A 2020 Christmas Letter

May your Christmas be merry, and your New Year, better than the last one.

It began on Christmas morning, when baby Jesus was born 
In a stable there, in Bethlehem, that sacred, starry morn, 
When the shepherds came to worship, and the angels hailed his birth: 
Glory in the highest! God’s son has come to Earth. 
Sing glory….Sing glory….

2020 has been quite a year for our family, filled with a little good, a lot of bad, and a whole lot of ugly, or so it seems.

I'll get the bad and ugly out of the way first: 
  • In January, Meagan had a late, first trimester miscarriage, just a few days after she had publicly announced her pregnancy. 
  • In February, my mom was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and mild dementia, and was hospitalized, and then moved to Heritage Care Center in Fairbury. 
  • In March, Levi began Zooming instead of attending school, and Victoria had to stop volunteering at Minatare Prestart, because the school, like all of the others in our area, closed for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year. Erin, Reed, and Andy all worked from home, via Zoom, while juggling family responsibilities. 
  • We scrambled to find masks, which we weren't sure we really needed, and began the long adjustment to social distancing. 
  • Bill was nearly heartbroken when track was cancelled for the year. 
  • Church services were suspended for three months--the worst part of that was staying home for Easter. 
  • We had to cancel our long-awaited, extended family trip to California, as well as most other family gatherings. 
  • Just this month, my Uncle Gary died during surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm. 
  • And, we haven't seen Erin, Reed, and baby Will for a whole year!
But, really, that 2020 sentence, above, should be turned around, because the bad and ugly events (and non-events), as awful as they seemed, have been outweighed by God's blessings this year: 
  • Meagan is pregnant again, and the fifth Stobel baby is due to arrive in just a couple of weeks. 
  • Mom was released from Heritage the day before it closed to all visitors due to Covid, and she and Dad are managing quite well at home, with a lot of support from my sister, Laura, and her husband, Kent. I've been able to visit them a few times over the summer and in the early fall, when Covid was nearly non-existent in our regions of Nebraska. Bill and I were both glad to see them when we attended Gary's funeral last week, in North Platte. 
  • Levi excelled with his Zoom studies, making mostly A's for the fourth quarter. Victoria got to help with Minatare's delayed Preschool graduation in the park, and has been working there again this fall, with a couple of short breaks when the school had to close again, temporarily. She was excited to receive approval to be a paid substitute next semester. Since Meagan was already homeschooling her kids, they didn't have to make any adjustments in their school situation, except for being thrilled to spend more time with Andy. Andy is back at school this fall, while Erin is enjoying teaching from home, because she gets to spend more time with Will and Reed. And Reed loves working from home so much that he is starting a new job, next month, where he will always work remotely. 
  • Everyone has adjusted to wearing masks as needed, with little complaint, and we have all remained reasonably healthy.
  • Bill's internet/cable TV business has been considered an essential utility, so he and his employees have been able to work without interruption this year, while maintaining social distancing. He has been in town all year, because all of his out-of-town conferences and track meets were cancelled. Because his schedule wasn't as hectic as usual, Bill took time to remodel the basement so we now have a dedicated storeroom and a media room. 
  • We are back at church, and I'm back on worship team. As an unexpected benefit of Covid-induced changes, live-stream worship is now available for anyone who needs it, and will continue to be used in the future. 
  • We all learned to use Zoom for conferences, school, therapy, piano lessons, and worship. We even Zoomed with Erin, Reed, and Will for Thanksgiving and Will's first birthday, and we Facetime with them at least once a week, so we can get to know Will that way, and watch him grow. And, because Erin and Reed can both work from anywhere, they are planning an extended trip to spend time with grandparents in Colorado and Nebraska as soon as we are thoroughly vaccinated. 
  • Bill has made a point of checking in with his Dad often. Al, who is still living at home, is doing quite well. In April, we celebrated his 95th birthday with a drive-by birthday parade. 
  • After several weeks apart, Meagan brought the kids to play in our yard, and swim in our pool, and they've continued to come to our house most Tuesdays this fall, while Meagan works at the church. 
  • I've had plenty of time to walk every day, write some songs, and even paint a couple of pictures.
  • I was able to refurbish our RV, so it was ready to go when Meagan and I took the kids camping several times this summer and fall. 
  • And, finally, we were pleased that Gary got to spend part of November at the ranch, doing what he loved, just before he left this earth; we were also in awe of the military honors at Fort McPherson National Cemetery, where Gary had chosen to be buried, and we are so glad for the hope we have, in Jesus, that we will see him again.
And so, we are ready to celebrate Christmas here in Gering with Meagan's family, as long as everyone stays healthy. We will Zoom with Erin, Reed, and Will--we're getting pretty good at that. We are thankful that the Christmas Eve service has not been cancelled, so we will be able to worship together, along with those who choose to join us online, from home. And we look ahead to 2021, to a new granddaughter, and a year with fewer restrictions and a return to doing some of the things we have missed this past, challenging year.

As you look ahead to 2021, may your celebration of Jesus' birth overshadow the frustrations of this year that is mostly behind us!

 
Reed, Erin, and Will, standing in front of their new home in Madison, WI; even with Covid, they were able to oversee construction, and move in September.

 
Meagan, Andy, and kids: Lydia, Tobin, Ari, and Evie
  
      
Victoria, with her boyfriend, Caleb Schank;  Bill, Janet, and Levi   

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