Christmas 2010

There are several things of note which I would like to mention from Christmas 2010. First and foremost my brother Dan Reinhold married Karen Geoffrey! So we have gained a wonderful sister. They had a beautiful wedding and I have to mention that after Dan said his vows people broke out in applause. The vows they gave each other were God-centered commitments to each other and reflected appreciation and gratitude for each other. Dan and Karen Reinhold then went on a cruise together. Very fun. It was great to see my family and meet some new family.

Bethany and I prepared a yummy Christmas dinner for ourselves. We have enjoyed making crab legs together because they are tasty and we like them! They are not very difficult to prepare either. This time we just wrapped them in damp paper towels and microwaved them. They were great! We also bought ourselves some sushi which continues to be a favorite food of mine. We spent Christmas dinner at our friends house on Christmas night to take part in a ginger bread hosue building contest! It was very fun.

There was a dark cloud with a silver lining this Christmas. The dark cloud was Bethany and I were not able to fly home due to the cost of the trip and our new work situations. The silver lining is we were able to enjoy some fun skype sessions with the Adlers and the Reinholds extended family. We had four songs caroled to us over Skype. We might need to be prepared to sing some songs back next year! We felt very loved even from far away in Tucson, AZ.

With Karen as our newest addition to the family, my mother and I both independently sought to solidfy the Reinhold identity and worked on the Reinhold family crest. Our family verse for the crest is from Hebrews 10:23. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” You can see the image below.

Praises: We received much love and many wonderful gifts this Christmas. Hopefully next year we will be able to fly home. Bethany and I have been reflecting on God’s rich generosity towards us and have been trying to live out of response to this.

Prayers: Please pray that our desires will continue to come closer and closer to that of our Lord Jesus Christ in the year to come. We want Him to be the forsemost desire of our hearts. Please also that pray we would keep learning to love those God brings into our lives with the same selfless love that He has shown us.

Christmas Card

Merry Christmas Beloved Friends and Family!

2 Corinthians 9:11 is a bible verse that has summed up much of this past year for me. It reads, “God will enrich you in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” This verse reminds me of two important things. First, in a season characterized by consumerism, this verse reminds me that contentment from God and thankfulness towards Him are better than material possessions. This verse also reminds me of how rich and generous God is towards His children.

April of 2010 marked the end of our work at GAP Ministries, the Christian group home where we have worked since being married. We were feeling burnt out due to a lack of friendship and fellowship with other believers. We still miss the kids! At the end of GAP, God provided a job for me (Eric) in an amazing way. There were 50 applicants who applied to the job I most wanted and the actual job was only posted online for about 24 hours. I was one of 10 interviews selected from the resumes and two people were selected for the job ahead of me but they didn’t work out. I was offered the job and given a raise before my first day. All of this took place the week before we were scheduled to finish at GAP. I am now currently employed by Arizona’s Children Association to work at their helpdesk and provide IT support for the company’s 600 employees. I have learned so much in a short period of time and am busy all day every day!

During that same time period, Bethany was offered a job in a State Farm office working for a very successful agent who attends our church. Three months later she was licensed to sell property and casualty insurance in Arizona and has enjoyed the office environment and her friendships with the girls who work there. It is also a huge blessing to her to have a boss who is a Christian!

I believe this was God reminding us that He was not leaving us even though we left GAP. Our eyes have been opening to God’s rich generosity towards us this year. We eat full meals and live in a beautiful climate controlled home. We have cars, friends, family, recreation time and extra money to play with. I have to add that I have a beautiful and wonderful wife who I adore! Many nights I sit back and say to Bethany, “We have everything we want. Thank you Jesus!” Now we are trying to consider how we can be generous on every occasion in response to God’s richness towards us. So often I am stingy!

We were also very blessed this year to attend many weddings of friends and family culminating in the wedding of Eric’s older brother, Dan. We both stood beside the couple in the wedding party and are so grateful to God for sending Karen to Dan. They are treasures in our lives. We are continuing to build more relationships at our church, Sovereign Grace, and have found many ways to use our gifts to serve the church. We are both now playing on the worship team, I am helping out with the media team, and we are talking about forming an evangelism team to tell people about how to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ!

I hope everyone reading this card will allow me a moment to reflect on the greatest Christmas gift of all and the most significant thing worth celebrating this holiday: we now have a way to be reconciled to God! Christmas is celebrating the birthday of Jesus Christ, the God-man and Savior. We were separated from God with no way to live up to His perfect standards. We all have lied, cheated, stolen, been jealous, lusted, coveted, hated, and separated ourselves from God. But God loved us so much He sent his son Jesus Christ to pay the death penalty for our sins in our place. Because of this sacrifice God will look on us as perfect children and adopt us into His family if we ask Him too. What love! Ponder the mystery this season: your sins paid for by God’s baby boy. I pray you get to know and enjoy the richness of God in Jesus as we have this year. Merry Christmas!

Love,
Eric and Bethany