The
Wiebes find themselves living back in beautiful Denver, CO as 2012 comes to an
end. We are as surprised as anyone about this development, but God’s direction
has been clear and abundantly confirmed. Amy’s earlier blog post has all the
details about how it happened, but the mile-high version (pun intended), is
that God has called us to move here to continue the pastoral work He has been
leading me into for the last several years. We wrapped up our loose ends in
Dallas in late October, and drove our two Uhaul vans to Denver with the three
kids taking turns in each truck. God has made His sense of humor clear though
in this transition. The church we are leaving behind in Texas is The Ranch
Community church, and I will begin a 2-4
year position here in Denver starting in January at The Church at the Ranch in
Highlands Ranch, CO. I will be training during this time to plant a church
somewhere in the area. It is not what I expected, but God rarely checks with us
to see if our plans line up with His. Yet, I could not be more excited about
the possibilities that lie ahead. What has also been incredible to watch is how
God has graced our entire family during this transition.
The kids
have had a very busy year with all that has happened. Ellie played another
season of soccer in the spring and scored several goals this year. With the
trips back and forth to Denver in July and again in August and then permanently
in late October, the girls spent the
summer swimming, driving, hiking, and generally enjoying the outdoors. Because
we knew that we would be moving to Denver in August, we started Ellie in an
online home-school that we teach to her at home. She has been doing great with
it, but with both of us working full-time jobs, she will return to public
school in January. Emma was very sad to
leave her fantastic preschool in Texas, but has quickly adapted to her new
preschool here and is being her usual social, hilarious self. Both girls will
be taking more ski lessons this winter and are really looking forward to that.
They have also been waiting for some big snow to fall here since I promised to
use my expertise from a childhood in upstate New York to help them build a
snow-fort. Nathan turned 1 in mid-October, and continues to amaze us. His
sisters smother (sometimes literally) him with affection, and he loves to
roughhouse. He’s been teasing us for months, but it seems that he’ll be a slow
walker, as his sisters were. He has been a total champ in the chaos of our
move, and we thank God for his sweet disposition.
There
were definitely some other noteworthy events this year as well. Back in
February, we drove with some great friends, the Hubers, to Red River, NM to do
some skiing. The weather and conditions were perfect. We all had a great time
tearing up the slopes during the day, and relaxing sore muscles at night in the
cabin we rented together.
In May,
Amy and Nathan were blessed to join a number of other family members at her cousin Lee’s
graduation from West Point Military Academy. It was a weekend to remember. West
Point is one of the most beautiful places in the country. Lee upped the ante by
getting married to his wonderful wife Kim in July at a beautiful ranch up in
the mountains west of Denver which we were blessed to attend as a family.
As I
wrap up this letter, I cannot help but to share with you how remarkably
grateful and mystified we are by God’s goodness, faithfulness, and the depth of
complexity by which God works out his plans in our lives. We had absolutely no
plan to move to another state, but in hindsight, God has been training us to
trust him completely for a long time. To trust that He knows what He is doing,
and that he will both provide for us and use us as He sees fit, is the reason
we are here now. It is also the reason that we will be blessed to work with a
great church here, and eventually plant a church ourselves. The blunt truth is
that we are imperfect people in the supremely capable hands of a God who has a
plan to redeem humanity one heart at a time. As the popular saying goes, “God
doesn’t call the equipped. He equips those He calls”. We’ve been blessed over
the past 6 years to work alongside an incredible group of people who love God
with their whole selves, and we have watched God shape those people and we’ve
felt him shaping us. What we are certain of as we walk through this huge
transition is that we will continue to be refined and that God will continue to
use us and bless us and stretch us in ways that glorify Him. And at the end of
the day, that is the purpose of our existence. The cool part is that we get to
be part of a plan that stretches back before time began, and forward into and
endless eternity with a God who loved us enough to send his only Son to earth
to reconcile a lost world to Himself. This Christmas, know that God loves you,
and be blessed in the knowledge that he will use you remarkably as you place
yourself in His supremely capable hands. We wish you the merriest of
Christmases! James, Amy, Ellie, Emma,
and Nathan Wiebe.
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