The Attwood Chronicles

Merry Christmas 2013 from the Attwood 5!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, I can still call it our Christmas letter, as I sit here writing it on Christmas dayJ For those in Canada and the US, it is only Christmas Eve, so we have scraped in under the wire! What a busy year it has been and it has flow by so quickly. The blog I had planned to keep up regularly hasn’t been updated in almost two years!

The highlight for us as a family this year was our trip back to Canada in July. For the boys and Nelson it was the first trip back in almost 3 years and it had been long enough to feel that Australia is now home, but it was also so good for them to be reunited with lots of our family and friends. The 16 days flew by in a non-stop run, but it was a joy to spend time with each of our families and to be able to visit Parkcrest and Westview Chapels, with Nelson having the opportunity to share the ministry that the Lord has given us here in Australia. For me it was an amazing blessing to have all five of us Chandler siblings together for a few days at Carol’s on the Island. It’s a rare opportunity for us all to be together with Mom and Dad and we enjoyed the time and were able to make some precious memories and get lots of photos! We were also able to spend time with Nelson’s family in Abbotsford and Surrey and for the cousins to get reacquainted! There is never enough time to see everyone and there were those we just couldn’t catch up, but maybe next time!

In September we celebrated one year of Casey Bible Church here in Berwick. It has been an amazing year, seeing God bless and provide for this little work. We have now grown to over 60 people and the ministries have grown to include a small group study, a ladies Bible study, a men’s leadership study, a men’s prayer meeting, a youth group and a Sunday School. It is exciting to see the spiritual growth in many of the people and to see them exercising their gifts in ministry, many they didn’t realise they had! One of the joys of being a small group is that each one is necessary and needed for the church to function. We are working on outreach plans for 2014 and pray that we will start to see our neighbourhood reached for Christ and becoming part of the body of CBC. Our other major prayer request is that the Lord will raise up an eldership this year. At this point in time Nelson carries the weight of teaching and preaching, as well as counselling and visitation ministries. We believe strongly that the Lord would have that work distributed amongst elders and deacons, but have been careful to wait on His leading for those men to be burdened to take on those roles and for the body to recognize the shepherds. At the moment the men of the church all meet on a monthly basis as a leadership group to pray together and make the decisions for the church, but we would love to see more defined groups of men to share the responsibilities for the practical and spiritual needs in the church. Nelson is just over halfway through his Bachelor of Theology and will go back in February for another two courses towards finishing his degree. In many ways he has been “thrown in at the deep end” of ministry, but It keeps us on our knees and completely dependent on the Lord, as in our own wisdom and strength we are completely inadequate for the task! The Lord is so gracious and has blessed us so much with this amazing group of people. They are our Australian family and we truly love each other. Please pray for continued unity and love for us as we grow in numbers. It is something that people coming in to visit are impressed with right away and we pray that that will continue always. We have also been so convicted that we be a praying church, with small groups praying at all of our Bible studies and beginning each Sunday (while the Sunday School is running) with the men and women praying in groups for the first half hour. It has bound us together and it is so incredible to see God answering our prayers. Please continue to pray for strength and wisdom for Nelson as, unlike most occupations, the work of a pastor/teaching elder is a 24-7/365 job! It is a tremendous blessing and something he would never trade, but the weight of the responsibility can bring many sleepless nights and long days. We have been blessed by a small salary from the church and we are so thankful for it, and trust the Lord to supply our needs.

For the kids it has also been a busy year. Early in February we realised that for Jono going into Year 12 at his public high school was not going to be a healthy choice, as he had been experiencing some very hurtful bullying by a group of his “friends”. We decided to allow him to do distance education here at home and ultimately he ended up doing half of his Year 12 courses last year. This February he will return to the school to finish his final two Year 12 courses and the second half of his pre-college course in residential drafting. He got a job in March at Woolworths, one of our major grocery stores, and works every Tuesday and Saturday there. He also had an opportunity at Easter to be a part of the Melbourne Passion Play, playing a Roman soldier. It was neat to see the whole life of Christ presented in a park, with several hundred people watching for two performances! Please pray that Jono will have a sense of God’s direction for his future as he finishes Year 12 in 2014. As a side note, about a month ago he received a call one Sunday morning from the ringleader of the bullies, who had called to apologise for how he had treated Jono. It was a very humbling and growing experience for Jono and a blessing for him to be able to forgive him and close the chapter on a very painful experience. Our nearly-18-year-old (next week) has grown to be taller than Nelson, with a love and passion for singing, and we can hardly believe how fast time has gone!

Cameron started the year at the public high school in Year 9, however in July we visited a Christian school, Chairo, here in Pakenham, and began to prayerfully consider sending him there. A small, country school that is completely focused on Christ in all areas of education was exactly what we wanted for him, but we were unsure how it would fit into the budget. As it turned out, the staff were also praying for a way for him to attend and we were offered an amazing price to be able to enroll him for the rest of the year, so he started there after mid-year break in July and has loved the school and is thriving. In February he will go back to start Year 10 and is looking forward to doing a Year 11 music class as one of his electives. He continues in piano lessons and has self-taught himself guitar in the last year. He is a very disciplined boy and works really hard to achieve at school and in music. Turning 15 this week, his sense of humour keeps us laughing every day and it is a joy to see him growing in his walk with the Lord.

Braeden just last week finished his primary school years at Berwick Fields. He has had a great three years there, with amazing aides working with him, helping him to completely integrate with the mainstream kids. As he heads to Year 7 we face another change. Because of his autism, it has become apparent that mainstream high school is not a good option for him. A new specialty K-12 school is set to open in February near where we are now living and we have enrolled him there for Year 7. We have met with the principal of the school, who is a wonderful woman, with many years’ experience in special needs schools. Unfortunately there are a lot of unknowns as the school is brand new and nothing is yet established, but we are going ahead, trusting that the Lord will give us wisdom and will continue to provide for Braeden, as He always has. Please pray for us and for Braeden, as this will be a big adjustment for him and for us. He usually adjusts better and faster than we do!, but it is still going to be a big change. He is a character, who loves his computer and his inventions. It’s amazing what he creates out of boxes, Lego or PowerPoint! He loves to help Nelson set up the church on a Sunday morning and he has a special place in the hearts of all the aides and teachers who have taught him over the years. He is very loving and we are so thankful for that!

For me, Heather, it has been a busy year too! I have continued to work at home doing medical transcription on a full-time basis. I have also had the joy of leading a ladies Bible study fortnightly, going through a study in the book of Hebrews. At church I am usually behind the scenes organizing our many lunches, either at church our in our home. I have just received confirmation this week that I have been hired by Casey Hospital (our local hospital) in the Medical Records Department as a casual employee. After many job applications and several interviews, it was awesome to finally get a job and I am really looking forward to having set hours. The work I do at home can often take me well into the evening and sometimes even Saturdays to complete, and that has been a struggle. I am looking forward to going to work, then coming home to be a mom and wife! Please pray for me as there will be a lot to learn. The Southern Health hospitals are all across Melbourne and it is a huge organization to work for. I will have a month of training before they “let me loose” and then will be on call, but it sounds as if there is a huge demand at this point, so I should have pretty steady work.

As most of you know, in September we were also able to move into our own house, after almost 3 years in a rental home. We are loving living here and keep pinching ourselves to make sure we aren’t dreaming! It is such a blessing from the Lord and such a joy to be able to use it for Him, often having the church over for BBQs and for other events. It is nice to feel a bit more settled and not to have a rental inspection every 6 months!

Well, what I had planned to be a short letter, has turned out to be very long indeed, but hopefully will give you an idea of the highlights of our year. The Lord is so faithful and has blessed us abundantly in 2013, and we are looking forward to what He has for us to do in 2014! Please continue to pray for us, as we do for you. We may be far apart in distance, but you each hold a special place in our hearts!

With our love,

Nelson, Heather, Jono, Cam and Brady xox