December 2013, Nashville, Tennessee~
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everybody!
This is Bill Sandusky writing. Usually my wife, Louisiana, does these newsletters, but she is busy working overtime; she has been trying to make extra money to pay off the bills and to finish our Christmas shopping. Somehow God always provides whenever we need the money, but with the additions, the stretching part has become more of a normal occurrence in our lives.
The year has been a mixed bag of joy and even some tears. We have several new children, the latest addition being 18 month old Loretta Tsehi Lynn, whom we adopted from Ghana, in Africa; she came last month. I have nearly forgotten what it is like to have a little one running around; she is a ball of fire! She keeps us on our toes!
We now have 66 children. Three were added last year (Camille, 7, Sebastian, 7, and Akihiko, 4), and our most recent addition, Loretta Tsehi Lynn, whom, as I mentioned above, came just last month. We also have six new grandchildren: Neria and Nava (1momth old; children of Johnathon and Rebekka), Stetson Page (son of Richard and Stella), Stetson Michael (son of Stephanie and "Tank"), and Dylan and Dean (children of Ronee' and Michael).
Our family has really exploded in growth, as you can see!
Yet we cannot fully rejoice, as we are grieving the loss of my father-in-law, Armand Moliere', who died on November 10 of this year. He was 90 years old. He had been doing great healthwise, but last month, my wife went to get him up, and she found him in his bed, cold, grey, and lifeless. She knew he was gone when she didn't feel a pulse or air coming from his mouth and nose. So our Christmas will be a lot sadder this year because grandpere' loved playing Santa for the children and grandchildren. He MADE Christmas for our family!
We all miss Armand terribly.
Yet Armand would have wanted us to go on, so we decorated our house (outside and in): the lights, decorations, trees, and wreaths are up. We put them up just this past weekend. We also got our Christmas shopping done; all we have to do now is sit back and relax (though I had to work all weekend at Wal*Mart; it was CRAZY!). Louisiana worked too, but not nearly as hard as I did. She is working more hours, though, to try to get more in the way of money, in case she sees something extra she thinks I (or the kids or grandkids) might like for Christmas. She's never done shopping, especially Christmas shopping. She's one who Christmas shops and celebrates Christmas all year long.
In addition to Armand's death, we nearly lost two of our own children this year. Back in April/May, Camille got sick with a blood infection (as well as MRSA); it was a miracle she even survived; doctors gave her very little hope of pulling through, but God, obviously, had other plans. As for Anh, he was badly injured in the El Reno, Oklahoma, tornado; he was on his way home to Oklahoma City, where he lives, when the car he was driving was tossed by the strong tornado-driven winds. He had multiple injuries and fractures, but he has fully recovered and is back to his old self again. It was a scary time for our family; we credit God for bringing both Camille and Anh through their dark moments.
We nearly lost Rebekka as well: she fell while carrying her twin daughters and nearly passed away due to an overwhelming infection, but again, God intervened, and He healed her and brought the girls through without any problems. It is incredible how God has ministered to our family during these dark times!! We give Him all the praise and glory!!
Well, I hate to run, but Loretta is crying; have to see what's up. I will write in here again soon; until later, this is Bill saying may you all have the merriest of Christmases ever and the brightest, happiest of New Years! And may You remember WHY we celebrate Christmas: for without Christ, there wouldn't even BE a Christmas! May God bless you as much as He's blessed our family!
~Bill. :)
