A Christmas Letter From the Jones Family

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, 

and the government will be on his shoulders. 
And he will be called 
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  ~ Isaiah 9:6  NIV

Greetings friends from around the world!  It's Christmas Eve eve, and I hope you are each preparing for a wonderful time with family and friends celebrating the birth of our Savior!  At my house my Mom has arrived and settled in for the holiday season.  Will has been out of school all week.  Marilyn worked her final day of 2011 yesterday.  We are all together, ready for the upcoming Christmas traditions.  We have movies to watch (Scrooged and A Muppet Christmas Carol), meals to eat (hot dogs and Frogmore Stew) and a Christmas Eve candlelight service to attend.  The only thing missing is all of you.  I try to say it here often, but we consider all of you who were a part of the ministries we served, part of the this blogging community and part of my Twitter world to be in fact a part of our family.  2011 has been such an amazing year, reconnecting with old friends, making new ones and discovering that some of the most special people in my life- some of whom I thought I might have lost forever- are not only still with me but by the grace of God still love me.  You know who you are, and I treasure you. More than I can say...


My lovely wife Marilyn (with whom I celebrated 25 years of marriage this year!) continues to to enjoy her work as a Legal Assistant with one of the preeminent alcohol beverage licencing attorneys in the country.  She survives the commute to downtown Tampa each day to work with with a group of people she genuinely enjoys.  She spends lots of time volunteering as a band mom with Will's marching band and taking care of me- which as many of you know is a full-time job.  :)   Will is a junior in high school. He continues to excel as a student, having been inducted in the National Honor Society this fall.  He loves his music, including playing snare drum in marching band at Sickles High School. He also loves his drumline buddies like they were his brothers.  He is preparing to get serious about his future, applying to colleges and hoping to pursue a career in film making.  He and his mom spent 2 weeks with her family in NC and at Myrtle Beach this past summer.  They are not making their annual post-Christmas pilgrimage to Elkin this year, but we loved having her sister Carol and her husband Bill with us for Thanksgiving.  We are so fortunate to get to spend so much time together as a family.  Most Sunday mornings you will find us worshiping together at Van Dyke Church.  Some of our favorite things include watching TV shows like The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Glee, Fringe and out favorite guilty pleasure, American Idol.; eating out (the staff at Chili's knows us by name, and Taco Tuesdays at Tijuana Flats are becoming legendary!) and going to movies.  The $6 before noon shows at the local AMC Theaters are a favorite- during the summer you can find us there most every Saturday!


I continue to play "domestic goddess" while seeking more opportunities to write for Christian organizations like Interlinc.  I just wish I could find a few more folks who would actually pay me to write!  I spend many of my days staying in touch with and seeking to encourage friends through various means, having just recently discovered the joys of texting. Earlier this year I published my personal confession on this blog, and was overwhelmed by the love, grace and forgiveness I received from so many of you.  God has been so good to me in 2011, helping me to once again discover ways to be in ministry.  My restrictions make travel nearly nearly impossible, which makes it difficult for me to see so many of you- but with God's help and some good fortune we pray that will change later in 2012.  I am so blessed.


We were not able to send many Christmas cards this year, so I just wanted to use this forum and take this opportunity to wish you all the most blessed of Christmas seasons.  Every challenge our family has faced over the past several years we have survived through faith and friends.  We are blessed and grateful to count all of you among the latter.  When we gather around the table for our traditional Christmas Eve hot dogs (complete with chili and slaw!) tomorrow night, it is our sincere wish that all of you could with us.  From all of us to all of you, A Very Merry Christmas!  And never forget this one essential truth- it's all about Jesus!


Because of Jesus,