Our Christmas Letter 2009

JOY TO THE WORLD!

Hello everyone we thought it would be fun to blog a Christmas letter this year instead of printing a ton out and putting them in the Christmas cards. I realized when I was about half way through with our Christmas cards that I was writing check out our Christmas story on our blog (instead of writing check out our Christmas letter) haha!

This past year has been very bitter sweet for our family. As we continued to mourn the loss of Melody and Madison, God continued to show us His faithfulness. People always say you guys are so strong how do you do it and my reply is always the same, we are not strong at all the Lord is the one carrying us through this. It has gotten easier as time has gone on but we will never forget our girls. We delight in knowing that they will be made whole in Heaven.

We found out in May of this year that we are expecting our 4th child. We are waiting until the baby is born to find out if it is a boy or a girl and we are waiting to share baby's name until after the baby is born. You wont have to wait long though I should be delivering the first or second week in January.We can't wait to meet this baby!


Kenya is doing great, I can't believe she is three now; time has just flown by! She is so excited to meet the new baby in fact she has taken it upon herself to name the baby. She chose to name the baby after her grandfather's cat whom she loves very much. The name she has chosen for our sweet baby is... Jealous! Haha she cracks us up. She has no clue being jealous is a bad thing, she just loves that cat and it's name and decided to call her baby brother or sister that. So we now all call the baby Jealous. I'm not sure what she is going to think once the baby is born and we tell her the real name. She also got 2 puppies for her birthday this year from my Mom but 2 was too many so we gave one back to my Mom. Kenya is the proud "Mommy" to one puppy now whom she named... Jealous. Yes our dog and baby have the same name :)

(we still have the black puppy)

As most of you know my little sister Destinee has lived with us for the past 3 years. We love her so much and it was such a blessing getting to watch her grow up. She has wanted to move back in with our (mine and her) Mom for a while so after much prayer and working out details she moved in with my Mom and Step Dad at the beginning of this school year. They live right down the street from us so we still get to see her a lot. It has been really neat to watch her relationship with my Mom be restored. She is a sophomore this year and just got her drivers license. I can not believe she is old enough to drive, in fact Destinee and I went to the store last night and she drove.

(Kenya, our (mine and Destinee's) Mom and Destinee.
I told her I was going to use this for the blog and that's how she posed)

Jason and I are doing great. We have been married for almost 5 years (I can hardly believe that)! Marriage has taught me so much over the last 5 years but this year I have learned more than ever what a joy it is to serve my family. I am so thankful that God has blessed me by allowing me to be married to Jason. I love spending time with my husband and I pray we would never take our time together for granted.


And the angel said to them [the shepherds],

"Fear not, for behold,
I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.

For a unto you is born this day
in the city of David
a Savior, who is Christ the Lord..."

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among
those with whom He is pleased!”
- Luke 2

We as a family desire to live to the glory of God, and we do this because we are convinced this is the best way to get the highest joy, indeed it is the very purpose we are created for... for God's glory. Like anything that makes people happy, we want to share it with you. Rather than reinvent the wheel I thought I would give you the words of one who has already said what we are wanting to share (from "Quest for Joy"):

Did you know that God commands us to be glad?

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

1) God created us for his glory

"Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth,... whom I created for my glory" (Isaiah 43:6-7)

God made us to magnify his greatness - the way telescopes magnify stars. He created us to put his goodness and truth and beauty and wisdom and justice on display. The greatest display of God's glory comes from deep delight in all that he is. This means that God gets the praise and we get the pleasure. God created us so that he is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

2) Every human should live for God's glory

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).

If God made us for his glory, it is clear that we should live for his glory. Our duty comes from his design. So our first obligation is to show God's value by being satisfied with all that he is for us. This is the essence of loving God (Matthew 22:37) and trusting him (1 John 5:3-4) and being thankful to him (Psalm 100:2-4) It is the root of all true obedience, especially loving others (Colossians 1:4-5).

3) All of us have failed to glorify God as we should

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

What does it mean to "fall short of the glory of God?" It means that none of us has trusted and treasured God the way we should. We have not been satisfied with his greatness and walked in his ways. We have sought our satisfaction in other things, and treated them as more valuable than God, which is the essence of idolatry (Romans 1:21-23). Since sin came into the world we have all been deeply resistant to having God as our all-satisfying treasure (Ephesians 2:3). This is an appalling offense to the greatness of God (Jeremiah 2:12-13).

4) All of us are subject to God's just condemnation

"The wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23).

We have all belittled the glory of God. How? By preferring other things above him. By our ingratitude, distrust and disobedience. So God is just in shutting us out from the enjoyment of his glory forever. "They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might" (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

The word "hell" is used in the New Testament twelve times¹—eleven times by Jesus himself. It is not a myth created by dismal and angry preachers. It is a solemn warning from the Son of God who died to deliver sinners from its curse. We ignore it at great risk.

If the Bible stopped here in its analysis of the human condition, we would be doomed to a hopeless future. However, this is not where it stops...

5) God sent his only son Jesus to provide eternal life and joy

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..." (1 Timothy 1:15)

The good news is that Christ died for sinners like us. And he rose physically from the dead to validate the saving power of his death and to open the gates of eternal life and joy (1 Corinthians 15:20). This means God can acquit guilty sinners and still be just (Romans 3:25-26). "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). Coming home to God is where all deep and lasting satisfaction is found.

6) The benefits purchased by the death of Christ belong to those who repent and trust him

"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out" (Acts 3:19). "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31).

"Repent" means to turn from all the deceitful promises of sin. "Faith" means being satisfied with all that God promises to be for us in Jesus. "He who believes in me," Jesus says, "shall never thirst" (John 6:35). We do not earn our salvation. We cannot merit it (Romans 4:4-5). It is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is a free gift (Romans 3:24). We will have it if we cherish it above all things (Matthew 13:44). When we do that, God's aim in creation is accomplished: He is glorified in us and we are satisfied in him - forever.

Does this make sense to you?

Do you desire the kind of gladness that comes from being satisfied with all that God is for you in Jesus? If so, then God is at work in your life.

What should you do?

Turn from the deceitful promises of sin. Call upon Jesus to save you from the guilt and punishment and bondage. "All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). Start banking your hope on all that God is for you in Jesus. Break the power of sin's promises by faith in the superior satisfaction of God's promises. Begin reading the Bible to find his precious and very great promises, which can set you free (2 Peter 1:3-4). Find a Bible-believing church and begin to worship and grow together with other people who treasure Christ above all things (Philippians 3:7).

The best news in the world is that there is no necessary conflict between our happiness and God's holiness. Being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus magnifies him as a great Treasure.

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." (Psalm 16:11)

- from "Quest for Joy"


Merry Christmas!

The Delgado's!

Christmas Letter

I just wanted to let you all know we are working on the Christmas letter and it will be posted later on today :)

32 weeks pregnant

(I wrote this yesterday)

Hello all, today I am 32 weeks pregnant which is when I went into labor with our twin girls. It has kinda been a strange day. The more time goes by today the more sad I get. It is so strange because the times that "should be" hard really are not. Like the funeral (granted I was highly medicated) the girls one year birthday, and other things like these should have been hard but for some reason I was fine those days but today being as far along as I was when I delivered Melody and Madison I'm just an emotional wreck.

I think after I put Kenya in bed I will take some time to look at pictures and remember the girls. It's not that often that I get like this and when I do I really want to take time to remember Melody and Madison.

Oh and you will never believe I am bigger at this point then I was with the twins which makes me laugh. I love being pregnant and I love love love getting HUGE and I have done just that.

This has been such an easy pregnancy. At first I was scared of having a miscarriage and I really had to give that over to the Lord and rest in His sovereignty. Once I realized that I was pregnant but it was okay to do things it has made life so much easier. I have been nesting almost the whole time which has been great. I use to hate cleaning now I love it. I hope that feeling never goes away.

I remember when I was 31 weeks and a few days pregnant with Melody and Madison I went to the doctor and I was miserable! I was in a wheel chair because it hurt so bad to walk. I felt like my ribs were broken I couldn't sleep or breathe for that matter. I almost passed out every time I had a sonogram done because I had so much extra fluid it pushed up against my lungs when I lay down it cut off my air supply. I ended up delivering a few days later. It was hard when I delivered the girls but it was also a relief I didn't know how much more I could take physically.

This pregnancy (at 32 week) I feel great. I don't really even feel pregnant. I'm a little sore and it is getting a little harder to sleep at night but other than that I feel normal. I love getting to feel and see this baby moving. Kenya really enjoys it when the baby kicks her too, it has been really neat watching her interact with "Baby Jealous."

We set the delivery date for January 16th. I can't wait to see this sweet baby in 5 weeks. Can you believe that we are having a baby next month!

It really feels like I'm having my first child all over again. I can't wait to hold the baby and see Jason and Kenya hold the baby. I can't wait to do things a little differently this time. We had Kenya on a strict schedule if she was happy laying on the floor I wouldn't let anyone hold her and she fell asleep on her own in her bed from a very young age. This time I plan on doing more baby directed parenting meaning if the baby is hungry I'm going to feed it whether it has been 2 hours or not, I plan on rocking the baby to sleep and holding it as much as I can. I know this baby most likely wont be as easy as Kenya was but I'm looking forward to really enjoying the new born stage. It goes by way too fast and I can't wait to take it all in.

All of our family jokes that they are never going to be able to hold the baby because I'm going to have it all the time (and they are probably right... just kidding) I will share (for like 2-3 seconds at a time :) No really I am looking forward to showing our new baby off and letting everyone enjoy this sweet baby.

I'm excited we are delivering on a Saturday, all of our family and friends who want to come hang and wait for this baby to be born (I'm having a c section so there wont be a lot of waiting) will be able to do it.

I feel like that was a lot of random information but it's what I'm feeling tonight. I need to take a belly shot so you can see the HUGENESS of it but for now no picture is what you get :)

Have a great night!

Vanessa

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Kenya and I woke up this morning to a yard full of beautiful snow. The first thing she did was get her hat and mittens on then she stood by the back door watching the snow coming down.

For some reason I was not very excited about the snow but Kenya was!
So I enjoyed watching her and Jealous
(yes the dog and our unborn baby have the same name given by Kenya).

She was not too sure about the snow.
I had to make a snow ball for her to even touch the snow.


Even though she really didn't want to touch it she loved walking around in the snow.
I just looked out side and all the snow in the front yard is already melted.
That's Texas for you!

Thanksgiving '09 (3 of 3)

...part 1...part 2...

Thanksgiving day after the Turkey Trot we went to Jason's Aunt Ana and Uncle Dan's house. We had a great time hanging with them and eating an amazing Thanksgiving lunch.

You may be wondering why Kenya is in her P.J's well she had three different layers on for the turkey trot and once we got to Ana's she wanted to keep the jamies and lose the rest so we let her. Kenya was in her jamies all day on Thanksgiving and I think that's a great way to be.

Kenya got a hold of the camera. This is Thanksgiving from the eyes of a 3 year old.

Here is Bianca Aunt Ana and Uncle Dan.

Jason, me and Marisa

This is the view from the top of the stairs.

Kenya and Bianca being silly.

Kenya loved hiding in Bianca's megaphone.

This is Kenya making one of her goofy faces.

While we were there I figured out how to get Kenya to have a normal smile for pictures. All I have to say is, "Smile like Marisa and Bianca!" It works every time :)

Marisa, Kenya (showing off her new smile) and Bianca loving being cousins.

We had such a great time celebrating thanksgiving with our families. We have so much to be thankful for there is no way I could list everything, but I will try :)

First I'm so thankful to God for salvation. What an amazing gift that I did nothing to deserve. I'm thankful that God blessed me with a husband that loves God more than me and loves me as Christ loved the church. I'm thankful that God blessed us with Kenya who brings me joy every day. I'm thankful God blessed us by allowing us to be Melody and Madison's parents. I'm thankful that through the death our our girls He taught us that He alone is sovereign and whatever the Lord ordains is right. I'm thankful that God alone sustained us during the trial He brought us to. I'm so thankful that through our girls life and death we are able to say with joy, "blessed be the name of the Lord who gives and takes away" (Job 1)! I'm thankful that God always provides for our needs. I'm thankful that God blessed us with an amazing family. I'm thankful that God brought us to our church. I'm thankful that God has allowed us to be Baby Jealous' parents and I can't wait to meet this sweet baby. I'm so thankful that God changed my heart and I now love taking care of my family. I'm thankful that I now enjoy keeping my house clean and I pray that would never change. I'm thankful that God has placed the desire in my heart to strive to be a Titus 2:4 woman. I'm thankful for good friends who will call me out if I'm in sin. I'm thankful for my doctor and the staff at the hospital we will be delivering at. I'm thankful that He who began a good work in me will complete it Philippians 1:6.

I pray you will all find joy in Christ and gives thanks to God for every good and perfect gift comes from Him James 1:17!

Vanessa

Thanksgiving '09 (2 of 3)

...continued from yesterday...

Thanksgiving morning we got up extra early to walk the Turkey Trot in memory of Melody and Madison. Jason and several of his family members did this last year in memory of all of the family that had passed on.

This is Jason pushing Kenya.She got so excited when she saw everyone running that she wanted to try it. Which only lasted a few minutes before she got tired and wanted back in the stroller.

Here we are at the end of the race. Our good friends the Sappingtons ran the Turkey Trot too. They were very kind and waited for us to finish so we could see each other.Our official time for walking a 5K (3 miles) was... One hour and 18 minutes. Hahaha! I laugh every time I think about it! I think that's pretty good though since I waddled most of the way.
To be continued tomorrow...

Vanessa

Thanksgiving '09 (1 of 3)

We had such a great thanksgiving this year! This was my first Thanksgiving to be pregnant and when I'm pregnant most of my day is spent eating. What a great time to be pregnant!

We got to enjoy three thanksgiving meals this year. We had a Thanksgiving Church Potluck the Sunday before Thanksgiving ... or should I say Church Pot-Providence since we don't believe in luck ;) . Then the night before Thanksgiving we had Thanksgiving dinner with my mom, step Dad, sister, uncle, cousins, grandmother and grandfather. And thanksgiving day we went to Jason's Aunt and Uncles house.

Kenya and I went a little early to my Mom's house Wednesday night so she could help my Mom cook... or eat?

She had so much fun making deviled eggs.

She stuffed them...

and licked them

and stuffed them again and served them to our family half eaten.

We got a special treat this Thanksgiving as my grandfather was able to join us. This was only the second time Kenya has been around him. They enjoyed coloring together.

This is Kenya making candied yams which turned into yam soup because she cut them up so much. She had fun and that's all that matters, well not really because I wanted candied yams but I am glad she had fun!

Kenya enjoyed taking food from Uncle Jack who was my FAVORITE person growing up.
It is so neat to get to watch my daughter interact with my uncle.

After we ate and had desert I walked in the kitchen and found Kenya eating all of the fudge.
I can't really blame her I would have done the same thing if no one was looking.

...part 2...part 3...

Vanessa

$150 worth of Bible... FREE!

One of my favorite Bible's that I use now-a-days is the English Standard Version (ESV) Study Bible. Before it came out a year ago I pre-ordered it and once I got it in the mail I have cherished it as a useful aid for Bible study (and I like the translation of course).

Last month something happened to my Bible that rendered it inoperable (details on this later) so I was trying to win one from a Sovereign Grace Ministries giveaway that they had on their blog.

I followed all the rules and entered the giveaway, then I sent my wife the link so that she could enter.

A week later it came time for the drawing and this is what happened (you only need to watch the first 2 in-a-half minutes of the video below to hear about the giveaway & the first winner which was my wife, even thought she didn't follow the rules... also how my original ESV Study Bible got messed up is talked about):

ESV Study Bible Giveaway from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

So, I was thrilled cause I found out that my wife had won me a ESV Study Bible (which was alot nicer than my original hardback version that I had) a day before my birthday!

They needed our shipping info so when my wife emailed it to them she did her "official entry" for the contest (even though it was not over and she had already won). Sovereign Grace Ministries wound up blogging on this, here it is:

Vanessa’s Story
by Tony Reinke 11/17/2009 8:12:00 AM One of the winners in our ESV Study Bible giveaway was Vanessa. How could we not give her a new Bible in light of her original entry?

Hi, my name is Vanessa and I would love to win this for my husband. He left his ESVSB on top of his car on his way to men's study. Not knowing he had done this I left the house and drove over his Bible. He called me later to tell me he thought he had left his Bible on top of his car and at that moment I knew what I ran over. On the way home I picked it up off of the road and, well, let’s just say it was broken. So I hope I can win one for him.

Vanessa
Haltom City, TX

Last week C.J. chose Vanessa’s entry as one of the ten contest winners. Upon hearing that she had won (despite not writing anything about her pastors or church) she was eager to share a second story.

We were so deeply moved by her follow-up email that we wanted to post it so you could read for yourself the important role her church and pastors played during a critical season in her life.

Vanessa writes:

I'm so excited I won even though I entered wrong. I had no clue I had done that until I saw the video, which made me laugh really hard. This is also perfect timing as my husband's birthday is tomorrow.

I don't want to miss the opportunity to honor my pastors. They have been such a huge blessing in our lives. We had been attending our church for a little over a year when we discovered that I was 19 weeks pregnant with conjoined twin girls. We learned that our girls were facing each other, joined from the chest to the stomach. They shared one liver and one heart (which had only one ventricle). They had a zero chance of survival. In fact my doctor believed I would miscarry.

We continued with the pregnancy knowing that is was God who was forming Melody and Madison in my womb. He created them and He would decide when they left this earth. I am so thankful for our pastors because they taught us the hard truths of God's word. Because of their teaching we were not scared that Satan was controlling our lives but rested knowing that God was sovereign over our babies' lives and my life. Everything that was happening God was allowing for His glory and our good.

I ended up going into labor when I was 32 weeks pregnant on November 11, 2008 and—glory to God!—our daughters were born alive and lived for one hour. We were able to spend that time with them and we have a ton of pictures. The mourning process has been hard but a blessing at the same time. God has used our pastors to encourage us and stand alongside us during this most difficult time in our lives. I don't know what we would have done without them. Thanks for the opportunity to honor these men that God has placed in our lives.

To our pastors, Jay and Emilio, we love you guys and praise God for allowing us to sit under your teaching.

I am now 27 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby and we continue to praise God and give Him all the glory!

Vanessa
Haltom City, TX

After reading my wife's "entry" C.J. Mahaney emailed my wife and told her to pick a Bible for herself! So we got 2 $75 ESV Study Bibles for FREE!

Here are some pics of my original ESV Study after the accident:

On the outside it doesn't look too bad:

It's the inside that is all messed up mostly,... and this is after I straightened out lots of the pages:

After straightened more and more of the pages out the best it will close is like this:

The main problem is that the binding is busted so if I use it it will only be a matter of time till the pages start falling out:

Even after flattening out alot of the pages it was still hard to read:

But now I am thankful my wife and I won some new ESV Study Bibles!:

Thanks Sovereign Grace Ministries!

soli Deo gloria!

Jason D.

My Girls Funeral/Burial

I just posted on my Facebook my favorite pictures with memories from what happened this day last year, I've been meaning to do this for a year now, but it was just to hard to look at some of these pics before:

Melody Joy & Madison Hope's Funeral/Burial
November 17, 2008

Photography graciously done by Margaret Lake:
www.mlakephotography.com
Location: Sovereign Joy Community Church in Keller, TX.

soli Deo gloria!

jason d.

Happy Birthday Jason

 

 

 

Jason I love you so much and I am truly blessed to be your wife. We have been through a lot and you have always lead our family in a way that honors the Lord. I look forward to spending our lives together. You are my very best friend and I would marry you all over again!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE DOVE! 

 ALL MY LOVE,

Vanessa