Hi everyone! We hope this finds you well as we enter the Christmas season and specifically the Advent season as we gratefully remember and reflect upon the birth of Jesus Christ as we also look with eager anticipation to his second coming when he will make all things new.
This seems like a strange update to write because like the character Walter Mitty in the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, as of late, it feels like we haven’t “done anything noteworthy or mentionable.” Scott has been unemployed from August through the middle of November, Rach has had to step away from pursuing the dream of earning a Master of Divinity degree, we have been living in someone’s basement, and we all miss our community in Massachusetts. Life has not been easy for a while, but we remain grateful for each other and the gift of God’s continual presence in our lives and for the people and places that have become part of our narrative and in a broader sense, God’s narrative. We entrust our lives, ambitions, and plans to our Good Shepherd who is ever faithful to guide and care for us.
At the end of July we moved to Pennsylvania from Massachusetts. Our living situation in Massachusetts changed quickly and unexpectedly and this compounded with a host of factors, including the high cost of living in Massachusetts and Covid, became the catalyst for us deciding to move to Pennsylvania to be closer to Rachael’s family. Rachael’s sister and brother-in-law and their son have generously opened their home to us since August. We are excited to move December 15 into our new rental closer to Scott’s work.
This has been a season of reorienting and recalibrating for so many of us. We see and know the difficult road this has been. Although we do not claim to know your story this season has given us greater compassion into so many untold hardships.
During this time, Rachael started the podcast, When Narratives Collide, where she discusses the intersection of the narrative of Scripture and God and the Christian faith with our own personal stories. Additionally, she has been remotely teaching in a women’s Bible study for a church in Massachusetts. Rachael had been pursuing a Master of Divinity degree through Fuller Theological Seminary, but has been on a hiatus from that since we moved. She will resume taking classes this winter.
Scott has been busy building an addition onto our extended family’s house. He recently was able to remotely teach in a Sunday School class for our church in Massachusetts. He was also recently hired by a great landscaping company as a manager to help oversee landscape maintenance, excavation, and snow removal operations. Hope has been a strong anchor in this place of waiting.
Emma is doing well. We made the decision to homeschool her because our school district in PA is still fully remote and she was struggling with being in front of the computer screen all day. It has been a good decision and has helped her immensely. Although she often expresses a longing for her friends and school in Massachusetts, she is happy to be with her cousins. We have learned a lot about our yearning for permanence and roots through this little girl.
Wesley is loving being near his cousins and is always asking to spend time with them. As I have been working on the addition he has pitched in with a few things, such as learning how to properly and safely use a handsaw. He is a great helper and quick learner. It’s hard to believe that he will be 5 at the end of the month.
Declan just turned 2 and has been keeping on us on our toes, pretty much since he was born. He has the sweetest disposition, as long as you keep him fed and on a steady supply of whole milk. He can quickly ascend ladders if your back is turned even for a second. He always brightens up the day with his personality and smile.
So, there you have it. The current phase of the journey of the Frase five. It’s not too terribly exciting or inspiring (with the exception of Rach’s podcast) but it's real and ordinary and good because God is in the midst of it. With that being said, we pray that throughout this Christmas season, you will have a renewed sense of awe and joy of the reality of God clothing himself in humanity in the person of Jesus Christ to save us from our sins and lead us to our true home, dwelling fully in the presence of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and enjoying unbroken fellowship with God and his people.
All our Love,
The Frase Five (Scott, Rachael, Emma, Wesley, Declan)
