Merry Christmas! December
14, 2014
2014,
where did you go? These days we find ourselves wanting to hit the pause button
on life.
We enjoyed
a family vacation in late July through early August. The first part of the trip
was spent in New York with our good friends the Wesleys. In addition to the
wonderful Indian cuisine consumed, we played at a local park, celebrated our 12th
wedding anniversary, worshipped with the brothers and sisters at the Wesley’s
church, and enjoyed a full day at Niagara Falls! We left New York and drove to
Pennsylvania for the remainder of the trip. There, we stayed with our faithful
friends, the Trunicks. The Trunick family has 5 boys and 1 girl. Our children
have grown up together. It was a full house, with lots of fun, laughter, and
food! We celebrated Andrew’s 8th birthday while in PA, the adults
had a date night, and we enjoyed a small group bible study with the believers
of their church. Before we left NY and
PA we sat with the Wesleys and the Trunicks, read scripture, and prayed
together. We are so blessed by these two families and their friendship to us.
August 8th we threw an adoption
celebration at the church. August 9th marks the one year anniversary
of when the girls moved in. It was a fabulous time. We invited families from
our Classical Conversation’s community, from church, foster families, DSS
workers… There was plenty of hotdogs, cake, chips, snow cones… We also gave a
short overview of our story.
The family started pioneering and visiting a
farm this year. Each Friday we’d meet Mr. Green, the farmer and guide, and some
other families at different trails. The children have put together “Survival
kits” for these adventures. Martie’s created a way for us to carry enough water
for the family. We’ve really enjoyed learning more about farm life and
hiking/pioneering from Mr. Green. He is
a wealth of knowledge and a blessing to us.
Martie and Heather were asked by DSS to appear
on WRAL for a three minute spotlight on adoption in November. This was a neat
opportunity to share our experience and tell of the grace of God. We followed
up the interview by scheduling an Adoption and Foster Care Event at the church.
We’re excited to share that the church will be
re-launching in 2015! We’ve been at Parkwood for 10 years now. There have been
many ups and downs. God has been so gracious throughout the years. He has kept
us, led us, and now brought us to this point in ministry. A few years back we
voted on the new bylaws and constitution. We’ve appointed one additional elder
and a couple deacons. Martie has been talking with a contractor and we
anticipate many renovations. The new name of the church will be 4D Church. The
D’s, which will encompass our mission, are delight, display, declare, disciple.
We are praying that others will join us in this new adventure.
Martie has enjoyed hunting again this year. He’s
taken the boys with him a couple of times. He still hasn’t killed anything. He
enjoys the quiet time to be alone and still in God’s creation. Each Monday
Martie has been teaching the 8th graders at our Classical
Conversation’s group. He’s loves the opportunity to pour into those kids. Each
Sunday he continues to preach the Word, and we’ve been walking through the book
of Ephesians for a while now. On Wednesday’s we meet with our small group and
walk through the scripture Martie preached and incorporate the 4D’s. This has
been a rich opportunity to grow deeper in our understanding.
Heather continues to stay home with the
children. This is our 10th year home schooling. We’ve now
experienced elementary, middle, and high school. Heather is still directing the
Foundations and Essentials programs at CC. This last summer she also organized
a couple practicums and led some tutors through Foundation’s training. She’s
really been passionate about getting us all healthier. We changed our diets
back in February and she and Martie started working out at the YMCA in March.
She enjoys going to the gym about 3-4 times a week. There are also days she’ll
run/walk with friends. In October she completed her first 5K.
Taylor is 17 and in the 11th grade.
She started working at Chick fil A this year, and has done really well. Each
Thursday she continues to serve as a prosecuting attorney in Durham County’s
Teen Court. This has been a wonderful opportunity for her, as she looks forward
to attending law school one day. She attends Classical Conversation’s Challenge
III program each Tuesday. She’s been with the same group of friends for the
last several years. Taylor continues to amaze us with her artistic abilities.
She can teach herself how to do just about anything. We’re now having the
conversations about colleges, and trying to narrow down some options. She’s
already taken the SAT’s and ACT’s once. We’re thankful for the youth group at
King’s Park for welcoming Taylor into their gathering. Praise God for the grace
He’s shown us in raising a teenage daughter. Her faith, relationship, and
dependence on our Lord have remained strong.
Aaliyah is 11 and in the 6th grade.
She started taking piano lessons this year, and received a piano for her
birthday in April. All the children love playing with Aaliyah, as she is
usually leading up some new game or playing make believe. Seth, especially
loves Aaliyah, and will often call for her if Heather is occupied. School is
going great. She loves to diagram sentences and is proving to be driven and
self-motivated.
Ethan is 9, but will be turning 10 on the 28th
of December. He is in the 4th grade. Ethan went hunting with Martie
for the first time this year. On his second outing, he shot and killed his
first deer. This provided 12 pounds of meat for our family. He was very excited
and loves to tell the entire story. Ethan also started gymnastics this year.
We’ve wanted to get him and Andrew into a wrestling program, but can’t find one
in the area. Instead, they’ve been getting their exercise each Thursday on the
gym mats. Ethan loves to read and play with his friends.
Naomi is 8, and in the 3rd grade. She
continues to go to gymnastics each week. This is her second year. Besides
Heather, Naomi is our home hairdresser. Each Sunday, she’ll line several
children up in the bathroom and make sure they all look presentable for church.
After having Naomi tested this summer, we decided to back up with some of her
academics. She seems to be doing much better and is a lot less stressed. There
were too many “Holes” in her education to keep moving forward. We needed to
fill those gaps, so she won’t struggle in the upper grades. She is really
enjoying teaching Carissa Math, while Heather works with the other children.
Naomi loves to read now, and will lie around reading often.
Andrew is 8, and in the 3rd grade
also. He started gymnastics this year with Ethan, Naomi, and Carissa. Andrew
has always been super strong, so this has really been a neat opportunity to see
him use that strength on the bars, rope, or rings. Most days he is outside,
barefoot, with no jacket, climbing trees, and chasing squirrels. Getting him to
sit at a table to do Math continues to be a struggle, but he can climb a pine
tree with no branches barefooted without any problems. Andrew is definitely our
most passionate child, and we look forward to seeing how God is going to use
that piece of his personality.
Tabitha is 6, and in the 1st grade.
She has learned to read much better this year, but Math is her thing. She loves
her timed math sheets, and gets her work done in only a few minutes. Tabitha
continues to take ballet with several of her friends. She loves to come home
and share the new positions and movements that she learned. She and Naomi
continue to share a bedroom, and now even clothes.
Carissa is 4 and working on some Pre-K “Stuff.”
She loves to do school and will sit at a table for hours if you let her. She
has a unique ability to focus and concentrate on a task for an extremely long
amount of time. She plays really well by herself, but she and Seth are best
buddies. You can often find her telling him what to say and do in their make
believe games. He joyfully follows her lead. She is always smiling and giggling
and willing to go with the flow. Carissa has also memorized most of the Frozen
songs, and sings everywhere she goes! As a matter of fact, as I was typing this
she came up the stairs with Tabitha, singing.
Seth is 2, but will be 3 on January 5th.
Seth is everyone’s baby. He travels to Martie and Heather’s bed most mornings
to cuddle. He has very specific ways he likes things done such as getting milk
in the morning, only Heather is allowed to pour it. There’s a systematic way
Seth likes things to work. He is talking well and carrying on full
conversations now. We’re starting to see some of the baby ways he used to say
things, change. He is very fun and always keeps us laughing. Seth is very
independent and plays well alone or with Carissa. It’s really neat to watch him
play with his toys and use his imagination.
We are grateful to God for every recipient of
this letter. Specifically we are thankful for how many of you have encouraged
us to walk more closely with Jesus, prayed for us and/or invested in our family
in some way. Our hope is that each of you will experience the fullness of joy
found in Christ Jesus this Christmas.
Love,
The Mangum
Family
Martie,
Heather, Taylor, Aaliyah, Ethan, Naomi, Andrew, Tabitha, Carissa, Seth
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