2007 Christmas letter

Hey all - this is a copy of my 2007 Christmas letter that I'm sending with my Christmas cards, and since I don't have all your addresses...I thought I'd just post it here, and wish you a merry Christmas while I'm at it! ;) I do hope that you're having a blessed Christmas season. I need to stay focused on WHY we celebrate Christmas to begin with... :)

December 2007
Dear Friends,
Hello! I hope this letter finds you doing well. Can you believe its Christmastime again? It seems like we just went through the holiday season, doesn’t it? Certainly a lot has happened in my life this year, and thought I’d use this little letter to let you in on it.

The first major thing that happened in 2007 was the passing of my Uncle Bob. He passed suddenly while on vacation with my parents and my aunt in Hawaii on March 30th. He was 51 years old. I know the holidays will not be the same for us this year.

I also made my first trip back to Colorado this year since having moved to Detroit in 2005. That was awesome!! I spent a whole day at Compassion International, and got to see lots of friends! It was really hard for me to leave Colorado that time, but it was an awesome trip.

This summer I made a trip to Nashville, TN to see Amy Sporleder. It was an awesome trip – I hadn’t seen Amy in many years. It was a 10 hour drive and I was so excited to get there, that even though I wasn’t supposed to leave Detroit until 8:00 am I ended up leaving at 5:00 am. I made a couple stops at antique malls along the way. Also this summer, some friends from Colorado were in Detroit on business and it was really good to see and catch up with Pam Otto!

Upon return to Michigan, I guess God starting moving in me that I might not be in Detroit much longer. Of course, I didn’t know it was God, I thought it was just me…see how much I know... Okay, so I had been at my church in Detroit for almost two years, and some disagreements came up between the bishop of that church and Pastor Weatherly (the pastor I had come to Detroit with). It ended up that Pastor Weatherly, Yatron and their family and I left the church in June. Shortly after we left the church, another opportunity opened up for the Weatherly’s in Alabama. Though I very much wanted to go with them, I didn’t feel like God wanted me there right now. The Weatherly’s moved to Mobile, AL in early August.

It was around that time, I also found out that I was going to be losing my job at the end of September. So with everything that was going on, I decided that I needed to get out of Dodge… or Detroit in my case. I moved to Phoenix on September 25th. I’m living with my parents for now. Right after I moved in, my sister moved in with her two children (Noelle, 5; and Taylor who is now 4 months old!). Needless to say, this is quite a busy place!

I got a job working as a contractor for the state of AZ as a case manager. I’m going to be helping people find jobs and help them get off welfare. I’m really looking forward to getting into it!

Lastly, I found an awesome church here. Its called Desert Springs Church and I actually found it online while I was still in Detroit. Have you ever just felt something in your spirit so strong that you just know its God? That’s kind of what it was like about this church. I wasn’t all that excited about moving to Arizona, except to get here to join up with this church. Weird, I know, I didn’t even know these people but wanted to get here to meet them all! I joined an AWESOME women’s bible study, and met some of the coolest ladies there.

Lastly (for real this time…), in case you don’t already know, I have a blog (a web page) where I try to keep people up to date on the latest news in my life. The website will be at the end of this letter, along with my email address. Those are the best ways to keep up with me. I would like to leave you with this verse:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27
Much love, Aimee
website: www.onetimewithaimee.blogspot.com email: schmeelivesagain@yahoo.com