English at CHS but was given the opportunity to move into a new position.  I moved from sophomore English, and am now teaching 5 classes of Junior English and 1 Dual-Credit senior English class I really enjoy.  I can hardly believe this is my ninth year teaching!  I am still coordinating the Gifted and Talented and Academic UIL for the high school and they both keep me very busy!
In early June, I was blessed to work another Walk to Emmaus in Stanton, Texas and was honored to share our faith journey in a talk entitled Discipleship.  What a weekend and what a way to kick off what would become an amazing summer!
In late June, I had the extraordinary privilege to travel to Peru with my sister-in-law, Amy, my mother and a group of sponsors and students from Amy’s school in Washington State.  What a trip!  The main purpose of the trip was to visit an elementary school that the Spanish teacher at Amy’s school had been corresponding with in a pen pal type program.  Our trip lasted 13 days; we spent the first half working in the school in an area called Chincha Alta.  We stayed with two families, and were overwhelmed with their love and hospitality.  This area of Peru was almost completely destroyed by a devastating earthquake in 2007.  These people have very little, and yet they gave us all they had, and more.  We were humbled, and departed with many, many tears as we left our new friends.  There is so much I could say about these people and the impact they had on all of our lives, but I just don’t have room!  I hope someday I can share our experience with you personally!  The last half of our trip was spent as tourists in the area of Cusco and Machu Picchu.  Oh my goodness.  There are just no words to describe how amazing this place is.  I will never forget this trip and I’m so thankful I got to share it with two of my very favorite women!
                  Richard is still an engineer with TXDOT. He still enjoys golfing when he can and of course working with our horses.  The biggest change in Richard’s life is our new business.  He came to me about a year ago with what began as just a thought.  But after much prayer, discussion and more prayer, he decided to launch Jenkins Ag Services (look for us on Facebook), a ground crop spraying operation.  He saw the potential and the need and acted on it, and once again, we have witnessed as God has provided a window of opportunity to our family that has opened up other possibilities, as well.  He is enjoying his new adventure and I am so proud of him for his hard work and success and most especially for listening to God’s guidance.                  
As if all of this wasn’t enough, rather unexpectedly we decided to move houses this summer after I got home from Peru!  We only moved about 5 blocks from here, but it was yet again another opportunity for our family we could not pass up.  I just can’t explain to you how much the Lord has paved a path that has led to blessing after blessing in our lives.  We have seen prayer after prayer answered this summer; prayers we have been saying for years in some cases. 
This all leads me to the biggest news for our family since our marriage 8 years ago!  After four years of frustrating infertility, many tears, many prayers, and a testing of our faith, we decided to start the in-vitro fertilization process…yes, ALSO this summer!  Whew!  It was about a 2 month process, beginning to end, but after much anxiety and prayer, on September 20, 2010 we found out we were pregnant with TWINS!  We were absolutely ecstatic and couldn’t stop praising God for His faithfulness and perfect timing.  He was preparing us for this journey, even in the times when we didn’t understand His plans.  In November, we found out Baby A is a girl and Baby B is a boy!  Isn’t He amazing?  Praise Him!  We are looking forward to their arrival sometime in April!  We covet your prayers for their health and wellness and a smooth, long pregnancy.
As for the rest of our family, Richard’s parents continue to really enjoy their retirement, working on the ranch with cattle and enjoying time together.  His brother and sister-in-law are in the process of moving to Childress, with our nephews!  We couldn’t be happier and are ready to have the whole family in the same town! My mother retired in May and has not slowed down at all!  She is thoroughly enjoying “her” time and has been an absolute blessing to us during the early parts of my pregnancy.  She has stayed with us four times to date and I anticipate them being here much more often in the coming months.  My dad will retire from Del Monte in the spring, and we are all ready for him to be stress-free with more free time!  Will and his wife, Amy, are still in Washington State.  We look forward to every chance we get to see them!  We love SKYPE! 
                   What a year 2010 has been for the Jenkins family.  We look forward to even more blessings in 2011, and pray the same for you and your family!  As always, if you ever come our way, even just passing through, we would love to see you or have you stay over a night or two!  Please keep in touch!

Love, Peace and Joy,

Charla & Richard, (Maggie, Marlee & Sadie, too) charlajenkins2002@gmail.com / www.rcjenkins.blogspot.com
 

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4 comments:

  1. Love your Christmas card and letter. What a year to remember.
    Merry Christmas!!

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  2. Merry Christmas and Congrats! I love reading your blog from Amy Horton's (we were ACU buddies!) I love the babies' names by the way! Happy Holidays :)

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  3. Love the letter and Card...you two look great! Have a very Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year.

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  4. Merry Christmas! We haven't gotten cards sent out in years... Horrible! Yours look great though!

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