Yet another year is slipping through my fingers, and fast. I keep trying to hold on to some of these moments, but as every old person has told me, "Treasure them now, these moments don’t last forever."
Sure, I’ve got memories of all that has happened this past year, but to me, the "sands of time" reminds me a bit more like the sand that you find in your beach bag in the winter. You know that sand came from the beach, but it’s been so long, and so much has happened, you barely remember making the trip. For a brief second, you can smell the salty air, hear the seagulls and the surf, and then you hear the thermostat kick on because it’s twenty degrees outside. The trip to the beach is gone, and all you’ve got is a little bit of gritty sand in the bottom of your beach bag.
That being said, it’s time for the "Annual Hatcher Family Christmas Update."
Every year, I start things out with a statement of how much things have changed in the past year. "It was a big year," I say, as I reflect on the amazing changes in the past year. And of course, the next year tops it off in its scale and grandeur.
So where are the Hatcher’s now?
Shiloh, the youngest has transformed from a little marshmallow to a big girl. She’s two years old going on 20. She is the most interesting constitution of Hatcher I’ve ever seen. The twins were of course shaped by Zoë and I, and each other. Abe is who he is because of all four of us.
Shiloh has a little of each of us in her, which makes her the funniest little monster I’ve ever seen. She’s 100 percent girlie-girl. She loves to play with baby dolls and to dance and look pretty. But because she’s got two big brothers, She’s tough. REALLY tough.
As I write this, she’s playing pirates and sword fighting with her big brother. She’s like a cross between Cinderella and Xena Warrior Princess. She’s also curious. She’s constantly into everything. If we’re not careful, she’ll pull out the one screw that’s holding this whole house together, and KABLAM! We’re under a pile of rubble. She talks non stop all day and all night. No one but a Hatcher can understand her. It’s "Hatcher-ese".
Abrahm is becoming a fine young man. He’s five. And he’s a genius. I know. Everyone thinks their kids are the smartest in the world. But mine really are! Abe is doing preschool with Zoe this year, and he can pretty much read on his own. He doesn’t know he can, but he reads all kinds of signs and logos and words all the time. He’s also quite a comedian. He has memorized every line of every movie and television show he’s ever watched, and when the moment is right, he busts out with some great timing. Abe keeps the dinner table interesting.
Abe is a bit finicky… he only likes certain foods and certain clothes, and everything has to be JUST RIGHT. I know he doesn’t have obsessive compulsive disorder, but there are days I wonder… He’s also fast becoming a touchy-talker. You know those people that have to touch and pet you when they talk to you? He’s just such a sweet natured kid, and he’s a lot of fun to be around. His British accent is flawless too.
Michaelah is absolutely beautiful. I cannot believe how smart, beautiful, and sweet she is. It’s amazing to think that my little "Potato bug" has gone from a fat little baby to a seven year old. She’s tall, slim, blonde, and she’s got great big beautiful lips. I don’t know what I’m going to do in a few years when the boys start to call, but it will definitely involve a ball bat.
She’s taking Spanish in school, and takes to languages like a fish to water. She wants to finish out her second year of Spanish and move to French next year. She’s a daydreamer, and an artist. That means it takes her longer to get her schoolwork done everyday, but it also means that she knows there’s more to life than books and papers, and to be honest, we might get irritated by the daydreaming, but I envy her endless creativity, which of course is born in her distraction.
Michaelah and Isaiah are reading chapter books, and have jumped into a new world as they have learned that books can take them anywhere. They lie in bed at night and read by flashlight until late. The read to Abe and Shiloh. We can no longer spell things out loud and expect them to remain hidden from conversation….
Speaking of Isaiah, he’s another ball game. All of our kids are so different from each other. Isaiah is a warrior for truth and justice. Which can be tough when he’s still a boy and under the authority of a mom and dad, but he’s working on self control, and we’re working on being just and fair, and somewhere in the middle we find peace. He’s taking Spanish as well, and when he’s done with his Spanish 1 lesson, he hangs around for Michaelah’s Spanish 2 lesson, so he’s not far behind her. He loves to fix things. He has several rolls of duct tape that he’s "borrowed" from the laundry room, and he’s go all over the house and find broken toys, and use duct tape to make them into brand new creations, like airplanes, guns, swords, and trucks.
When the washing machine repair man came last week, Isaiah was riveted at the tools and the know-how. He didn’t want to go to bed. He wanted to stay up and watch him work all night.
We’ve been through a lot with him the past few months. Most of you have heard, but we’ll tell the whole story again, just in case. In early November, Isaiah started complaining of a sore neck and throat. His lymph glands started swelling, and when his fever started getting high, we took him to the doctor. It took a few days for more symptoms to appear, but eventually, the doctor confirmed that it was Kawasaki Disease.
Kawasaki Disease is a rare thing that happens to only about 19 in 100 thousand kids. It starts with a series of symptoms like swollen glands, a rash, a high fever, skin peeling from hands and feet, red eyes, all of which Isaiah had. Often, the tongue starts peeling as well, and eventually, if left untreated, the disease attacks the heart, and it can be fatal.
We headed off to Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital on about the sixth day, (The window for treatment is between 7-10 days) and when we got there, they administered gammaglobulin via IV. That treatment boosts the immune system so that it can fight the disease before it attacks the arteries and the heart.
Pittsburgh Children’s is a training hospital, and all the doctors in training kept coming in to see him, because Kawasaki is so rare.
We stayed in Pittsburgh for a few days, and then we came home. When his pediatrician saw him for a follow up, he said, "This is a miracle."
Of course it was a miracle! That’s what we were asking for! If Jesus could raise the dead and heal the sick 2000 years ago, and what I believe about Him is true, then certainly He can do it now if I have enough faith to trust Him. So we prayed hard, knowing that God would answer, and He did.
The doctors put Isaiah on an aspirin treatment to keep his arteries open for six weeks, which means that after the holidays, if his tests come out good, he’ll be able to stop taking it.
The only trouble is that aspirin leaves kids open for Rye Syndrome if they get exposed to chicken pox or influenza. That means that Isaiah is on quarantine until after the holidays, leaving him feeling a bit cooped up. He’s ready to get out of the house, but he’s not allowed yet. Other than that, he is one hundred percent better.
For a brief moment, my whole world was spinning. It’s not that I doubted the goodness of God, and His promises to heal. It’s that at that moment my son had an illness that could have killed him. Mortality is all right to face if it’s someone else’s child, but not my own. Regardless, we called on the God that has got us through many other trials, and he got us through this one too.
Zoe (Heggie, or Helga as some know her) of course is doing amazing. I am so blessed to have such an awesome wife. She has struggled for years with organization. She’s a neat freak and requires organization, but she hasn’t had the tools she needs to be organized. She recently found the "Fly Lady" website, and she’s got this household up and running at full speed. We have rotating meal plans, bills actually getting paid, a tight but functional family budget, and dishes and laundry going through at an astounding rate. And she does it all while home-schooling the twins. I don’t pretend to deserve such an awesome woman. I’m not even sure what she sees in me, but she does, and she sticks around and puts up with my junk. No… she actually loves me. And THAT is awesome.
I guess the only constant in life is change. A year ago, I was a news anchor on a successful local radio station in Bradford, spending my spare time changing diapers and volunteering a lot of time at the church. It wasn’t too far into the year when I started sensing that, as much as I loved the radio station, God had something more for our family. I started praying that God would open up an opportunity for me to work in full time ministry.
I’ve known since I was a fourteen-year-old kid that I would be a pastor. I remember when God whispered it in my ear at Pennwood Bible Camp. Some goofy preacher got up and made me laugh and cry, and then reminded me the price Jesus paid for my soul, and I felt like the most special kid in the whole world, and I felt God wrap His arms around me and ask me to help other people see that same love that changed me.
So since that day, in one way or another, I’ve been serving in some kind of ministry. I don’t believe that there is anything more spiritual about a professional pastor than an average joe. If we’ve surrendered control of our lives to Christ, we’re all called go be ministers in our own spheres of influence.
So when Pastor Mike told me a few months into the year that he was praying about a way to bring me on staff at the church, I already knew it was an answer to the prayer of my heart. I kept working at the radio station, with the knowledge that God was going to be switching my "career field" in the near future.
In the spring, budget cutbacks led to a lay off, and after a couple months of unemployment, (which were spent working full time volunteer hours) I was approved by the Free Methodist Denomination as a Pastor, and hired by Open Arms Community Church as an Outreach Pastor.
It’s a dream job for me. I get to write, to make music, to do graphic design, to talk on the radio, to make movies, to feed the poor, and pray for the sick and hurting, and to make a difference in people’s lives.
To be honest though, some of those things that are my job to do, is not just the responsibility of a paid professional to do. Feeding the poor, caring for the sick, making a difference… it’s what we’re all called to do.
I think of my Grandmother, who has very little, but has learned what it means to give of herself, to sacrifice. To give till it hurts. This band of Hatcher’s is working hard to follow Grandma Deanie’s example.
And in doing so, we’re seeing the real joy in Christmas. That it’s not about the presents under our tree, or about the cookies and the Christmas carols.
But it’s about a God who wants us to be like Him… giving, loving, and good.
A Father God who loved me so much He faced the mortality of His Son, so that I could taste immortality.
A God who left heaven to hurt and bleed and love and die and overcome.
I know I can’t do it as good as He did, but all be darned if I won’t try. How else could I respond to a God like that?
As we open our presents this year, let’s think about that gift… Jesus gave till it hurt. Let’s unwrap that gift with the same wide-eyed childlike wonder that we throw into Christmas morning.
Welcome to Our World: Chris Rice
Tears are falling, hearts are breakingHow we need to hear from GodYou’ve been promised, we’ve been waitingWelcome holy childWelcome holy childHope that you don’t mind our mangerHow I wish we would have knownBut long awaited holy strangerMake yourself at homePlease make yourself at homeBring your peace into our violenceBid our hungry souls be filledWorld now breaking heavens silenceWelcome to our worldWelcome to our worldFragile finger sent to heal usTender brow prepared for thornTiny heart whose blood will save usUnto us is bornUnto us is bornSo wrap our injured flesh around youBreathe our air and walk our sodRob our sin and make us holyPerfect son of GodPerfect son of GodWelcome to our world
Merry Christmas!
With love from the Hatcher Family:
Joshua Keagan, Helga Zoe, Isaiah Keagan, Michaelah Cheyenne, Abrahm Sean, and Shiloh Adrienne Hatcher
PS. We’ve got some family pictures online that you can see at www.rouletterebel.com/pictorial.html
Please check out Josh’s blog as well at www.openarmsbradford.org/echurch/blogs/joshhatcher.html