| WadasFamily.com |
Christmas Letter 2003 |
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Hello again! Because of Mom’s poor planning we have not gotten out a card or letter for several years. We love you all and miss you. We would love to fill you in on our family and we hope that those of you who have not sent us letters will write or e-mail so we can learn about your families. Here is Dad to start things off.
Wow 2003 has been a
character-stretching year, and it has gone by quickly for the family as
well. Sue and I have been interacting in all areas of life with our 5
wonderful children. In return they have been a blessing to us. They have
showed us many insights into life at each individual age. In my spare
time, I’m currently working at Citgo Petroleum Refinery in Lemont and I
operate an International Food Science Co. business at home. It has been
an exhilarating and fun learning curve to keep up with both of them. Sue
has been a fantastic business partner.
Now I will hand it over to Sue to share: Thank you Brian I
continue to home school three kids while the other two are at our home
school Headquarters. Home schooling the two little boys has been such an
adventure for me; I’m getting an A in third grade again. And doing school
with Andrea has given us the opportunity to grow closer in our
relationship!! I have also been helping Brian out with our home
business. I am thankful for the opportunity to fulfill my passion of
helping people with their health and their finances!! My health has
gotten much better which is why you are getting this letter. Mark wants
to let you all know what he has been doing this year too. Here you go:
Hey there.
I'm
still working for the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), and
living on campus, in Oak Brook, IL.
It has been 1 ½ now.
I'm working the Computer
Dept., which is responsible for deploying and maintaining 200+ desktop
computers locally and remotely as well as a wide array of servers. We also
host many of IBLP's web sites (www.iblp.org). It’s nice to be able to work
right down the hall, and live right down the street from my sister. I see
many plans in the near future and many choices that I will have to make to
encourage those goals. I enjoyed spending time with my family on our
vacation to VAIL, Colorado. We took many pictures that I am adding to our
web site, www.wadasfamily.com.
I'm also working on the family web site in my spare time. And as the web
site is very evident I don't have much extra time with all the
extracurricular activities that are offered here at the institute. I
would love to hear from you, you may email me at
mark@thatmarkguy.net. Now I will hand it over to Crystal.
Hey all, Crystal here. In
January of this year, I began working for Characterlink, Strongest
Internet Protection Service. I've currently living away from home, but my
heart is still home! I’m able to go home on the weekends and see the
family. David & Joshua will not stop growing!
In February my jaw surgery was
successful. I was in the hospital for 2 ½ days and wired shut for 6 weeks.
This was definitely a time of re-evaluation for me to make the most of my
time with every minute of every hour, every day with every week…
Our family went to Vail, CO. for our
family vacation. Our whole family went. I think it was the first time our
whole family had gone on a vacation in a few years. It was great being
with them! And the mountains were absolutely magnificent! God IS awesome!
I'm so grateful for all that the Lord
has taught me in all the situations...big and small.
The thing that stands out to me the
most is learning to pray and watch God work.
This coming year, I’m taking one day
at a time. So many options play into roll, so please keep me in your
prayers as I walk through decisions with Mom & Dad.
I’d like to wish you all a Merry
Christmas and a Blessed New Year! Here is Andrea now.
Hello ya’ll.
As for my year, I have had the best 18th year!! And it gets
better and better. This summer I had the opportunity to go to a
three-week intense training class in Indiana that was called Operation
Salt and Light, where I learned how to teach children the gospel on their
level of understanding. It was such a blessing for me to see how well
they responded to us (75 students were there) and I believe 100 or so
children were saved!!! Ever since I was 13 or so, I have wanted to work
with children, and now God has given me this opportunity to do so. But God
was at my side and I learned while teaching the children to rely on God
for everything and to trust He will take care of me. And now I am able to
go up to people using boldness and share the Gospel with them. I have led
3 or 4 children to Christ since then. It was exciting for me this last
summer to be able to tell God ‘Here am I Lord send me, I will be your
servant and go.’ Use my willing spirit to do whatever He may have in mind
for me!
Last year I took a job in a sandwich shop. And I also
baby-sat for my boss; while I was there God gave me the opportunity to
witness with an attitude of willingness to serve! I have been in awe at
how God has been able to use me in my own neighborhood!
I want to thank all my friends who have kept me in their
prayers as I went through trials. And may God bless you all. Merry
Christmas and happy New Year!!!
Hey friends this is David. I am now 9 years old and in third
grade. I am learning so much in school. Learning Bible verses, like the
Ten Commandments and Matthew 5 are part of my school work. I have been
able to take these Reliv Shakes and it has helped my asthma. This summer
I was able to ride my bike without coming in the house not able to
breathe. It was scary when for the first time that happened. But now I
am excited to be able to do things in the back yard without wheezing!! I
also enjoy playing with Mark’s Play Station 2 (when school is over),
reading books, and just playing with my brother. Hey now I am going to
let my little brother tell his story. Take it little bro.
Hi. This is Joshua. I am 6 years old now. All grown up and
still getting taller. I am in 1st grade and loving it. But I
think the best part is being at home with Mommy. She is always right
there with the answer (and a hug). This summer has been busy for me. I
have been meeting new friends and playing on Andrea’s trampoline!! She
was so nice to let us use her toy (thank you Andrea). One of Marks
friends taught me how to do a front flip on the trampoline!! I like to
scare mom every time I do one. (just kidding). Last summer the whole
family built a play set in the back yard. It is HUGE!!! It has been a
lot of fun playing on it. I also enjoy playing with our dog Molly,
listening to David read the mystery books to me, color pictures, and build
neat Lego sets.
We traveled to Knoxville for our annual home school
training. We have excellent speakers like Elizabeth Elliot and Doug
Phillips from Vision Forum. We also traveled to Kansas City and St.
Louis, Mo on business. As Mark and Crystal mentioned we went to Vail, Co
in the off season to enjoy the mountains and not the traffic jams. Skiing
seems to be in Dad and Mom’s past. Us kids have not picked up their love
for it yet. Dad and Mom seem to be too old for skiing at least for this
time in their life, maybe later. We enjoyed spending time celebrating
Christmas with Mom’s Step Mom Betty Van Tassel and the Aspengren Clan in
Chicago. We also saw the Fourth of July fireworks at Navy Pier with Al
and Lia. It was flashy and short. Aunt Marcella Aspengren celebrated her
89th birthday in May. That was a great celebration that was
attended by many. Other than that life is pretty predictable around
here. We enjoy getting together with other families and playing games and
just visiting.
Thank you Family for
sharing. And we pray that everyone has a wonderful year looking to our
Lord. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
~God
Bless~ The
Wadas Family,
Brian, Sue Mark
(22), Crystal (20), Andrea (18), David (9), & Joshua (6)
e-mail: us@wadasfamily.com |
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| 2004 Mark Wadas |
