The McHugh Christmas Card

Dear Friends and Family,

I wanted to be uber domestic and Pinterest-impressive this year and send out Christmas cards. Unfortunately, I waited until the very last minute and then we came down with one of the most horrible viruses we have had in a long time, so I am going to settle on a generic E-Card/Blog. Please keep our daughter in prayer as she has a perforated ear drum which won't be able to be examined for a couple weeks due to the fluid buildup. We are praying for a speedy recovery and for protection/restoration of her hearing!

Anyway, this past year has brought the most incredible challenges and blessings of our married life. We have been stretched to the max every which way... physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, mentally... any other "-ally's" you name it! While at times it hurt and we didn't think it would ever stop, we can look back and see how God has profoundly blessed us and provided for what we needed - not necessarily what we wanted - but what we needed. When we surrendered to that, we had peace. 

Without getting into lots of detail, we were somewhat unexpectedly forced to make a critical job search. It was a very difficult decision, with many tears and lots of pain, but we had the support of friends and family and tried to cling to the Lord with every last drop of strength. That led us to Dodge City, Kansas! I never, EVER, thought I would live in a place like Dodge City - with not a whole lot of trees, extreme weather, and no TARGET (Gasp!). I actually really like it here. I bawled the first uh... month... but that was probably also due, in part, to the fact that I am now mostly a stay-at-home mom and struggled with not having regular, daily adult interaction. Besides David, that is. Also it is pretty challenging to take two toddlers and an infant anywhere out of the house, solo. People are great here, though. The funny thing is... most of the people I have met are not from here either - in fact, many folks I have met are from... MICHIGAN!! It's crazy! This is beautiful though, because everyone is seeking friendship and community, so people are open, not really cliquey and there is a great spirit of welcoming which we have encountered from people at our Church to even our Mailman who stopped in to introduce himself the first week we moved in. The move has been really positive for us. It has also been great to reconnect with my friend Deanna and her new husband, Michael. We reconnected like no time had passed and they really feel like our family here. 

David loves his job. The staff and parishioners are fantastic and helpful. I don't know the right word to describe... hospitable or generous? There's a spirit here in general that is others-centered... I can't put my finger on it. We live next door to the principal of the Catholic school here in town, and he mowed our lawn because we had moved in and didn't have the chance to buy a lawnmower yet (we had to leave behind our old one). This week when we were driving around frantically, near tears, at 5pm looking for anyone we could find to see Lucia's ear, the principal's wife and a couple other friends called around until they were able to get some medical advice concerning Lucia's ear. We have been really touched by the kindness and compassion we have been shown. Not that we didn't experience those things in Michigan or other places we have lived, but being new to town, we have been grateful for the community that has made us feel home so soon and David is very happy that we're as happy as he is in his job!  The programs David is working on are growing and he's had a good success bringing this bilingual community together. Several parents have told me they are so impressed with him and that their kids love going to youth group now. That makes me so proud of him!!!

The kids are all great. They say the most hilarious things. We added a child this summer - Elias... He is just pure joy - our easiest, lowest maintenance kid yet (God knew we needed one of those!). Damien is still playing the drums, but we've moved from good rhythms and beats to mostly just LOUD (although no more until Lucia's ear heals). Lucia has got to be a blues singer... someone said they knew we were in church because they heard a "smoker baby". Very raspy voice. She has her daddy completely wrapped around her finger, but she's also my "princess" too. 

And Finally.. Our Ministry.. we had the wonderful blessing to be able to share in ministry at many, many events this past year. It was such an incredible experience for me to minister alongside people who have impacted my faith over the years. We miss our band family so much, but we will reconnect with them for some events in February in Michigan and again in March in Anaheim. We have been praying and praying, asking God what He wants of us in this ministry and we finally came to the conclusion, through prayer that we need to do another album but this time, we are doing it as an independent project with the band. In January we will be starting a fundraising campaign. I'm nervous as heck about getting it done, but it will be a shared project and we will be putting every spiritual and financial donor's name in the CD credits, so stay tuned for that! We feel so passionate about sharing the message of God's LOVE and MERCY, Pope Francis style! It was His love that transformed our lives...and we feel more than ever it is a message we must share to whomever we can. I also aspire to one day be able to share it in Spanish... so... pray for the gift of tongues. ;)

Other than that, we are all well. David's dad is doing well in his cancer recovery, but we hope to know more in several weeks when they check and see how effective the treatment has been in eradicating the cancer. 

Thank you for your love and know that we pray for all of our friends and family (the new and the old) all the time! We are humbled by the support and prayers you have given us this past year especially. You are in our lives for a very specific reason and we pray that we can be a support to you as well and always worthy of your friendship. 

God bless you and may you have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful, healthy, joy-filled (remember, joy is independent of circumstance!) peaceful New Year! 

Love, 

Noelle, David, Damien, Lucia, and Elias