The McKim Family

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

¹ At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. ² (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. ⁴ And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. ⁵ He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

⁶ And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. ⁷ She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

The Shepherds and Angels

⁸ That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. ⁹ Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, ¹⁰ but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. ¹¹ The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! ¹² And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

¹⁵ When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. ¹⁷ After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. ¹⁸ All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, ¹⁹ but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. ²⁰ The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Well, what better day than today to not be able to sleep. Maybe the quiet time of the early morning will allow me to reflect on this past year and the many blessing Jesus has given to us.

It seems as though all we did in January, February, and March were doctor's appointments, doctor's appointments, and more doctor's appointments! We were consumed by my ever growing belly and the beautiful baby growing inside. Not to mention that we were busy with our oldest children and their activities as well.

This year was also a year for firsts! =)
We celebrated Garrett's birthday on April 9th. The day after his sleepover we started having contractions. At least Bella was considerate enough to wait until his friends had gone home. Then we went to the hospital and on Easter Sunday we had our first BIG first of the year. Arabella Grace weighing a small 5lbs 11ozs and being 18 inches long. We have been SO blessed by her!

I suppose the next first was Garrett graduating from fifth grade. That was an emotional day for me. My baby boy was now going to be in middle school and as I watched him walk across the stage to get his diploma I was holding my one month old baby in my arms. Yes, I was a but emotional.

Another big event that was a first and only was my surgery. How I had been waiting for four years to have this surgery. A total hysterectomy! WOO HOO! No more endometriosis pain and no more going to the doctor every three months for painful tests checking to see if the cancerous cells (cervical) had returned. After a five hour long procedure with my doctor and the GYN Oncologist it was all over. My doctor did say that I did have some bad spots on my cervix, however they hadn't turned into cancerous cells yet that they were pre-cancerous cells. PRAISE JESUS!

The summer turned into me hanging out around the house and trying to take it easy so I could rest and heal. Aaron also had the opportunity to play with his band. We had a lot of fun going to Cincy! I got to watch him play and then we went out on the town. It was also

our first time we left Bella over night. It was difficult, but much needed and well worth it. I was also blessed with the wonderful opportunity of lia sophia to help supplement the 60% decrease we received in Aaron's pay. That hurt, but we knew that Jesus would provide for us.

Up next, back to school. =( Back to school meant several things. Back to work for me (and was that ever difficult...still is honestly), Bella going to the sitter for the first time, Garrett starting middle school, Skyla getting her braces off and starting seventh grade. Skyla also started playing volleyball this year. GO SKYLA! She is definitely active and we wish we could be at all of her games. We are cheering for you in Skyla. Besides, you know you play better when we aren't there. =)

So, life was busy for the next months. Bella had her first Halloween. That was a lot of fun. =) We were busy with family pictures on both sides, going to Painstville to visit the family, my sister moving back here, and lots of other things. Then we had our first Thanksgiving at our house with the almost the WHOLE family. Steve, Carol, and the kids couldn't make it because Steve was sick and so was Mike and Veronica. They were missed! Other than that we had both sides of my family and Aaron's family here. It was amazingly wonderful. We also surprised my mom and day with their Christmas gift...our big family picture. I never expected the response that we got, but it was AWESOME!

In December we were given our first teenager! Skyla turned thirteen on December 7th. Where has the time gone? Also, we took the whole family shopping for kids on the Angel Tree. It has been a rough year for us and we might not have been able to give as many presents as we wish we could, but there are kids that wouldn't have a Christmas if we didn't help. There are kids that still won't get any presents on Christmas. So we had the two oldest each get the name of a child their age so they could

see how truly blessed they are. Then we went and served dinner at the Community Action Center to the people that we bought gifts for and their families. How AWESOME and rewarding it was to go as a family and sere others.

Now we are at Bella's first Christmas. Not only is it her first Christmas, but she just started full-on crawling (not army crawling) and her bottom two teeth have broken through the skin. WOW! What an amazing year we have had! All because a baby changes everything. I'm not speaking of Bella, although she has changed the dynamics of our family and we absolutely LOVE it! I am talking about baby Jesus. So on this Christmas Day let's not forget the most important present, gift, and first that we have. Let us remember that the first Christmas was when Jesus was born. Let us not forget that if weren't for Jesus we wouldn't have any of the gifts or blessings that we have in our lives. Jesus came into this world for us and I consider that the greatest gift of all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!!!