Dear Family and Friends,

Merry CHRISTmas! I know I’m cutting it short 2 days before Christmas, but we took such a cute Christmas picture, I might as well write the letter to go with it, right? We hope this season brings you closer to your family, friends, and the things that truly matter in this life. How blessed we are to be able to say “Immanuel!” our God is with us!

This last year and a half or so has been a trying one for us, but this Christmas we are blessed to celebrate the redeeming work God has been doing in our lives the last few months! I will try to summarize briefly –

The beginning of the year brought Dan a second job leading worship at Christ First Baptist Church of Covina, which was a blessing since I was still out of work. Dan enjoyed conducting an adult choir and leading a worship band every week. We met and got to work with dear people there, but the load of working 60+ hours a week was certainly trying on my hubby!

Then in the summer, I was unexpectedly and quickly hired at Azusa Pacific University in the Alumni Office as the events coordinator! This came at just the right time, after finding out Dan’s school district would be making more budget cuts in the fall. I love my new job, and feel very blessed to be in such a great environment like APU everyday.

In August, Dan and I had a very groovy 30^th birthday party together. Held in our backyard with a 70’s theme, we had a blast with family and friends. Thanks to all who came!

The fall brought Dan to working on his Master’s Conducting Recital – coordinating over 40 volunteer musicians, selecting and researching music, rehearsing weekly and putting a superb program together. As most of you know, it was an outstanding evening. His hard work paid off, and I couldn’t be more proud of him! (Is he now done with his Master’s, you ask? Almost – he must still finish his Thesis paper and take comprehensive exams in the spring, but let’s just say the hardest part is over.)

In November, Dan and I made a tough decision to step away from Christ First, and take a year of rest from all outside ministry. We have both been heavily involved in all kinds of ministry since before we were married, and we came to a mutual agreement that we needed a break. We will miss the Christ First family, but we know we are still “ministering” at our jobs daily, and it’s time for us to take a break from other activities for a while.

This leads us to the most exciting part of 2009 – B-Hawk! (That’s short for Baby Hawkins, BTW.) What will we do with all our free time next year? Well, have a baby, of course! We are so thrilled at God’s perfect timing – our bundle of joy will arrive in late May – just in time for Dan’s summer break to correlate with my maternity leave. We look forward to all the joys and challenges this new baby will bring into our lives!

Thank you for sharing in our lives! We pray you and your family have a wonderful time celebrating our Savior’s birth this week!

In Christ,

Dan and Kristi Hawkins