*** these entries are lifted from our family site, and put here for archival purposes. scroll down for various entries ***
12/13/2001 – Christmas Letter
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Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! We hope this letter finds you well, and we pray that your hearts are filled with joy and excitement as we celebrate the coming of our Lord and Savior. We are so thankful for the year that God has given us, and we hope you don’t mind if we share a bit with you. If you would like to see pictures of some of our past and present adventures, check out our website www.wiegersfamily.com, as we update it quite often.
This time last year we celebrated Christmas with Bob’s family at his sister’s house in Texas. As we had never been to Texas before, it was quite an adventure that included exciting things such as very large cows, very large pickles, and a not-as-large-as-the-weatherman-said ice storm. We had a great time with the family, even though the dog barked at Bob whenever he happened to be standing.
At the new year, Bob started a new job at a web-development and graphic-design firm called Three HD. After about a year of self-employment with our own (very) small web-development firm, we decided it was best to enter the realm of being employed by someone who could provide a regular paycheck and benefits and such. Three HD is a great place to work as many of our friends from Covenant and from the neighborhood also work there.
February brought Michelle’s 24th birthday, and her gall bladder decided it had enough hanging around. So she went under the knife and woke up with one less minor organ. While she was healing up, she had the opportunity to think and pray a bit, and God starting showing her that her time at Esperanza was coming to a close. So a few months later she ended her time there and embarked on a much-needed and well-deserved time of rest.
Meanwhile, we started attending St. Elmo Presbyterian Church. Leaving Lookout Mountain Pres. was a heart-wrenching decision, but we felt God leading us to serve and worship Him with our friends and neighbors here in the neighborhood. We have been blessed many times over with the fellowship and community at SEPC, and we look forward to what God has for us there. Bob is enjoying singing in the choir, and we are especially excited about the Sonship class we are taking with Pastor Cal, as God is revealing His Gospel to us in ways that we never imagined.
Our annual experience of having at least one car break down came in the summer, right before our trip to Pennsylvania. So we crammed in the little truck and made the best of it, and had a great time at Julie’s wedding as well as with Michelle’s family. Not long after we got home we bought a used Honda CR-V (Michelle’s dream car) that we found in Ohio. It was quite an adventure, and we feel blessed to have a dependable car that will (hopefully) last a while. And if anyone wants a ‘90 Honda Civic that runs great except for a blown engine, we’ll make you a great deal.
The approach of fall brought our 2nd anniversary, which we celebrated in style: camping on the lake. We did a lot of boating (in a little aluminum boat we found in the paper) and fishing (though not very much catching) and had a great time getting back to nature a bit.
At the start of the school year Michelle began tutoring Spanish with a local high-school student. We’re very thankful that she’s able to utilize her Spanish and educational skills in this part-time endeavor. She has also recently begun to sell her hand-knit items in a local store, and she’s made lots of crafty items as gifts for friends and family. This fall she has knit up a storm as she and some of her friends have started a knitting group which provides for much creative outlet and fellowship. Michelle has also been blessed with the fellowship of a women’s group at our church, and many of the women attending are wives of Bob’s friends at work. We also began to play music together more often this fall, and are still planning on forming a bluegrassy band with our friends.
Michelle’s health has not been well lately, as she is suffering from back, neck, and hip pain especially. She has been to the doctors quite a few times and is now doing physical therapy. Please pray that God would heal her body and free her from the daily pain she now experiences, and pray that we would know God better through this trial.
We have come to realize how greatly God has blessed us with a rich community of believers here in Chattanooga. There are so many good friends whom we see at work, at church, and in the neighborhood. We pray that we will not become complacent in this community, but that we will work to build God’s kingdom here in our city. We’ve also enjoyed our friends and family from far away, as some have come to see us, and others we have visited. We had an especially good Thanksgiving with our college friends (known as the “CabinMateys”) in a cabin in West Virginia.
Now we are anticipating the joy of Christmas as we enjoy our preparations and celebrate the coming of our Savior. We’re making a whirlwind tour of North Jersey, Philadelphia, Lancaster and North Carolina for the holidays (and Michelle’s in a wedding too). Please pray for safe travels. Pray also that we would be effective in spreading and building up God’s kingdom here in Chattanooga this year. Please know that you are welcome to visit any time: we’d love to have you! We pray that you will know Jesus better this Christmas season and throughout the year.
Love,
Bob and Michelle
11/20/2001
She’s a mad knitter alright. And she’s looking to rake in the dough too. A friend mentioned a while back that The Sand Box, a nice little baby clothes store in the city, once sold the cutest hand-knitted baby hats (for a pretty penny). So we found out the lady who once made them ran out of time, so Michelle to the rescue…she started cranking out the most adorable little baby Christmas hats, and the good people at the Sand Box gladly scooped them up. And then Bob had another brainstorm. Noticing that all the pics with the Harry Potter movie reviews and stories on CNN featured a gold and burgundy scarf, he said something like, “Honey, I bet you could make those and sell em on eBay!” We’ll let you know when we make our first million. Meanwhile, let us know if you have other such ideas, or if you have an order for a high-quality hand-knit item.
10/18/2001
We’re especially excited lately about playing music. We’re hoping to form a real live band! I (Bob) have been playing my mandolin quite a bit lately, working on some of the bluegrass classics and some newer stuff too. We’ve been listening to a lot of Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss, David Grisman, Sam Bush, Stanley Brothers, Flatt and Scruggs, and others. We’re intrigued by the new phenoms Nickel Creek especially, and of course there’s the old favorite Bela Fleck without whom I still might be stuck in the mire of pop/rock/junk. Of course don’t forget about the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, which we’re glad to know has sold a TON of copies, thereby spreading good old timey music far and wide. It was about time.
Anyway, check out some of those artists and you may get an idea of our aspirations. We still need to find a name for the band, so I hereby declare the launch of the official BAND NAMING CONTEST. Click on the link and email me a good band name. Winner receives free recordings of and concert tickets to our band FOR LIFE! Keep in mind we’re looking for a folksy name that hints at our grassy musical style (while keeping it not so old sounding). Anything witty or clever is more than welcome. If you’d like to see some pics of the budding band, stroll over to the photo pages.
