Christmas Letter

Some of you may have already read this on Matt's blog, but I wanted to put it on mine too. :)

Merry Christmas,

We did not send out a Christmas letter this year (Matt thought we weren't at that life stage yet and then we started getting cards from our friends who are our age), so we are writing our letter online.

2013 was a monumental year for us.  We had so many exciting changes.  On January 17th Matt proposed (Christine said 'yes') and on August 17th we were married in front of our friends and family.  We've reflected on that day and are amazed at how lucky we are and how much our friends and family love us  This year we also moved into a new home in Waverly.  The house is very nice, perfect for our needs and our landlord is the best.  We are learning to live with each other.  It has been better than great, but we are still learning to care about each other's needs before our own.

Besides getting married, Christine had a big year.  In May she graduated from U.N.I. with a degree in biology.  Just a few weeks later in June she began a 15 month accelerated program at Allen College to get her B.S.N.  She is finishing up her second semester now and will graduate in August.  Christine has also begun helping Matt lead the youth group at our church.  On top of all that she is writing and directing our church's annual Easter passion mime.  This is a huge undertaking and she is filling big shoes because our friend Becky Baker had done it every other year until moving to Wisconsin this year.

Matt is still working at KWAY radio in Waverly.  He's on the air from 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. every weekday.  He enjoys being on the air and getting involved in the community.  He also continues to broadcast sporting events for the station.  He does play-by-play for football, volleyball, basketball, soccer, baseball and softball; and has averaged doing 135 games a year.  Matt also is working part time at our church.  He is the youth leader.  Matt is in his ninth year working with youth at the church, but with the departure of Jay Baker, the previous youth leader, he's accepted some more responsibility in that role.

Spiritually as a couple we've grown a lot this year.  We've been actively involved in our church, Grace Baptist.  We enjoy serving, doing Bible studies and anything else we're able to do.  We each have our own personal studies, we do Bible reading together and through leading the youth and writing the mime we have been deeply rooted in the Word this year.  We thank God for the ways He's lead us closer to Himself together as a couple.

We thank you also for all your love, support and friendship this year.  Thank you for helping make 2013 the best year of our lives so far.  We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy 2014!

Love,

The Rays