Sunday, December 24, 2017

Christmas Greetings 2017




    


     
                                                                                                                                                                  December 2017
                                                           

     Greetings from the Jeschke clan! We send our warmest wishes for a joyous Christmas season and a blessed New Year! We had hoped for a calmer year, but 2017 brought its share of challenges & blessings. Some of our biggest challenges/sorrows: both my son Mark & I (Melanie) had to undergo appendectomies (with the same surgeon but in different months); I also endured artificial knee replacement the end of May; and during my hospitalization, my dear mother Betty, who had suffered from Alzheimer’s, entered hospice care. She peacefully went to Glory on June 1, with her devoted husband of 68 years Earl by her side, holding her hand.  Among her last words were a recitation of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus!” Her older sister Margie followed her 6 weeks later. Earl has moved to an assisted living facility nearby us; at nearly 93, he is sadly declining and in need of frequent care. We were also sorry to have Scott & Eliza move away to LA in May, but are excited to see how God will use Scott’s talents in the film industry there. Our biggest blessings: welcoming grandson Mark Devereux, Jr. (Mark & Beth’s 2nd), on June 11; and the weddings of our two youngest: Brendan to Annie Luther on August 12 and Kevin to Kirsten Mendelsohn on Dec. 2. Right before Brendan’s wedding, he was able to join me in Oxford for the triennial C.S. Lewis Oxbridge conference, where I conducted “Inklings” walking tours on my new knee. Brendan is now serving the youth at The King’s Chapel (TKC) fulltime. Kevin graduated this month from the Prince William Police Academy, and we are so proud to have a police officer in the family. We are now (at last:) officially empty-nesters!!! Raising these nine wonderful children has been our greatest joy, and we are so blessed that they are all following the Lord and are involved in ministry. Bill is especially glad to have Brendan and Mark serving alongside him at TKC, sharing the burdens and blessings of our wonderful church family.

     We are grateful for our times together with family and friends, and look forward to hearing from you, dear ones, over the holidays. May the Prince of Peace, Jesus the Christ, our Savior and Lord, be born anew in our hearts today! Merry Christmas! God bless us, every one!

              Many blessings,

                                                 Melanie, Bill, & the Jeschke clan                              


Short summary of 2017:  Bill: stays endlessly busy working for the church, caring for the family-- especially for his father-in-law-- coaching soccer (Chantilly H.S) & singing. Melanie: on hiatus from teaching last spring, worked sporadically in between surgeries on a novel; enjoyed teaching a Brit Lit course at Northern VA Community College, NOVA-Manassas this fall. Ministry: Bill, Senior Pastor of The King’s Chapel (TKC); Melanie, mentor mom for MOMS (Moms on a Mission, formerly MOPS). Highlights: long walks to the harbor & on the golf course here at beautiful Belmont Bay; going together to an Inklings Fellowship conference in Asheville, NC in April; Melanie attending Oxbridge w/ Brendan in July; vacationing with the fam on Topsail Island in Aug; marrying off our two youngest to wonderful, godly women; enjoying our ever-growing family