Soper Christmas Letter
Dear Friends and Family,
This year has been filled with blessings.
Mike has again been blessed in his career. This fall he heard about openings at the State of Michigan in the Avionics department of MDOT. He applied. In just a few weeks we became government employees. He accepted the position with the state, and we are enjoying the fact that he will be on days. He will have some overnight travels with this job but we can manage that much better than having to be quite during the day with a growing family.
Speaking of growing, Abby started Kindergarten this year. We had her enrolled at Haslett and were all ready to go when GOD showed us HIS plan. We were offered a scholarship to a Christian school in DeWitt just two weeks before school started. We love it. The curriculum is amazing, and Abby is doing great. She also loves playing with her siblings. She loves to make Annabelle laugh and to let Annabelle make her laugh. She is very good about her chores and is in charge of feeding the kitty. She loves that because he will let her pick him up now. She is very good about standing up for what is right and true. She will tell me that a kid at school was being teased, “So I decided… (to play with the them)”.
Andy is all over the place as boys should be. He has a wonderful helpful spirit. I just need to be able to show him what is helpful. Unrolling the toilet paper so we don’t have to is not as helpful as he thinks (From the Curious George Movie). He loves to help in the kitchen and also Abby with her chores. He likes to make Annabelle laugh and he knows that is helpful. He is also an encourager. He cheers for us when we do something difficult. Like opening the canned food, he always says, “You can do it Mama!” Or when his sisters are doing something he will jump up and down for them and cheer.
Annabelle has really come a long way since last year. She is not walking yet but we are hopeful. She loves to make us laugh and she loves to laugh with us even if she has no idea what is going on. I have heard her laugh from her crib when she hears us laughing in the living room. So great, it is an amazing difference from the depression she developed after the fire last year. She is also getting more comfortable with other people. We can even leave her in the nursery at church. At this moment she is pretending to be blind. She has her eyes closed tight and is crusing back and forth next to me. So funny. She is waiting for me to laugh. When I do she laughs and gives me a big hug. What great personalities GOD has brought to this family.
HE has also been working on the “personality” of this marriage. We have grown so much. We are both so much stronger and more alert to the ministries HE lays in our paths.
Mike is now the head of the car ministry at church and we have the opportunity to help those who have needs in the automotive area. We helped some Christian refugees from Iraq buy cars for their families. It was wonderful to be able to support someone who risked it all for CHRIST. We are hopeful that this year will continue to bring more opportunities like these our way. We have been blessed with so much we are so ready to pay it forward.
We are reminded as we reflect over the past year that friends and family are one of life’s biggest blessings. We are so grateful for all of our friends; new and those who have been with us for many years, and for our families who grow and change all the time.
We pray that this year will bring joy. We pray for those close to us who have lost jobs to find new and better ones, those who have lost loved ones to have comfort, those who are stressed to find rest. We love you all and are here for you if you have need.
LOVE,
The Soper Family
This year has been filled with blessings.
Mike has again been blessed in his career. This fall he heard about openings at the State of Michigan in the Avionics department of MDOT. He applied. In just a few weeks we became government employees. He accepted the position with the state, and we are enjoying the fact that he will be on days. He will have some overnight travels with this job but we can manage that much better than having to be quite during the day with a growing family.
Speaking of growing, Abby started Kindergarten this year. We had her enrolled at Haslett and were all ready to go when GOD showed us HIS plan. We were offered a scholarship to a Christian school in DeWitt just two weeks before school started. We love it. The curriculum is amazing, and Abby is doing great. She also loves playing with her siblings. She loves to make Annabelle laugh and to let Annabelle make her laugh. She is very good about her chores and is in charge of feeding the kitty. She loves that because he will let her pick him up now. She is very good about standing up for what is right and true. She will tell me that a kid at school was being teased, “So I decided… (to play with the them)”.
Andy is all over the place as boys should be. He has a wonderful helpful spirit. I just need to be able to show him what is helpful. Unrolling the toilet paper so we don’t have to is not as helpful as he thinks (From the Curious George Movie). He loves to help in the kitchen and also Abby with her chores. He likes to make Annabelle laugh and he knows that is helpful. He is also an encourager. He cheers for us when we do something difficult. Like opening the canned food, he always says, “You can do it Mama!” Or when his sisters are doing something he will jump up and down for them and cheer.
Annabelle has really come a long way since last year. She is not walking yet but we are hopeful. She loves to make us laugh and she loves to laugh with us even if she has no idea what is going on. I have heard her laugh from her crib when she hears us laughing in the living room. So great, it is an amazing difference from the depression she developed after the fire last year. She is also getting more comfortable with other people. We can even leave her in the nursery at church. At this moment she is pretending to be blind. She has her eyes closed tight and is crusing back and forth next to me. So funny. She is waiting for me to laugh. When I do she laughs and gives me a big hug. What great personalities GOD has brought to this family.
HE has also been working on the “personality” of this marriage. We have grown so much. We are both so much stronger and more alert to the ministries HE lays in our paths.
Mike is now the head of the car ministry at church and we have the opportunity to help those who have needs in the automotive area. We helped some Christian refugees from Iraq buy cars for their families. It was wonderful to be able to support someone who risked it all for CHRIST. We are hopeful that this year will continue to bring more opportunities like these our way. We have been blessed with so much we are so ready to pay it forward.
We are reminded as we reflect over the past year that friends and family are one of life’s biggest blessings. We are so grateful for all of our friends; new and those who have been with us for many years, and for our families who grow and change all the time.
We pray that this year will bring joy. We pray for those close to us who have lost jobs to find new and better ones, those who have lost loved ones to have comfort, those who are stressed to find rest. We love you all and are here for you if you have need.
LOVE,
The Soper Family
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