Every year, Jared and I send out a Christmas card and a photo, so here's a virtual card from us to you:
December 2021
Merry Christmas, y’all!
“It is a miracle if you can find true friends, and it is a miracle if you have enough food to eat, and it is a miracle if you get to spend your days and evenings doing whatever it is you like to do, and the holiday season - like all the other seasons - is a good time not only to tell stories of miracles, but to think about the miracles in your own life, and to be grateful for them…” - Lemony Snicket
2021 felt like a series of miracles.
The year started with all of us catching Covid. Thankfully, we had very mild cases, but for a brief time, I thought I was going crazy! I am not one to complain (too much anyway) but the phantom cigarette smells were so strong they choked me! I would wake up at night thinking there was someone smoking outside of our bedroom window. It went away about 6 months later, thank Jesus! It turns out phantosmia is a common Covid side effect, and I am so grateful it’s over.
While we had mild cases, Katie and Asa definitely were sicker than we were, and when Asa couldn’t shake the cough and general yuckiness, he went to the doctor. After several rounds of medicine and more tests, it was discovered that Asa had Classical Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. It was obviously a very scary situation, but again God provided in every way and after months of treatments, Asa has a clean bill of health and a bright future! THANK YOU, JESUS!!! Katie opened a photography studio in Woodstock, and she has been very busy ever since.
After Daddy’s heart issues last November, he has a clean bill of health! The doctors are very impressed with his recovery and with how he took charge of his health with the Lord’s help. Mama and Daddy sailed the high seas of Lake Acworth over the summer after Daddy bought a sailboat to restore. He named it Lil’ Sweetie after Mama! #relationshipgoals, right? They’re staying busy sailing and fishing and doing ministry together in both Jasper at the Jasper Georgia Prayer Meeting and at His Way in Blue Ridge.
We joke that Jared’s parents have become real estate moguls this year after selling their rental condo, buying their new house just four minutes from our house (yay!), and soon selling their current house, their rental house, and Grandma Von Stein’s house since she passed away this year. They have worked really hard to do all this, and we are so happy that they’ve found a house near us with no stairs! Ian is still working at Meno and playing music at his church, and the girls love it when he comes over to play!
Jubilee started her second year of homeschooling. She is doing so well! She also attends a Friday enrichment day at a local private school, and she loves all the new friends she’s making there. She blows my mind with her imagination, and it’s so fun to hear her tell stories. Joy turned 2 this year and has kept us on our toes! She is a one-woman demolition crew, and we are more tired than we have ever been, but our hearts are full. It’s been a blessing for me to teach them. I spend a fair amount of my day pulling Joy out of the ceiling fan, but my prayer life has really improved since Joy came along!
Jared started his 8th year at Bear Mountain. He spends more time working than he would like to, but we are both grateful for God’s provision! Jared had a terrible pinched nerve in May and after the numbness in his hands and the pain in his arm spread, he finally went to the doctor. Over the course of a few months, he was finally able to do normal things again, like hold the girls and sleep through the night. After all that, he has made a point to do more things for fun this year, so we’ve taken the girls to the cabin twice and he and Ian went hiking in the mountains, just the two of them. Jared and I attempted a beach trip for our 10th wedding anniversary, but we cut it short when Joy got sick for the first time in her life! Next March will make 18 years of us together, and it has been a sweet adventure. Jared and Jubi built several garden beds for me this spring and we had a big garden! It was such a fun experience looking out the window to see the girls running through the rows and eating green beans off the vine.
As for me, I wrote a whole book! I’ve been working on a poetry collection for a couple of years, and it is finally finished. I told the Lord that if He had something for me to say then He would have to give me the words, and I believe He did. I’ve sent out some query letters to agents, and we will see what comes of it. Whether I am traditionally published or self-published, this book is getting out into the world, and it feels really good to finish something like this!
We’ve lost several loved ones this year and when I tally up the losses and close calls, it makes the holidays seem even more like a miracle. The year has been full of miracles--from the miracle of our health to the miracle of a seed planted and the bounty that comes from it--I truly think our life is a series of miracles, both seen and unseen, that ultimately point us to Jesus and the miracle of His birth, the miracle of the Cross, and the miracle of His resurrection.
Love, Jared, Tristan, Jubilee, Rejoice, Ophelia, and Buckshot Tuttle
“We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and mighty wonder.” Psalm 78:4