Old and New

We love getting all of the Christmas or end-of-year letters with family pictures from so many of you whether it is digital or cards and letters. Thank you!

Our year was quite a mix of various activities and feelings. We celebrated our anniversary (as we so often do, since December is too busy), welcomed visitors from supporting congregations, visited family and supporting congregations, worked with camp, youth activities and church activities, welcomed a grand baby in the middle of the year as well as a new brother in Christ at the end of the year, said goodbye to a sister in Christ and prayed for many who are struggling with their health. Let me take a few minutes to run through some of the highlights. 

Travel:

Since our anniversary is in December, which is a very busy month, we tend to celebrate in January when things have settled down. We started out 2023 with a few days away in the city of Den Bosch and were blessed with some snow. 

In May and June we of course traveled throughout the US visiting church family and family. We hit all of our usual stops, but were also blessed this time to visit upstate New York, Connecticut and Chicago. We stopped through Sioux City, Iowa and the area of Graham, Texas as well. Thank you so much to all of you who put us up and put up with us. 

Later in the year we had a few French-speaking stops. We visited a concert of an acapella group we have known for some time in Lille, France. The week after we celebrated the 60th anniversary of our brother and sister in Christ from Liege, Belgium. We are so very thankful for the possibility to travel, to be mobile. When our car needed some much needed repairs near the end of the year, the congregation in Maastricht stepped up and helped us with those costs. 

Hello and goodbye:

A year is often full of hello’s and goodbye’s of all kinds. As we traveled, we were thankful to see friends and meet new people. But we also said goodbye in a more permanent way to people in our lives. We celebrated a sister’s life in Eindhoven as she went Home to her reward. Scott lost a nephew and brother in this year and Shirley lost a brother. 

But there were also hello’s in the year. We welcomed our first granddaughter, Sophia Ruby halfway through the year. At the end of December we welcomed Erik in new birth to a life in Christ. Many of you also lost loved ones and welcomed new ones. We are so thankful for family to share these difficult and wonderful; moments with. 

Active:

A whole year of activities is difficult to summarize. You can find a lot of the activities that we were involved in by checking out our pictures here. You can always find this site through the link on the blog: ravenraab.blogspot.com. 

Shirley went to the Ladies Retreat in March and the ladies of Maastricht organized a Ladies Day in November. These are times to bring together sisters from all around Europe or from the Netherlands and Belgium. It is so good to know that we are part of an amazing body of Christ. 

We welcomed two visits from our supporting congregations. Raymond Blasingame came from the 11th and Willis congregation in Abilene, Texas, stopping through on his around-the-world trip. Later we welcomed Jared Hawley from the Woodbury congregation in Minnesota. This was all before we were also able to visit so many on our own trip to the US. We are so thankful for so many who are so faithful in reaching out everywhere in the world with the gospel. 

Ardennen Bible Camp is a big part of what we do here. We spent a day down at camp as a congregation, meeting with our French-speaking brethren from Liege as well. We directed and taught at Teen camp and Family camp as well as helping with VBK (Vacation Bible Kamp) in the Fall. 

Our church family made good use of plenty of times to get together and encourage one another. We had a bbq at our place, organized a youth day for youth from around Belgium and the Netherlands, took a team to the COPA Benelux and had fun together every 2nd Sunday playing games. It is wonderful to share such a fellowship with this group of people who are so excited about helping one another grow in faith and love. 

Festive times were also part of our activities in the year. We helped with and attended a wedding, shared Thanksmas and Christmas and ended the year with an evening together to usher in the New Year in the Lord. We are thankful that God can use us in so many different ways and that this means that we get to see so many parts of the family of Christ. 

(This was New Year's Eve and a group of us went to our sister, Nel, to sing to her so that she was included in the festivities). 

On the Family Side:

We were of course very excited to be able to see family this year! Our last visit had been in 2019. Technology is great and we are very thankful for being able to see the people we get to talk to, but it doesn’t beat a hug. So being able to see and hug our family members was especially nice. 

Since we have returned from our trip plenty has happened as well. Stephan and Natalie welcomed Sophia Ruby to their family on June 29. We look forward to the day that we will be able to hold her  in our arms and really see her face. They are adjusting to life as parents and doing well in their work and family life. We are thankful that they are near Natalie’s family. 

Sean and Jill have very much adapted to life in the Big Apple. It was exciting when we visited to be able to see the places they experience every day. Sean has been working at a local school as assistant coach and, most recently, pre-kindergarten teacher. This is in addition to his continuing work with his music. Jill manages an upscale vintage clothing store and continues to use her photography and filming skills. 

Some of the biggest changes in our family life include losing family members. As mentioned, Scott’s nephew passed away. He was a young father waiting on the arrival of a second son. Since then his young son has arrived and we pray for his wife and sons as they miss him. Shirley’s brother, Roger passed away unexpectedly, as did Scott’s brother, Marc. We are thankful, once again, for family of all sorts who are there to care. 

As you look back on your year, consider how God has blessed you. Look at what you are thankful for and state it, to yourself and others. A new year has come, but as several have mentioned to me recently that is only a date on a calendar. We only really have the day we are living in. God is giving us time now to live. We pray that we will fill in those minutes with a life that will glorify Him and help others. We are so very thankful for this abundant life in Jesus Christ.