“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof . . .” —Psalm 24:1

This glorious sunset welcomed us home last night as we returned from spending most of the first month of 2024 in the west. New year, old truths. The earth is the Lord’s . . . and though there are many discouraging realities of life on earth, our hope continues to be in Him: creator, sovereign, faithful, good God. How reassuring that is!!

Going all the way back to the middle of December 2023, we were delighted to spend almost 3 whole weeks in our new home. For the first time since entering the grandparent season of life, we had grandchildren “elves” helping us decorate for Christmas. It was so much fun overhearing them exclaim over the ornaments as they hung them on the tree. Nathan was definitely partial to the “very cool” Patriots and Red Sox baubles, while Rachel oohed and ached over the delicate, beautiful ones. We’re thoroughly enjoying this new season of our life.

About the time the tree was trimmed, our lifelong, chosen-family friend Helen Challener arrived for her first visit in our new home. Helen is always good to have around. She serves and loves well and our days with her were, as always, full of kindness and joy and were too short.

*Here we are sporting our matching, made-by-Virginia Christmas sweatshirts, circa 1995.*

Lisa arrived on the 19th, taking the party to a whole new level. Baking and decorating cookies, going to Nathan’s basketball games, attending church together, decorating the gingerbread house, hot tubbing, and preparing for Christmas filled many days of these weeks at home, interrupted only briefly by a quick trip to Boston for the rescheduled Andrea Bocelli concert on the 20th.

*Rachel loved helping us decorate our tree.*

*Somewhat surprisingly, so did Nathan. That Patriots ornament helped. :)*

*We happily cheered on Nathan’s basketball team to victory on an early Saturday morning.*

*. . . and decorating the annual gingerbread house creation.*

*These three hardly passed up a night of hot tubbing, regardless of the outdoor temp.*

The canceled Dec. 6th Andrea Bocelli concert was shockingly rescheduled for Dec. 20, and when our friends included Lisa in the invitation to return for the concert, we threw caution to the wind and were on a plane to Boston early the 20th, a mere 10 hours after she had landed from California.

And it was so worth it. The 36-hour trip was filled with “carpe diem” experiences which added such joy to the holidays.

First stop: Ernesto’s Pizza in the North End. So. Good. After lunch, we walked to the home of our B & B hosts, Doug and Julie, on Beacon Street, changed, and walked back to the North End to meet our friends for dinner followed by the concert, which was “other worldly.” A musical feast for the ears and the soul, Bocelli “knocked it out of the park” with a fabulous concert, which ended with three encores. It was a once-in-a-lifetime evening and we are deeply grateful to our friends Jim and Stacey who “made it happen.”

*Ernesto’s Pizza on Salem Street in the North End is our family’s favorite and they did not disappoint.*

*Walking to the North End and enjoying the lights in the Public Garden continued a tradition.*

*We not only got to go to the Andrea Bocellli concert, but we sat in a box, truly making this a once-in-a-lifetime experience.* *Jim and Stacey Higgins made this happen and we are so grateful.*

Because flights home on the 21st were exorbitant, we rented a car and drove, and since we were driving right by New York City, we decided to take in “The Christmas Spectacular” at Radio City Music Hall. We had gone to this incredible show in 1995 with friends and had always wanted to return, so we did. The “we” was Lisa and me. . . . Paul sacrificially and servant-heartedly stayed with the car so the two of our could enjoy the show.

And the show did not disappoint. It really is “spectacular,” culminating with a living nativity as the final act, narrated by the reading of Luke 2. I was both amazed and thankful that 30 years later, the ending was the same. We were so glad we “carpe diem-ed” that little side-trip, which only delayed our return home til 11 pm on the 21st.

*Lisa and I LOVED seeing “The Christmas Spectacular” at Radio City Music Hall as we drove home from Boston.*

Admittedly, the next few days were a bit fuller than anticipated as “last minute” jammies were sewn, packages were sent, gifts were wrapped, etc., but the trip was SO worth it.

Another pre-Christmas highlight was meeting up for brunch with my three siblings who live in this area. We had a lovely time catching up over a yummy meal in Fredericksburg, which was another “glad we’re living in this area” moment.

*With three of my sibs and a couple of spouses, we had a pre-Christmas brunch in Fredericksburg. It was delightful.*

And then it was Christmas. Candlelight Christmas Eve service with the Johnsons was very special with both a great sermon and the singing of all the traditional Christmas hymns and songs. Afterwards, we returned to our house for the (not) surprise opening of the traditional, one gift on Christmas Eve.

The matching jammies.

Which were also being opened in Oakland.

This snow scene fabric features the abominable snowman skiing and turned out to be the “favorite” pair of Christmas jammies “ever" according to the kids.

*Christmas Eve service at The King’s Chapel was delightful.*

*Rachel enthusiastically models this year’s matching jammies.*

The tradition also continued of a Christmas morn visit from Santa, wearing the at least 70-year-old Santa suit (the origins of which are unknown, except that it came to us through Paul’s family). Our last “believer” was not convinced this year that this Santa was THE Santa, but she played along for the sake of her beloved Papa. :)

*Looks like Santa is slightly malnourished . . .*

*Rachel is pondering the reality of the red-suited “Santa” standing before her. Maybe it’s the lack of boots??*

*Christmas dinner was prepared and served by son-in-law and consummate chef Derek, and we were joined by my sister and bro-in-law, Laura and David.*

The exclamation point on the end of a wonderful Christmas Day was celebrating the “reason for the season” with the traditional “Happy Birthday Jesus” cake. The children identified the symbolic colors of the cake: the chocolate representing sin, the white frosting for the purity/perfection of Jesus, the red for the shedding of His blood, the green for everlasting life, and the lit candle signifying that Jesus is the light of the world . . . and then we ate. Yum!! (The recipe for the chocolate cake is found in our cookbook, “The Family Table Cookbook” under “Wacky Cake.”)

*And the party ends with the “Happy Birthday Jesus” cake.*

Following Christmas, we were delighted to have Rob and Gabby Warren and two of their sons, Joshua and Micah, join us and the Johnsons for a lovely evening of dinner and fellowship. We are so happy to live 45 minutes from these very dear friends which makes times like this possible.

*Rob and Gabby Warren, with sons Micah and Joshua, came for a post-holiday evening that was lovely in every way.*

We brought in the New Year at the Johnsons and defying our tiredness, we all made it ’til the “ball dropped.”

*Toasting at midnight with Grammy Essie’s egg nog or Martinelli’s, we welcomed in the new year.*

Before we headed west on the 6th of January, we celebrated Lisa’s birthday (which is the 12th of January). "Pizza Roll Up” and “Fruit Pizza” were her menu choices and fun was had by all.

Lisa is wearing the crown I needlepointed for the girls when she was about 6, at her request as the “never ending princess.” It's been a few years since she’s worn it, but fortunately it still fits. :) Rachel is preparing to help her blow out the candles.

On the 6th of January, we flew to Oakland to hang out with the Garcia children while Gabe and Kari attended an Orchard Group Pastor’s Conference in Miami, Florida. We had a blast with the kids for the five days they were gone and were especially happy that school for them didn’t resume until Tuesday, so we had a full extra day to “play” with them. We went geocaching several times, took lots of walks, played ping pong on the new-for-Christmas ping pong table that Paul, Brandon, and Micah assembled, watched a few “Dude Perfect” episodes, went to the old-fashioned Alameda theater to watch “The Boys in the Boat” (great movie), and all around had a good time. We were so thankful for this great opportunity to help Gabe and Kari and to be with our grandchildren.

*The ping pong table assembly crew take a moment to admire their work.*

*Just hanging with these precious ones . . . not so little anymore.*

On the 12th, we flew to Spokane, Washington, for the annual combined Moses Lake Alliance Church and Moses Lake Christian Church’s marriage conference, held at Clearwater Lodge, just above Newport, Washington. Our partnership with this group spans 17 years and we have very deep relationships with many of these dear people. The weekend was rich and full of great fellowship, worship, and learning together. And, we were together INSIDE for the entire weekend because of the extreme cold which had settled over the nation, and particularly the Pacific NW where it dropped to -21 at night and crept up to -2 during the day.

That weather canceled all outdoor activities or thoughts, including our daily 5-mile walk. :(

Following the warm but cold weekend retreat, we spent the next four days in Moses Lake, speaking two nights at the Moses Lake Christian Church (MLCC). The first night was on marriage and the second on parenting. Both were amazingly well-attended given the continuing frigid weather. We loved partnering with John Roberts, lead pastor at MLCC, and working with the marriage ministry team of the Shucks, the Blazers, and the Lawsons. All of these couples are deeply committed to building in to Christ-centered and Christ-honoring marriages and devote themselves year round to this pivotal ministry. Such a privilege to partner with these precious people.

We received this message from one of the couples following our time in Moses Lake:

“ We were sooooo blessed to have you lead our Moses Lake bunch in the frigid, negative temperatures to enrich our marriages! We are so thankful to God for your amazing teaching and love for all of us.”

— A Moses Lake couple

All praise is His!!

*The “Flannel Shirt Night” at the Moses Lake marriage retreat was perfect given the below zero temps outside!*

*The traditional photo of the “team” who made the marriage retreat happen. Left to right: John and Sharlyn Roberts, Justin and Marilyn Shuck, Mark and Sharon Blazer, and Phil and Andrea Lawson.*

*The Marriage Seminar at Moses Lake Christian Church began with worship led by John Roberts and team.*

The team behind the seminars held at the Moses Lake Christian Church: same team as the retreat committee plus Phil Payne (standing between Marilyn Shuck and Phil Lawson). We’re honored to be standing with such a great group of men and women.

In spite of the crazy weather, we made our way 1.5 hours south Thursday afternoon to Kennewick for the next conference, held at South Hills Church. We weren’t aware of how ineffective the low-tread tires on our rental car were until we hit snow and ice north of Kennewick, so the last part of that journey was frightening, but fortunately ended well with the help of 5 strong young men who pushed our car “up” the 1% grade into the uncleared parking lot of our hotel. We didn’t drive the car again until we left Sunday afternoon.

It was pure joy to partner with Scott Paulson, the lead pastor of South Hills Church. We got to know Scott as a teenager when we served with his parents on a Spiritual Care Team which began in 1989. Subsequently, he served on our family camp staff for several summers and we have loved watching him grow into a humble, gifted lead pastor of a congregation of about 700. We spent a few hours over lunch on Friday with Scott and Lisa and loved getting to know Lisa and the “very grown up” Scott. He exhibits the same godly character and giftedness we saw in him 30 years ago to an even deeper level.

*Scott and Lisa Paulson, along with their four children, are faithfully serving the congregation at South Hills Church.*

Due to the weather, there was concern about how many would venture out to the church Friday night and Saturday morning (since there are very few snow plows in the Tri-Cities area due to the rare nature of such weather) so we were delightfully surprised when even more than registered showed up. More surprising was that Saturday morning was even better attended than Friday night! We had a great time with a very responsive crowd and loved interacting with this new group of friends.

*Scott Paulson, lead pastor of South Hills Church, welcomes the crowd and sets the stage for the marriage conference.*

After the conference, Scott wrote:

“This was our church’s first Marriage Weekend with Paul and Virginia Friesen and it exceeded all expectations in terms of participation and impact. Paul and Virginia’s authentic and engaging style really hit home for our couples and the content was perfect for all ages, stages, and circumstances. Honestly, we couldn’t have been more pleased with our time! Everyone has been asking for the Friesens to come back which I love because it means my wife and I get the benefit of being with the Friesens again, too. 😊 We can’t wait to do it again!”

— Pastor Scott Paulson

Scott made the hard call Saturday afternoon that church would not open its doors on Sunday due to the forecast of more freezing rain, so Paul was recorded doing the sermon Saturday afternoon (streamed on Sunday). He spoke to an auditorium of 700 empty chairs, which is not his favorite, but he did a great job (says the one of three unbiased people sitting in the void-of-people space).

*Scott introducing Paul to a video camera and an empty auditorium.*

The weather continued to impact our days, disrupting our plans to proceed to Portland, Oregon, and Otis, Oregon, following our days in Kennewick. The icy Columbia Gorge made it impossible to drive to Portland Sunday afternoon so we pivoted and booked a return flight home this past Monday morning. Though very disappointing to have to cancel plans to see friends in Portland and my sister in Otis, we were happy to get home to . . . snow!

And so we’re off and running in the new year. It’s been a fast and very good start, setting the trajectory for a fruitful and productive year. We are so thankful for good health and for continuing opportunities to proclaim the good news of God’s design for marriage and family.