Dear Friends,
It’s been a busy and blessed year at the Juhl-Winter household.
In January our sweet Kate left for an 11-month stint on the mission fields of Thailand.
In February Brenda traveled to the Twin Cities with college friends to attend a John Cougar Mellencamp concert. For three hours the four women were 19 again (even though their combined age is 208.)
In March we traveled to California to attend an alternative health conference as we continue to seek non-traditional means of engaging Brenda’s cancer.
In April our daughter Emilia and her husband, Adam, moved from Charleston, South Carolina, to Norfolk, Nebraska. We are so excited to have them just three hours away. We learned they are expecting in August.
In May Brenda completed her fourth year as the teaching leader for the Sioux Falls Evening Women’s Bible Study Fellowship. Jim completed his seventh year as the assistant teaching leader for the Sioux Falls men’s class.
In June we became grandparents for the first time with the arrival of Tenley Louise.
In July we were blessed again when Evelyn Ann arrived a month early.
In August we spent three weeks at a cancer clinic in Mexico. The various things we’ve done to engage cancer with nontraditional means are slowing the tumor’s growth, but not shrinking it. The clinic was wonderful. We met people from all over the world and made new life-long friends.
Our son, Joe, and his wife, Jennifer, moved to Tea, South Dakota, where Joe works for a disaster cleanup company. We miss having them nearby, but they “love the life” in Tea.
In September Bible Study Fellowship launched the long-awaited study of the book of Revelation. Both Jim’s and Brenda’s classes saw huge increases in enrollment which, for the women, includes a satellite class that meets in Luverne. Fifty women from nearly every church in Luverne meet weekly to study God’s word together. (After the granddaughters, this is the highlight of the year!)
October and November are a blur.
In December Kate returned with stories of adventure from Thailand and we returned to Mexico for a checkup.
The news wasn’t good. The tumor continues to grow. And so, we find ourselves again standing at the crossroads of cancer treatments. What to embrace? What to avoid?
This will be a bittersweet Christmas. Two pink bundles of joy sharing the room with the unanswered questions regarding “the Big C.” So much of life is unknown.
What do we know for sure? God is good. All the time.
Luke 2:10-11 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
From our house to yours –
Merry Christmas,
Love, Jim and Brenda