Monday, December 19, 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 

Well, it’s Christmastime again & that means another holiday letter from the Granica’s. It has been a very tough year for a lot of people & we have had our share of suffering as we said good-bye to four loved ones that will not soon be forgotten. February 7th will be one day that we will never forget as that was the day that Michael’s dad suffered a heart attack. The doctors felt that they could repair this heart, but we would learn in the days that followed that he had suffered too much brain damage to ever recover. On February 10th, we walked with dad to the gates of Heaven & said that we would see him later. It has been one of the hardest things that we have experienced in our young married, but God’s amazing love & grace has pulled us through. We often struggle to understand what God is doing & why He allows these trials to take place, but He has a purpose for everything that happens to us whether we can see it or not. We don’t understand why God called so many of our loved ones home to be with Him, but He’s been teaching us so much over the last year & we really want to share it with you. We hope that our experiences will inspire & challenge you this holiday season. Michael & I have had our eyes opened to what is truly important in this life. We were meant to love one another, to have intimate relationships with our Heavenly Father & we have fallen short of our calling. God wants to know us & for us to know him the same way we know our parents & they know us. He wants us to tell him about our day, to bring Him our burdens & share our praises. God wants us to create loving relationships with our families & to cherish the time that we have together. As a society, we have gotten far too busy & often times we take our loved ones for granted. We plan to spend more time with them tomorrow or next week, but it’s a vicious cycle that can leave us with guilt & regret. Now, I know what you are thinking because I used to think the same thing. You are thinking that dad was almost 70 years old & you have a lot more time before you need to get right with God or to catch up with your family, but a few years ago we had a family friend that was killed in a car accident & he was only in his 40s. Life is so short & we hope you will cherish it, especially during Christmas time. We also want to challenge you to do something positive for your fellowman even if it’s as simple as saying hello to a stranger on the street or shoveling a neighbor’s driveway. If everyone did something positive for someone else, our world would be a much nicer place for our children.

With that, we will leave you to enjoy this holiday season by wishing you a very

Merry Christmas & a happy new year!

 

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