Blessings...: December 2017

Dear friends and family,

When we moved to Germany in 1985, we finally got to learn about and experience ‘Chestnuts roasting on an open fire’. They smell wonderful and after trying them a couple of times we learned to appreciate and enjoy them. Now they are something we looked forward to each fall and into the Christmas season.

I will never forget my personnel ‘cultural experience’ with chestnuts a few years ago.

Being the thrifty home-maker that I try to be, I decided to surprise Jesse with these tasty treats one evening just before Christmas. I saw a package of them in the grocery store and I thought to myself…I can roast these and we can enjoy them at home rather than trying to hunt down a chestnut stand at some Christmas market. So… I came home and put the whole bag on a pan and shoved them in the oven. I only planned to leave the kitchen for a few minutes but got distracted in another room. I heard Jesse come down the stairs and a moment later he called to me and asked me what was going on in the oven. OH NO!!…the chestnuts! I hurried into the kitchen and heard the popping sound coming from the oven and then made BIG the mistake of opening the oven door! I ducked as these ‘roasting chestnuts’ started flying by my head like little bombs exploding all over the kitchen walls and cabinet fronts. I finally came to my senses and closed the oven door as the exploding little nuts continue to plaster my oven with their insides. My kitchen walls and cabinet fronts (which I had just cleaned thoroughly after my Christmas baking) now dripped with splatters of chestnuts which I soon learned was similar to the texture of mashed potatoes and not at all easy to clean up, especially the oven which baked on the mess even as it cooled!

I have no spiritual application for the above but thought you may get a chuckle out of a favorite family memory…one my family teases me about often.

As for us? We are doing great! We loved summer and all the wonderful, successful times spent with kids at camps. It was so special getting to know them and share with them the love of Jesus. Thank you for your prayers! Yes! You prayed and God blessed in ways we never could imagine. (Check our blog)

Fall brought the opening of another great school year, a few weeks’ of vacation with our kids and grandkids (always a highlight for us) and visits with friends and supporters.

It is with grateful hearts that we thank you for all you continue to do for us through prayer and financial support. We wish you a wonderful Christmas and many special blessings in the New Year!

With Joy,

Jesse and Doris

PS… A word to the wise regarding ‘roasting chestnuts’…they need to be slit before roasting and it works better to do them in a pan on the BBQ instead of the oven!

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