Christmas 2000
The year 2000 has nearly come to an end, and luckily the Y2K transition has been uneventful – at least from a computing standpoint. The most significant impact for us is that we haven’t had to buy any toilet paper this past year. Now, if we can just force ourselves to eat some more of the canned stew that we had gotten on sale. We were able to use our stored water on our outside plants to combat the continuing drought.
Our other Y2K preparations were not completely in vein. In the fourth weekend of January, Georgia had the “worst ice storm in 50 years”. Nearly everyone in north Georgia lost their power for at least some period of time. We were fortunate to have only been without power for 14 hours, but during that short time we decided we were very glad Y2K didn’t cause that type of problem. Perhaps God felt that the record books, weathermen, and Al Gore needed to be shown that He was still in control, because the next weekend we got another severe ice storm. So much for global warming! Two straight weekends trapped at the house convinced us that we weren’t cut out for living too much farther north.
In early spring we were fortunate enough to have Kevin and Heather Morgan stay with us for a few days along with Harland and Angie Cason and their son Benjamin. It wonderful to see them after such a long time (and to meet Ben), and it was also great to wish Kevin and Heather well before they headed back overseas.
While the Falcons have been busy this past year preparing their new training camp and complaining about the area, we have made lots of new friends. In a big answer to prayer for us, our church started a small group ministry. We got invited to a special “married without kids” small group. I wasn’t very optimistic going in, but to my surprise we left the first meeting with a feeling that we had known these couples for years. It was nice to have more friends (especially at the same stage of life) to hang out with. We were enjoying our group so much that we had to mess it up. Becky is pregnant. Yeah, go ahead, reread that last sentence – let it sink in a bit.
God is so good though – not only did He provide good friends to support us, but He also decided that they could go through it with us. From the original meeting of our small group, 3 of the 4 girls are pregnant – all due between Feb 12th (our due date), and March 1st. So in the end nothing got messed up, it just got better.
Against her better judgement, Becky allowed me to play on our church softball team. Things were fine for a game or two, and then they started dropping like flies – pulled hamstrings, twisted ankles, hyper-extended knees, and that was just the girls on the team. When my friend Scott broke his ankle, Becky really got nervous. I still had a great time playing, and miraculously enough I managed to finish the season injury free.
Certainly, other than our big news, the highlight of the year was Grotto Falls. Grotto Falls is one of many waterfalls in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and it is probably one of the prettiest of the falls. While it provided great inspiration for my latest hobby (photography), the trail from Grotto Falls served as the site of a now infamous event. As Susan Scott can attest, “The Bear” was certainly the highlight of the annual vacation/fab-five reunion. This year, to escape a bit of the heat, we chose to all get together in North Carolina. (Alan and Kelly Turner couldn’t join us this year as they were expecting a baby boy – Zachary. Alan has already been in contact with Bobby Bowden at FSU about his little prodigy who weighed it at over 10 lbs.). It was a wonderful time of getting together again, and getting away. In fact, getting away was what some folks had on their mind when we encountered a bear on the Grotto Falls trail. This just shows you that you should believe the rangers when they issue Bear warnings for an area. I also think many of our friends will actually believe me now when I identify Bear Droppings. The actual event lasted a few short seconds as David “God, Country, and the Corp.” McArthur locked eyes with a Black Bear. The bear wisely headed down the path and then down the slope of the mountain after warning us that only we “can prevent forest fires”. Unfortunately, I was not able to grab my camera in time to snap a picture. Isn’t that always the way? But the lack of a picture allows the bear to grow bigger every time the story is told. I understand that a collection of Bear Bells is on Susan’s Christmas list this year.
Work has gone well for both of us. Becky continues to work for Crown Financial Ministries (formerly Christian Financial Concepts). While she has enjoyed her work, she is not planning on returning to work after having the baby. Speaking of the baby, you can be sure to remember her as she attempts to successfully run the dessert gauntlet this holiday season. A recent set of tests has determined that she has gestational diabetes. This means no Christmas treats for her, and it means that I have to eat right (at least when she’s around). And while medical science has shown us this problem, four ultrasounds have yet to show us whether the baby is a boy or girl. While we are happy to have such a modest child, it has made planning a little more difficult. Lots of yellow and green I’m afraid.
Fortunately, I’ve had very little travel this year, and my work at JDA has been going well. The commute seems to be getting worse as so many people have discovered our county up here. I’ve threatened to move farther out to get away from them, but that certainly won’t help me get to work any quicker.
My parents are doing well, and seem to adjusting to the idea of becoming grandparents. My dad is still working for BellSouth and my mom is working part time – still feeling great. Becky and I had a wonderful time getting together with my grandparents and parents all in Gainesville, Florida this year for Thanksgiving.
We look forward to spending this Christmas with Becky’s parents in Pensacola. We hope that by then we won’t have to fix any more of this election mess while we’re down there.
Becky (and Baby) and I would like to extend to you our warmest wishes, and may God richly bless you and your family this Christmas and New Year.