Dear family and friends,
Happy
Holidays! I may be the newest item to ever write this Christmas letter for the
Barry family. I was just officially “born” on October 12th but I
have learned so much already. The Barry family has been planning to build me
for years, well Reagan has anyway. And now their imagination has come alive and
the Barry 7 has lived in me for over a month. If you want to write me and the
Barry family, please see my address at the bottom. But don’t skip to the
bottom, read the rest so you know about this family….
Jackson: Whoa, he seems like a regular kid but
I keep hearing from Ben and Reagan how much he has changed. They said he has
grown about 5 inches since last year and is now in high school. He loves high
school and is doing well in school. He just started basketball and has games
starting this week. Like most teens (he finally turned 13 in the spring), he is
attached to his phone and enjoys following the NBA and NFL (Celtics and Bears).
I’ve noticed how responsible and helpful of a big brother he is. He helps gets
the kids going in the morning and is like having a 3rd adult/parent
around. But he is really just a big kid and loves playing games with whoever
will play with him. He gets to sleep in the basement, which he loves.
Abby: I got to know Abby early in the year as she
and Reagan came out to see me on a daily basis to make sure I was being created
in “their” vision. Abby is quite the mature young girl. She is now in Middle
School which means she sees her father every day. But the cool thing is that
the middle school and all the schools are only 3 minutes from my address now!
Abby still loves sports and has added Club Volleyball to her list of
activities. She also does art club and student council and has become a
semi-professional shopper as what appears to be an apprenticeship under her
mother’s shopping guidance. If all these things weren’t enough, she completed
the Red Cross babysitting training and is doing some babysitting as well. Which
means…..she now has her first cell phone even though she can’t call or text,
but it does allow messaging and facetime, so she thinks that is pretty cool. Of
the five, she has the most energy!
Quinn: All of the kids seem very caring
and generous, but Quinn seems the strongest in this area. He gives massages for
25 cents (he wants to be a massage therapist and actor when he is older), seeks
people out to talk to if they have had a bad day, and says the strangest yet
most insightful things at the most perfect moments all the time. He also LOVES
all the animals that moved in as well, both indoor and outdoor cats. I’ve heard
rumors of adding a dog to me this winter and I’m worried Quinn could hug it to
death! Quinn does very well at school it sounds like as he is advanced in
reading and math. He stays busy with basketball and baseball and minecraft and
laughing….a lot. He will be fun to watch grow up I think!
Sullivan:
I confuse this guy with his brother Quinn. Sully hit a growth spurt, Quinn did
not. They are nearly the same height, they share a room and bathroom, and they
often wear each other’s clothes despite their father putting out their clothes
in the morning and telling them which pile to wear. They don’t seem to mind as
they are very close friends, not just brothers. Sully now reads chapter books
and is very good at math too. He also does baseball and basketball and
apparently he runs very fast. He loves having friends over and having
play-dates. He misses our former neighbors terribly. This has been the hardest
for the family to move into me, they miss their neighborhood so much and Sully
had his absolute best friend next door at their last house. Fortunately, we are
only 7 minutes away, so Sully still sees him often.
Claire:
The youngest of the bunch and maybe the most energy (behind Abby and one of the
indoor cats who just sprinted by me for the 20th time this morning).
Claire now goes to school almost every day as she is in preschool. (Did I
mention Quinn is in 3rd and Sully is in 1st?) She loves
school and loves riding the bus. She still goes to Courtney’s for daycare and
Courtney may be her best friend of all time, they have quite a bond! Claire
loves to do crafts, work with numbers and letters, and go shopping with her
mother. She also loves dolls/babies and likes to line them all up some nights
for sleep. Her father thinks this is a little creepy and wonders if this is
really just Claire playing the long game on how to keep him out of her room!
Now to
finish with the owners of this house. One I know well and the other I’m getting
to know all too well (he is very unique!). Reagan worked with our builder,
Michael, from Day 1 planning this house. He was very impressed with Reagan’s
work ethic, eye for design, and was surprised at her skills with tools. Reagan
built some of the things that make me up and spent many long hours here this
summer making sure I was just as perfect as she imagined. As for Ben, he came
and walked through me on July 4th and then saw me when I was
finished. He says he doesn’t like “unfinished projects”, so he didn’t want to
see me until I was ready to move in. That seems weird and others said the same
thing, but like I said, I’ve learned he is unique. Reagan changed jobs as I was
being built and left family practice behind. This was very tough for her but
she followed a passion of hers in helping people making healthy lifestyle
changes. She now works for Unity Point Weightloss Clinic. She is first assist
in surgery 2-3 days a week and works clinic on the other days. She has enjoyed
the challenge and her husband enjoys the less work she brings home and the fact
that she is home by 3 some days. She continues to care for me and has been
spending her “free” time decorating and getting me just right for the holidays.
As for Ben, well, I’m almost out of room, so I will just say he is in his 18th
year of education, 10th as a School Counselor. He and Reagan (and
possibly Jackson/Abby) will travel to Washington D.C. early next year as Ben
was selected as ASCA’s Iowa School Counselor of the Year. While he isn’t one
the six national finalists, he will represent Iowa counselors in DC on that
trip. He works a stressful job but does enjoy it. He has a passion for helping
others and this is one of the ways he gets to follow this passion. While Reagan
works on the house, Ben makes sure kids get to and from school, practice, and
religious education all on time or slightly late.
Well,
that’s the Barry family. I didn’t really tell you much about me, but that is by
design. I’m not being modest, I’m being real. I’m just a “house”. I was created
just like any other house. It wasn’t until the Barrys moved in that I truly
became a “home” and became everything I was meant to be. Over 2000 years ago, a
child was created rather miraculously. And sure, He wasn’t just like every
other “child”, He was special. But, like me, He wasn’t that different until
people moved into His heart and He moved into theirs. You can’t just build a
house and you are done, you have to continue to work on it with love, joy,
hope, care, family, etc. Jesus isn’t just Christmas and you are done, you have
to continue to work year round by spreading love, joy, care, hope, etc. So
while we wish all of you Happy Holidays this Christmas Season, we also wish you
a 2019 filled with all the things mentioned above and we hope you work to
spread these to as many as possible. And if you find yourself near 14225 Scotch
Ridge Road, please stop by and see me and the Barrys and get some of the joy
and love we try to spread every day.
Merry Christmas and God Bless this Holiday season!
The Barrys (Ben, Reagan, Jackson, Abigail, Quinn,
Sullivan, Claire) and a few indoor and outdoor cats. A dog or two will be added
soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment