Christmas in Red Oak

A sweet gal from First Baptist, Tiphany Hood, took family pictures for us while the kids were all here for Christmas. She did a great job and has allowed me to put two of those on my website. Thanks, Tiphany! I highly recommend Tiphany. This is the link to her website - please check her out! http://www.creativeexpressionsstudio.com/

For the photo shoot, we wore our favorite football team shirts and took the pictures on the back of the Curry homestead. The rest of these pictures here are from Jeff and/or Rachel's digital cameras.

Sunday evening, Brian, Kellye & Addison Smith came for a visit during the time the kids were here for Christmas. Baby Addison is just precious. We all had to have our turn in holding her!!

Gift opening time......

And game playing..... A FUN CHRISTMAS WEEKEND!!

Our Last Sunday at First Baptist

Sunday, December 23rd was our last service at First Baptist Church, Red Oak, Texas with Jeff as Senior Pastor. It was a hard day as we said goodbye to many wonderful people!! We are sure going to miss all of you!!

The church hosted a very nice going away reception for us prior to the worship service. Thanks so much to Parker Lord and his "welcome room" committee for such a great job with the decorations, food, etc. Thanks too to each one who hugged our necks, spoke kind words to us, for the cards, gifts and well wishes. Here are a few pics of the day..............

The worship service consisted of singing Christmas music, Jeff preaching a short Christmas message and then families and/or groups of friends partaking together in the Lord's Supper. This was especially meaningful to Jeff & I as our children were all present, and for the first time since they have all married, we were able to observe this sacred church ordinance together at one of the tables as a family with Jeff administering the supper to us. Then after the worship service, Jeff was privileged to baptize 9 people. The picture below shows him baptizing one of those and then I am in the picture with the Walker family as both their girls were baptized.

Below is a couple of pictures Rachel or Derek took. One is with the Cox family -- good friends of ours from Crandall. They were active members of Calvary in Mesquite when Jeff pastored there. They had heard we were leaving, so made a special trip to Red Oak to say goodbye. We love you, Tyra, Jennifer and Nicki!! The other picture is Andy & Carman with Doug & Glenda Curry and their family. We love you guys too!

And last, but not least, is a picture of our family in front of the baptistry/fountain

A New Chapter In Our Lives

Due to continued health problems as a result of Jeff's high blood pressure, he has resigned as Pastor of First Baptist Church in Red Oak. He told the church of his decision on December 9th. We don't have our future all "mapped" out but feel an absolute peace that this is what God would have us do. The kids, my family and myself have felt for quite a while that Jeff needed to step down from the pastorate and "rest" awhile so that he can live a long life. The past four generations of Swart men have all died from heart disease and we just don't want that to be the case with Jeff.
We listed our home on December 3rd and had an offer on it December 11th. The sale of our home is to close January 21st. This was just another confirmation from the Lord that we had made the right decision. This has been the nicest home we have ever owned and we are very thankful for the 4+ years God allowed us to live here, but also very grateful God hasn't been listening to the news about the horrible housing market!! Truly a miracle from Him to sell a home at this time of year and with the real estate market the way it is. A big thank you to good friends and realtors, Dr. David & Pam Baugher (Riviera Realty Services) for an excellent job in getting our home sold so quickly! David has especially been a tremendous blessing to Jeff over these past 4+ years as his chiropractor and trusted friend.

We have decided we are moving to Northwest Arkansas to be closer to family. Both the boys and their wives live in the Springdale/Lowell area. Rachel & Derek live 2-1/2 hours south. Our Moms live in Southeast Kansas which is about 1-1/2 hours north, so we would be close enough to visit them often as well. My sister, Kaye & brother-in-law, Rob are co-owners of several lakehouses in this area so we will get to see them more often too (and attend Razorback games together-yeah!). Also, by moving to NW Arkansas, we will be able to help Andy in his new church plant. Jeff & I both will be looking for employment once we get moved. Please pray God will lead in that as well.

Seasons of life.......it's never easy to say goodbye and start over. Moving gets harder and harder as we grow older. But we know with God's strength and the support of our family and friends, we can do this. Thank you for your love, friendship and prayers as we follow a new path for our lives.



Debbie

Rachel's Thanksgiving Pictures

Jeff and his Mom, Evelyn and our cat, Rascal, who took a liking to Grandma's lap!

Rachel gave both Grandma's their Christmas presents and her momma a gift "just because." They were all different Willow Angels. She has given several to me and also to Grandma Boore - so we have a collection and love them! Mine is the Generation Willows (three generation of women) Thank you, Rachel Ann! This was at bedtime, so that is why we are in our pajamas :-)



Game playing Sunday afternoon with Don, Bev, Peggy, Wesley, Evelyn, Jeff and I and Rachel -- but unfortunately she is taking pictures so didn't get in any of them!!

Thanksgiving

We had a very enjoyable holiday and pray that each of you did too. My mom picked up Jeff's mom in Pittsburg, Kansas and drove the two of them 3 hours to the Tulsa airport and then flew into Love Field in Dallas on Wednesday evening (both mothers are 78 years old!). This was Jeff's mom's first visit to our home in Red Oak. Due to her health limitations, she's not been able to come visit us. We so appreciate my Mom making the arrangements to get her here.

Thursday, we drove to Tyler to my sister, Bev and husband Don's beautiful home. We had a DELICIOUS BOUNTIFUL meal with them and with the Ferrell's. Shawna & Nathan joined us as well as Don's parents, Peggy & Wesley and his brother Kevin and family. Don's sister, Marla and son also came for a visit in the afternoon. The Ferrell family are a super Christian family and we always enjoy our time with them. We didn't even think to take pictures which as I'm writing this blog, sure aggravates me!

Friday, Rachel flew in. She had spent Thursday with Derek and his family. Derek is a big deer hunter and the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is his special time to hunt with his Dad. So Rachel is able to always come and visit with us the remainder of the holiday which is great. This was the year for the "in-laws" - so Andy & Carman were with Carman's family and Josh & Erika were with Erika's family (actually they rented one of Kaye & Rob's lakehouses and had their Thanksgiving in Bella Vista). Josh was only home for about 40 hours before he had to fly out again and is now in Australia and New Zealand. He & Erika are both looking very forward to Christmas when he will be home for a longer period of time. All the kids are coming to spend the Christmas weekend with us here in Red Oak for which I'm sure looking forward to.

The weather in Texas was very strange!! It was cold and rainy the whole time. There was even a little snow in Dallas on Thanksgiving day! So we stayed indoors for the most part, enjoyed the fireplace, playing games, eating soup and chili, and lots of other yummy food, etc.

Sunday, Bev and Don and Wesley & Peggy drove up from Tyler for church and then lunch at our home. Our good friends, Sharon & Troy Hanks also joined us. We had a fun day with our family and friends. Again, Jeff nor I even thought to take a single picture - doggone it. Rachel did take a few and is going to try to email them to me, so I will add them whenever I receive them from her. I just hate it cause she's not in any of them :-(

The Moms and Rachel all flew home early Monday morning arriving safely.

I am so thankful for many things - among which at the top of the list is family!!

A Wonderful Time Away

Jeff and I just enjoyed a wonderful week of rest and relaxation in Bella Vista, Arkansas. My sister and brother-in-law (Kaye & Rob Harkness) were very gracious in loaning us their lakehouse for the week. We had gorgeous weather (warm the first of the week; freezing the middle of the week and again warm the end of the week). As you can see from the pictures, the fall foliage was very pretty. It's quite a treat to wake up each morning with this beautiful view out the windows!

Since this area is only about 20 minutes from Andy and Carman and Josh & Erika, we were blessed to spend some time with the kids (all except for Josh who is overseas right now). My Mom lives about 2 hours north, so she was able to drive down on Thursday and spend the day and night as well, which was wonderful!

A big thank you to Rob & Kaye for allowing us this time in their lakehouse!!!