Merry Christmas from Madison, Hayden and Logan

One of the things that I love about this time of the year is receiving Christmas cards from friends and family that contain a letter with updates from their past year.

Karen and I have been saying that we should do this for years now without getting around to it, but I guess now that I’m blogging, I have no excuse.

2010 has certainly been an exciting (if tumultuous) period for us and I’m pleased to say that we have had a personally rewarding year.

I started the year as a Call Centre Manager at Optus and now find myself as a Network Pastor at CityLife Church.  I wasn’t looking for a change, but the opportunity presented itself and it soon became apparent that God was leading me to this role.

I had ten and a half fantastic years at Optus and have learned many things along the way there.  I had supportive and encouraging managers who made significant contributions to my development and I’m incredibly grateful to have had the privilege of working in such a terrific organisation.

Now I’m at CityLife and am thoroughly enjoying my role.  My days certainly look very different, but the work is rewarding and to be working in such a great church with such a great team is awesome.

On the more important family front, Karen and I celebrated 14 years of marriage in December and we are enjoying seeing our beautiful children growing up before our eyes.

Karen’s had to cope with many of the changes and has been a constant support to me.  With my new role, I am out a lot more in the evenings which has been a big sacrifice for her, so I really appreciate her support.  We’ve had to go back to resume writing this year since starting at CityLife and Karen has led the way with a lot of the writing and seeing many of the clients, increasing her workload.  She’s also had to get used to a new routine with Hayden starting school this year, with the twins tagging along as well just add an extra level of fun.  She’s coped admirably with all of the changes and is hoping that 2011 will give her some more time to breathe.  I’m certainly grateful for all that she does, I couldn’t do it without her.

Hayden is six next March and as I said above, he started school at the start of this year.  He was at the very young end of the scale, so the first few months were extremely challenging.  He struggled with his reading and writing, but after many hours of persistence, started to make significant progress over the last term.  We’ve made the decision to have him repeat his first year of primary school next year to allow him to build on this year and I am immensely proud of his response to this decision. 

Hayden started Auskick this year which he didn’t really enjoy, but more recently has started playing indoor soccer which he is enjoying a lot more.  His team-mates are really nice kids and he’s even managed to kick a couple of goals.  The only downside is that the team wears Chelsea uniforms. 

Madison and Logan turned three in November and they are really starting to express themselves.

Madison is a little princess (occasionally diva) who loves Tinkerbell, dancing and dressing up.  She’s utterly fearless, in stark contract to her relatively reserved brothers.

Logan is the youngest of the tribe (by three minutes), but he’s much bigger than his twin sister.  He loves ball games, especially cricket and his favourite bouncy ball.  He also shares his big brother’s (and Daddy’s) love of animals.

We are incredibly blessed to have three beautiful, healthy kids.  We love them dearly and despite the challenges of parenting, wouldn’t swap our situation for any other.

Thanks to everyone who has supported the Better Life Coaching Blog this year.  This is my first Christmas as a blogger and the encouraging comments that I have received from so many people inspires me to try to bring you even better content next year.

God bless you each, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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