Colorado Christmas

A wonderful time was had by all...the drive from Montana and back was blessed, no blizzards!
All 17 of us had a ball...finding and decorating a Christmas tree, meeting John and Naph's friends, staying up late and playing about 100 games of Peanuts. We enjoyed an Alaskan version of Christmas dinner with four kinds of fish, goose tongue and other deliciousness.
God is good to us. It was a great way to close 2008, and start out the new year! Lots of love and joy,
-Joseph and Christy

Good day to you!

wow, have we been busy.
this is finals week, and we are leaving in a few days to go be with family for Christmas! yay!

Montana is having a cold snap, -20 or so...it's the kind of weather that makes your nose hair freeze the minute you step outside. :)

Also, we just found out we are moving out of the house we've been staying in, so we are packing...
God is good.
we are excited for a new chapter...

We have a 2-3 day drive to Colorado coming up, so keep us in your prayers

Lots of love and joy!
J and C

Christy has been enjoying painting. learning alot! It's finally getting snowy here - the ski mountain still hasn't opened.

We are driving to spend 2 weeks with family for Christmas!

Happy December to everyone!

God bless you!

-Joseph and Christy

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great visit with Christy's parents and drove to Idaho where we saw many old old friends.

Enjoy time with family this week
and may we know the DEEP LOVE of Jesus.

poem about a couple I remember

People are great!

Jolly Old Folk

Gray wiry hair in gigantic patches
protrudes, reaching, curling
from chin, eyebrows, nostrils

Overalls seven days a week
decrease the belly shake
during disarming spurts of laughter

Back-pounding hugs
leave one shaking
nervously smiling, regaining balance

Close proximity
confirms familiar fragrance -
day old spaghetti

The First Snow...

...is always a bit of an event.
I happened to be in the college cafeteria during the first snow... and a girl from Texas was freaking out at the "size of those snowflakes!"

It's pretty fun.
The mountains are changing their look.

:)

Bobbie.

Today a dear friend of our family journeys on,
out of our lives on earth...to be with the Source of Life, of her life. We got to see Bobbie and her son Tim a few months ago and she radiated the light of Jesus, as I know she does now.

She was there
almost three decades ago
welcoming her dear friend's daughter

She held the fresh born child
and cared for her friend -
the recovering mother

She wrapped her homemade log-cabin quilt
around the babe, sang with joy
and jubilant praise

She gave time, prayer
and support
through the child's growing years

She listened well
to those she knew,
responding with reasurring peace

She closed her eyes today
for the last time on this earth
and opened them again in a place
better than the best of dreams.

Joy!

Hope you are all having a merry day!

We are more than half way through the semester and happy about it.

Joseph's paper got chosen to be published in the
college newspaper, so that will be in print next week.
He is a good writer!

I am wearing my red Irish-knit sweater, glad that it's cold enough again to wear warm fuzzys.

lots of love!

Mischevious

Time to start putting some quotes on here from a wee book I found in England, that sometimes cheers us up.

"Satisfy your inner child by eating ten tubes of Smarties"
...............wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..............................

Temperatures

winter round the corner...
insulated boots from yardsale
colorful knit hat from garage
another season rolling in...

Community

We have a wonderful book called "Plain Living" Here is a quote we've been thinking about -

"We know, with varying degrees of acceptance into awareness, our own weaknesses, and there is a tendency to think that others - who seem, on the surface, to be very sure and confident - do not struggle in the same way we do. But many of those who appear to cope and be strong and tireless are indeed very different behind their masks. We are all wounded; we all feel inadequate and ashamed; we all struggle. But this is part of the human condition; it draws us together, helps us to find our connectedness.
- June Ellis

And we are on that search for connectedness with God, with each other, with the creation He has gifted us with. ah, we feel our need for Him, for family, for truth and honesty. We are thankful that He values this, He desires this community of life and wonder more than we do. He is in it for the long haul, to see us through in healing and joy...He has made us not to live independently, but for interdependence, to share in each other's joys and sorrows. We are thankful for those we are learning with...Love to all of you, Joseph and Christy
p.s. here's some photos of places where we've been enjoying our Saturdays!

A Delightful Anniversary!

Two Years of Marriage!
a drop in the bucket!
but still a great day of celebration!
As we had our breakfast this morning (a delicious one that Joseph planned and made), hundreds of migrating birds stopped by in our yard. They were creating formations in the air and then landing and covering the entire lawn. It was amazing to see them move as a unit...as we are learning to do!
We enjoyed each other's company and reminiscing upon the goodness of God. A romantic picnic in a row boat and dinner on top of Big Mountain topped off the day beautifully.

Marveling at Faithful Love of Christ.

Lots of LOVE,

Have a fantastic time today!

Joseph and Christy Rauwolf

child-like faith

I read this quote by C.S. Lewis today and it was a great reminder...

Faith in Training
"Now Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. I know that by experience. Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods 'where they get off', you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. Consequently one must train the habit of Faith."

ah..............very good.

on our hearts

on our hearts, in our prayers -

our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe- where people are being slaughtered because of corruption and power...

our brothers and sisters in NE India - where 50 churches have been burned this week, and many people killed...

May the God of peace bring healing and restoration to the people on both sides of "the gun".

Jesus is the One that cannot be shaken in the middle of wars and rumors of wars.
Love to all,
J and C

Coffee and more Huckleberries

Heyha.

Well Joseph just started work at Montana Coffee Traders. It should be good. Today is also the day that we both start college again.

Joseph is taking English and Woodworking.

Christy's classes are

Social Psychology, Oil Painting, Interpersonal Relations and Communications, Algebra, Creative Writing in Poetry, Botany and Choir.

Yay! Here we go on another adventure.

This week we are staying with some friends, and in a few days we move to a place we will be house-sitting at for a while. What a blessing. There are mountains, fields and horses within eyeshot and people are showing up giving us furniture they have sitting around.

It is cooling off already in Montana, we are planning a backpacking trip of some sort for this weekend before it gets really chilly. We picked a gallon of huckleberries last week and have been enjoying them quite well.

Last night a double rainbow filled the sky along with turquoise-grey-green clouds over the mountains. It is Big sky Montana afterall.

Lots of love and Grace in Jesus,

J and C

Mystical Montana

Here are some photos of Glacier National Park, Big Mountain and the Yaak River area. We have been enjoying the camping, hiking, fishing and huckleberry picking...
Beauty surrounds!