12/13/20 Special Grif.Net - Griffin Family Christmas Letter
Robert Griffin
Christmas 2020, of a most unusual year!
Dear Family & Friends -
May your Christmas Celebrations shine with the BLESSED HOPE that is found only in the Christ of Christmas! “God kept every promise He made about the coming of His Son TO us, and He will keep every promise He made about the coming of His Son FOR us!”
We were honestly thinking we didn’t have much news this “year of quarantine”. But when we began to look back. . . Boy!
Three days before the Covid nightmare began, Teresa’s Mom entered Heaven’s Gate. We miss her dearly, but she was ready to go, and we are happy for HER. Just think of the “Christmas” she’s having this year!
Of course we learned a lot through the Covid experiences, though Teresa’s lifestyle didn’t change all that much! Bob has been super careful as he continues to preach. Church was “on-line” for ten weeks. We found new ways of doing things like “picking up groceries”. We finally discovered Amazon Prime(!), which is SUCH a blessing and FUN. OK, so you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!
While cleaning our hot tub in prep for grandkids, Bob (with NO feeling in his feet) burned the soles off his bare feet on our piping HOT deck. It was shocking, looking like raw steak! Teresa thought it might spell the end of him. His good doctors did all they could, and against all odds, his feet DID heal. PTL and WHEW! Yet later a serious infection settled in Bob’s right foot and leg. For the first time ever, he missed 5 Sundays in a row, due to high fevers, quivering chills, and inability to walk due to pain. SO scary. Gradually, he was able to return to preaching. Determined guy!
The next adventure was the appearance of what Teresa calls her Lizard Skin, a burn-like rash all over hands, arms, and upper torso. Grandkids are calling it “the itchy pox”. With help from our doctor and the Autoimmune Research Foundation, we discovered it to be another exacerbation of the Sarcoidosis of the lungs, now also attacking skin. Bummer. It happens in 20% of cases. One of those things “you CAN live with”. At times she could use one of Job’s “potsherds”. Hope they have ‘em on Amazon!
Jeremiah, Joshua, and Lyssa are doing well, still in their same ministries with their spouses (IL, CA,WI). Our tribe of grandchildren hit 15 (!) when JP and Tancy finalized the adoption of brothers Justin and Seth. God miraculously provided the finances to cover the legal fees AND two new bedrooms added to their house. It is wonderful to see all those kiddos beginning to BLOOM. FIVE of our grands are in COLLEGE now (already!?!), while ONE just started kindergarten.
It’s been an “exciting” year for all of them, too. Both JP and Lys’s families did catch Covid, despite all precautions. Some were REALLY sick, but all are now recovered. God is Good! About the same time, Josh and family went through the deadly Silverado fire, which came WAAAY too close! Maybe we’re ALL ready for a NEW YEAR, eh? (A less exciting one, Please, Lord!)
Teresa had a Cataract Surgery recently on one eye (surgery on her second eye will be done this week). She is already GLAD for restoration of keen vision as she can thread a needle and read fine print again. Yippee! Don’t tell Bob, but she now sees what she’d THOUGHT was his halo is just silver hair.
Well, we saved our biggest news for last: After 50 years in full-time pastoral ministries, Bob is retiring from Sovereign Grace Church (having served there for 16 years). This will be effective in the Spring, 2021. Everyone (but Bob) knows “it’s time” for a well-earned rest.
We will be retiring to Watertown, Wisconsin, in a duplex just 8 blocks from our daughter, and 70 miles from son JP, close to 11 of our 15 grandchildren! My sister Carole (married to Bob’s best buddy from College) lives nearby, too. We also have many friends in the area, as we pastored two Wisconsin churches in years gone by. Josh’s in-laws live in the state, so we will be more likely to see his family often, too. Altogether, a lot to look forward to in our new digs.
Watertown is the home of Maranatha Baptist University, which is precious to us. Our whole family graduated AND met our life-partners there. We look forward to attending concerts, plays, sport events, and recitals.
Our newly remodeled/updated home is well-suited for our Grandpa & Grandma lifestyle. No stairs, no yardwork, no shoveling, no maintenance. Added services in this special Christian community are available IF and WHEN we should need them. We will send out “change of address” cards after we get settled. “You can run, but you can’t hide!”
Meanwhile we definitely have our work cut out for us, getting seriously downsized and packed to move in the Spring. We are grateful for the pending sale of our old house, where Teresa grew up, and where we have lived for 33 years now. We feel elated one minute and weepy the next, riding an emotional roller-coaster!
Sadness. Fear. Uncertainty. Boredom. Exhaustion. Anger. These are just a few of the emotions we feel in 2020 . . . and we know that we are not alone. But whatever you are facing today, there is only ONE answer. In a world gone so wrong, only God’s Word can keep your mind and heart at peace.
Now it’s YOUR TURN! We’d enjoy hearing from you this Christmas, dear y’all.
Bob and Teresa Griffin