Dear Family and Friends,
It is so very difficult to try and sum up a year of life into one letter, so I will take a different approach this year. :) I do need to introduce the newest member of the Hester Family. Judah Sean Hester was born at home with the help of a midwife on March 18th, 2011. He was 9 lbs.!!! His name means “praise God who is gracious”. He is a joy and treasure to all of us, and gets LOTS of love around here!!
This year has gone very quickly for us... but I think it would be safe to say of all of us in our not-so-little family that we love Jesus and His Word, we love people, we love good food, and we love to read. :)
So, I have asked everyone in our family to share their favorite books-either that they read themselves, or that we read as a family.
Ben-Jesus+Nothing=Everything by Tullian Tchividjian, Entrusted With the Gospel Edited by D.A. Carson, and Ministry in the Image of God by Stephen Seamands
Lisa-Jesus+Nothing=Everything, Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick, Humility by CJ Mahaney, and One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
Emma-Corrie Ten Boom by Janet and Geoff Benge, A Question of Yams, Wisdom With the Millers and Missionary Stories With the Millers, and George Mueller by Janet and Geoff Benge
Caleb-Mossflower by Brian Jacques, The Bronze Bow, and Out of Darkness
Noah-The LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia, The Jesus Storybook Bible, and Out of Darkness
Ezra-The Jesus Storybook Bible and The Bronze Bow
We had the amazing opportunity to do a family road trip to Colorado!! It was a memorable trip in so many ways...and I had the incredible privilege of attending a Leadership Intensive with Sally Clarkson. Ben took the kids to the Focus on the Family Center as well as Garden of the Gods.
Both Emma and Caleb chose to be baptized this year! It was such a joyous time to celebrate God’s work of making them new. Noah is reading well, and enjoying it! Ezra is always into something, usually including mischief, but has at least heard me and can repeat back to me, “I am a treasure.”
It has been a fun year, and we are enjoying lots of extra fruits and vegetables as we move toward a plant-based, whole foods diet. We were pretty close before, but we are cutting more dairy from our diet and enjoying the creativity that comes with the process. =)
We wish you all a Merry Christmas, as you meditate upon Christ and His amazing love. The gospel of Jesus Christ changes everything-this has been the theme of our year, and we pray it is the theme of every year to come as well.
With love and joy,
The Hester Family
Ben and Lisa, Emma, Caleb, Noah, Ezra, and Judah
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