Katie's Christmas Countdown, Part 3

I didn't get this posted before Christmas, so consider this part of your New Year countdown.

(And yes, that is John Denver & the Muppets playing in the background...my most favorite Christmas album, much to the chagrin of my husband.)

Merry Christmas from the McCullochs

[The following is a reprint of our 2007 Christmas newsletter written by Adam.]

Every December in recent memory, Mary and I have been (happily) bombarded by Christmas photos and newsletters from our family and friends. This year we decided to join the movement and contribute our own. We hope this will give you a brief overview of the past year, a snapshot of what we are currently doing, and a glimpse of our plans for the future.

2007 was a year in which I (Adam) finished my third and final year of full-time seminary education. I only have one more class which will be completed in January. It’s hard to believe that I am finally making my way to the end of my formal education. It is a good feeling, and I trust that the Lord will use this education in whatever ministry He might have for me in the future. As for now, I am currently looking for full-time work in the Louisville area.

Mary has continued to work from home part-time as the administrator for a tutoring company. The owner of the company is one of my best friends from college and a fellow seminary student. Needless to say, he is a great boss, and Mary enjoys working for him. I also work for the company as a tutor, and we are very thankful that the Lord has provided us with these jobs.

In addition to this job, Mary also began a Bible study with several Chinese women from our apartment complex. Our apartment complex is very close to the University of Louisville and, consequently, is filled with international students. She has had a great opportunity to welcome these women into our home and share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible study has recently ended, but great friendships have been developed and many seeds have been planted. Please pray that the Lord would continue to give us fruitful relationships where we live.

Aside from these commitments, Mary spends the vast majority of her time with Katie who turned two years old on December 3rd. At the beginning of the year, she was just learning how to walk, and now she loves to talk and sing and maintains a running commentary on everything she sees or does. She is a tremendous source of joy, not only to us, but also to everyone whom she meets. (You can experience her for yourself here.)

As for our future plans, we feel at this time that the Lord would have us stay in Louisville. We believe that God has given us a desire to go back to East Asia and serve full-time, but we do not think that now is that time. We do hope that the Lord will lead us back to East Asia within the next several years. Until then, we trust that through investing in our church and community here, the Lord will mature us and prepare us to enter what could be a very intense and demanding situation overseas. We know that God is faithful, and we trust that He will direct us where He pleases.

We sincerely hope that you enjoy this Christmas season and experience God’s grace in your lives.

With love,
Adam, Mary and Katie

2007 Family Portraits

Now that most of the Christmas cards have been sent, I can finally reveal another sampling of the photos I mentioned in an earlier post. Thanks to Christy Garner of Currahee Graphics for taking these fantastic photos! The rest of the pictures from the shoot can be found here.

Katie's Christmas Countdown, Part 2

Katie's Christmas Countdown, Part 1

Happy 2nd Birthday, Katie!

The week started off with Birthday Pancakes

(notice Katie's crazy birthday hair):

Later in the week, I attempted my very first character cake (thanks, Krista!). Can you tell who it is?

As you can see from the picture below, Katie thoroughly enjoyed her cupcake. Sadly, however, she had no clue who the cake was supposed to look like! The night ended on a sour note, however, with a busted eyebrow and an upset toddler.

On being the mother of an almost 2 year old

I write on the eve of Katie's 2nd birthday. In anticipation of "the big day" the last few weeks, I've been thinking a lot about motherhood, specifically about being Katie's mommy. So, as a public declaration of love for my daughter, I thought I'd share some of these thoughts as well as a sneak preview of some photos we had taken several weeks ago. (I'll post the rest once the Christmas gifts have been distributed to family!)

The foremost thought in my mind these past few weeks is what a JOY it is to be her mother. The past 12 months of her life have been so much fun. Week by week I've gotten to witness the many incremental changes in her development, the teeny ones that only a mother would notice (e.g. "She just made an 's' sound for the first time!" or "I didn't know she knew the words to that song!"). Then there would be those days when she seemed to have become an older, different child overnight. It seems like yesterday that I was trying to guess what her grunts and cries meant. Now I'm having real, actual conversations with my child...that she's initiating!

Here are a few of my favorite things about my daughter:

• She LOVES to sing and even tries to sing along with us at church even though she has no clue what the words are. It's hysterical because she sounds just like most people sound when they're singing along to a song but then hit a section where they don't know the words! You know what I'm talking about....


• She calls the "ABCs" the "HIJs."


• Whenever she sees a picture of me from my wedding day, she gets an ecstatic expression on her face and shouts, "Mommy Princess!"


• Her favorite song is "The wise man built his house upon the rock" although she calls it the "Wah-wee song." She even does the motions (as seen in the photo on the left above).


• When she pretends to cook (which she does often) and you ask her what she's making, she usually says either "rice" (which is weird because she hates rice) or "cupcakes." When you ask her what kind of cupcakes she's making, she says (without hesitation) "doughnut cupcakes," a response which is without a doubt inspired by her many trips with Daddy to the doughnut shop a block away.

I could go on and on, of course. But I need to go to bed so I can make sure to get up early enough to fix pancakes for breakfast. Why pancakes? Because when I asked her what she wanted to eat on her birthday, that's what she said!

More pics to come tomorrow!