Merry Christmas from the Farmers!

December 2019

I recently read that joy comes from gratitude. We may often think that gratitude follows Joy, but they have actually proven scientifically that when we express gratitude, it makes a connection in our brains and we become joyful. Below we have shared several things for which we are grateful to God this year. He has been wondrously good to us.

 We challenge you to start a gratitude journal next year. You will be surprised how much God is doing for you. And you might feel a little joyful along the way.

Wishing you a season filled with the joy of the Lord,

Merry Christmas from the Farmers

Gratitude Journal for 2019

1) 2018 Christmas cash gifts paid for two tires for the car and

2) much needed and overdue eyeglasses for both Michael and Mandy

3) tax return paid for an air purifier for allergies and some needed clothing items

4) Health Insurance rebate paid $1,000+ on our medical bills.

5) Our benefits were renewed! These benefits pay our health insurance premiums and pays all of Mandy’s co-pays!

6) We found more ways to save on our auto insurance. (getting older does have it’s benefits)

7) Tina was hired at Days Inn and was fast promoted to manager. (a real God thing here!)

8) Ethan received a promotion at FedEx.

9) Mikaela & Ethan were able to acquire a second car.

10)  Harvest Church called a new pastor.

11)  Mikaela and Brian both gave us their old cell phones (better than what we had) plus all the kids committed to pay Michael’s cell phone fees saving us $30 a month. They didn’t like that we canceled his cell phone to balance the budget.

1)  Brian found a larger, nicer apartment in Burnsville, MN and moved in September.

2)  Brian bought us an external hard drive to store our stash of movies and TV shows!

3)  MRI for Mandy’s left shoulder shows it needs to be replaced. Surgery is not possible due to her unstable C1-C2, but injection has helped immensely with the pain.

4)  Brett was rear-ended & his car totaled. However, enough money was given on the settlement to pay off all his debt and put a nice down payment on a new car!

5)  A new laptop from Brian is keeping Mandy writing and blogging. Mandy was commissioned to write devotions for the general Church of the Nazarene and also to write Bible Studies online at www.GracefullyTruthful.com

6)  Michael started preaching twice a month at the Bloomingdale Church since their pastor resigned in September.

7)  We received another reimbursement from health insurance for $200+ which helped restock on pantry shelves.

8)  We received pastor appreciation gifts from both Savannah churches.

9)  We were safe from any effects of Hurricane Dorian.

10)  Mandy received a generous birthday gift of cash which she used to purchase a small Christmas tree and more yarn for her crocheting projects.

11)  Michael’s polycythemia has improved with needing only two phlebotomies this whole year. Check-ups stretched to every 2 months.

12)  Brian started a job in November at Delta in Minneapolis. He was one of a few selected out of thousands of applicants. So many wonderful benefits. He is very happy with the position.

13)  The Bloomingdale church gave us an abundant Thanksgiving basket including a whole turkey and everything needed for the whole meal.

14)  Mandy only had to visit Mayo Clinic once this year. She’s had more joint pain but the general consensus is that it’s your basic osteoarthritis. All the crazy accidents on the farm are catching up with her.

15)  Occasionally, one of the kids will just decide to put gas in our car. What a blessing.

16)  November brought to mind that we have been living in the Savannah area for four years now. We are still so thankful for the way God provided us a place to live in HarmonyTownes.

17)  Mikaela reminded us that it’s been 3 years since she and Ethan starting dating. Married 1 1/2 years now!

18)   We are eternally grateful to family and friends who have given us cash or provided food just at the right time this year. We are blessed.

19)  Speaking of anniversaries, Michael and Mandy will celebrate 30 years of marriage on December 31. Not sure how that happened. I guess time flies when you are having fun.

This is just the tip of the iceberg because we didn’t share all the answers to prayer for other friends and family that God has answered gloriously. It has been an awesome year. So, again, we encourage you to start a gratitude journal. You will be so surprised at all God is doing

Merry Christmas from The Farmers

Well, here we are at Christmas again. 

How did that happen? I see that I haven't written since July. My hope was to write every three months, I have been writing just not here. :) A good friend, Michele Bruxvoot, and I have joined together on a new blog page. Getting that going has kept most of my attention since the wedding. I think you will like it, so please take some time to visit when you have a chance. Mandy and Michele Just Keeping it Together! If you like what you see, click on that little blue bar on the bottom of the page and sign up for the weekly newsletter that will keep you in the know about what's happening on the blog.

OK, so ... What has been going on with you this year? 

Michael and I seem to spend most of the time visiting doctors. Oh! The joys of retirement. You retire and suddenly you are sick all the time. ugh! We've managed to get my pain under "control" or at least into some kind of new normal. The R.A. is in remission and the fibromyalgia is bearable as long as I don't go doing too much. We head down to Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville 3 or 4 times a year to get injections in my neck. My C1-C2 joint is deteriorated because of the R.A. Michael has been fighting various illnesses this year. We seem to be jumping from one thing to another. He had some melanoma removed, then he has "too much blood" so he goes and has some removed every 6 weeks or so.

Michael has been supplying at Savannah Harvest Church twice a month since the senior pastor got promoted to heaven. It was sad to lose Pastor Jim but the extra income has been a blessing for us. We are amazed at how God continues to provide our every need, month after month.

Wedding Bells

The biggest news and excitement for the Farmers this year was the beautiful wedding of our Mikaela to Ethan Grimes. This was "the other royal wedding". Married on the same day as Prince Harry and Meghan, Pastor Jim said that this marriage was indeed a royal wedding as both Mikaela and Ethan are children of the King of Kings.

Tina&Daniel, MikenMandy,Ethan&Mikaela, Brett, Brian

Mikaela's brothers were all, in their own special way, deeply involved in the ceremony. Nephew Austin and brother Brett were "Bride's Dudes". A little unorthodox but they are indeed her best friends so it was very appropriate. Brett did a lot of behind the scenes running, you know a go-pher. He didn't want to be running the sound so he made sure everything was in order for another to do it.

Brian helped with the ceremony and sang during the Rope Ceremony. I had never seen a rope ceremony but it was beautiful. It is based on the scripture "a cord of three strands is not easily broken". Ethan and Mikaela braided the three cords representing themselves and God this was instead of the traditional candle lighting. Awesome.

Speaking of the ropes, Daniel made a gorgeous plaque to hold the braid. It was displayed for the ceremony and is now in Ethan & Mikaela's home. Daniel and Tina have a little side business making some amazing wood furniture and walking sticks. So nice. Tina did her part for the wedding too. She was the wedding planner! Couldn't have made it all happen without her! Also, Tina has found two wonderful products that she is now selling online, Norwex (wonderful cleaning products) and Magnabilities (customizable jewelry).

Daniel is still "running things" over at Mock Plumbing where he designs and heads up the plumbing plans for institutional buildings. Recently, he has been helping with the new hospital going in here in Pooler... and many other things, even over in South Carolina. Daniel acquired food poisoning in October which brought attention to his high blood pressure. This was investigated and it was found that he had a kidney stone the size of a half dollar piece. The kidney was not really working at all so the decision was made to remove the entire kidney. That happened last week. He is resting at home now. Lots of pain but doing well and should be back to work soon after the holidays.

Our grandson, Austin (20) is still in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) & Kickboxing. When not at the dojo, he can be found at the gym. He feels led to pursue a career in Physical Therapy. Currently, he is brushing up with some online classes before enrolling in college.

After the wedding, Brian moved to Minneapolis to consider a new line of work. He has friends there that put him up until this month when he found his own little place. For now, until he gets established he is doing quite well driving for Uber and delivering for Amazon. He's really loving it ..even the cold.

Brett has been promoted to store manager at a local sports shop. He's enjoying the change from Chick-Fil-A. And now hoping to move closer to town. The drive in is taking its toll on his car. (2 accidents this fall alone.)

He's also running the sound at church. Something he really enjoys doing.








Mikaela is still working at the bread shop around the corner from our house. That's nice because occasionally she drops in after work with a loaf of bread! Ethan keeps getting moved up at Fed Ex. He is impressing their socks off over there and they keep asking if he wants to make a career there. He is also working on his ordination as a youth pastor. He received his district license this summer a week or so after returning from their honeymoon in Gatlinburg. If you want to know more about their wedding and see more pictures, just click on this link.

That's about it for excitement here. Hope your holidays are joyous and the new year full of great expectations.

Mandy, Michael, and the gang

Remember to go by and check out Mandy's new blog at www.mandyandmichele.com/blog

Great-Grandblessings!

Oh, now we know that we are WAY TOO YOUNG to be great-grandparents but we do have a few that we claim through marriage. Daniel's Tina has two children from a previous marriage. They are adults and this year they gave us #5 and #6 great-grandblessings! Check these cuties out!

Cody & Lizz
with Lacie, Caiden, Livie,

Layla

Loran&Justin with Cooper

Sawyer born Nov 2018