December 2022
Dear Friends and Family,
We hope this Christmas season, you and your family are well. As 2022 comes to a close, faithful is a word remaining prominent in our thoughts. God has been faithful in providing his peace through the ups and downs of another year of young family life. Our days, weeks, and months are filled with making mistakes, saying sorry, learning within and without textbooks, growing physically, mentally, and spiritually, and trying again when we don’t get it right the first time. What a blessing to know God is faithful every day and in all seasons of life.
Brandon continues to balance work, home, and farm as each ebb and flow at different times. His legal work is going well as he expands his practice into Georgia. On the home front, Brandon aids in homeschool, mostly with history lessons, family devotions, and science projects. On the farm, we doubled the size of our goat herd this year by adding many more registered doelings some born on our farm and retained while others we purchased from breeders. We also added a polled and blue-eyed registered junior buckling named Leviticus. We are excited to see what offspring he will give us in the upcoming years.
Amy’s days are filled with homeschool, housework, and whatever else is thrown in the mix with four kids. Some days are long and hard, but she feels blessed beyond measure as our children are thriving, growing, and learning. One of the greatest blessings of homeschool is the unrushed casual conversations. It’s not unusual to hear Brandon as he’s cooking breakfast explaining how stocks, interest, and investments work or to catch him reading to the kids from Proverbs. The discussions on how to choose wise friends, why it’s important to work hard, and what it means to turn from foolishness are invaluable. And as our school days unfold with different struggles and successes, Amy finds herself talking a lot with the kids about how God created each of them differently for a reason and how He has a purpose for their life and plans for their future.
Everett, age nine, is now almost as tall as his mama and is very happy about his new privilege of occasionally sitting in the front seat of our vehicles. He still loves reading and sports. He can talk forever about which professional baseball player is being traded and which basketball teams have the better record. His favorite teams right now are the Atlanta Braves, Charlotte Hornets, and Duke Blue Devils. He and Emmett currently play on a basketball team with many of their friends. They recently won their second game, and the whole team was so excited! Everett is performing in a Christmas play at his homeschool co-op next week and has a lead role as Michael the Archangel. Not only are we excited for this program, but many of his aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins are planning to come and cheer him on as well. He has been disciplined in practicing his lines, working on his acting, and, most importantly, mastering his bow. The evening is sure to be spectacular. Everett is the most passionate and excitable member of our family, and we love him!
Emmett, age nine, keeps busy with riding his bike and helping on the farm. This year we found out Emmett has dyslexia and is a very strong picture thinker as the Davis Method calls it. After some evaluation and training, we are doing the Davis Program at home with him. So far it’s going well and is a much better fit than what we were doing. While school can sometimes be tricky for picture thinkers, Emmett is blessed with so many hands-on talents and skills because of the way he thinks. Today he spent all afternoon chopping wood, and this evening, he came inside and drew up plans to build a covered shelter to keep his wood dry. But even more than chopping wood or sitting beside his almost daily campfire, his most favorite thing to do is give John Deere Gator rides to friends and family. He not only can dodge every pothole in the driveway, but also can back the Gator into our garage. He tells us he can do it with his eyes closed, but we aren’t brave enough to let him try. We certainly are blessed to have Emmett in our family.
Allen is 6 years old and continues to bring such joy to our family. Whether it’s cooking something in the kitchen, doing a history lesson, or just going for a stroll, there is no one sweeter or more pleasant as a sidekick than Allen. He just began playing on his first basketball team with Brandon as coach and is enjoying learning a new sport. His team won their first game, and they were thrilled. Allen loves school and does most of his studies with Ms. Wendy. Ms. Wendy has been with us over a year now and comes to our house and helps with school days several times a week. She’s such a blessing to our whole family. You never know what Allen and Ms. Wendy might be up to, whether it’s eating animal crackers and graphing how many of each animal they got, having a bubble gum blowing contest, playing the floor is lava, or having a dance party. It’s all these witty and fun ideas that keep him on task with schoolwork, and he enjoys all his mornings with Ms. Wendy. Anyone who knows Allen also knows what a gift giver he is. On Thanksgiving, he took a bag of gemstones and coins to hand out to his cousins. His piano teacher always lets him choose a piece of candy after his lesson, and Allen usually gives her a piece of candy in return. We love his generous spirit and loving nature and thank God for putting him in our family.
And last but certainly not least is our Mila girl. What a spirited and spunky, perfectly delightful little girl who is just as bossy as she is sweet. Mila is now three years old and communicates with a combination of words, gestures, and signs. She receives speech services through a private company and through the school system. She attends a preschool three mornings a week and loves her class. Mila is a girl with places to go and things to do. She just can’t sit still. This makes her an awful cuddle buddy as she twists and wiggles incessantly, but on the flipside, it makes her a wonderful dance partner. Mila has awesome dance moves, and her favorite dance is the macarena. She gets everyone to do the macarena, even the cardiologist and the echocardiographer at her last visit. It’s funny to watch people try to remember the moves as Mila brings back this once famous 90’s song. We are looking forward to celebrating the Colombian holiday Dia de las Velitas (Day of the Little Candles) which celebrates the beginning of the Christmas season. On December 7th all over Colombia during the evening and night hours, people light candles and paper lanterns along walkways and porches. We plan to do the same. Holidays are even more special as we add Colombian traditions to our own American ones. We’ve had Mila in our family for a year and a half now. We can’t imagine life without her, and while we know in our heads she hasn’t always been in our family, in our hearts she’s just one of us. We thank God for the blessing of Mila.
We began this letter talking of God’s promise of faithfulness. Sometimes it may be difficult to believe that promise. One thing we have been meditating on this year has been the Israelites’ time in the wilderness. There have been many times this year when we too have felt as if our family has been wandering. Yet, instead of thousands of Israelites, we have two whiny adults and four whiny children. We first looked at this season with discontent as if it was pointless. But as the months passed, God began to change our perspective. He has begun to teach us that we’re in a season of preparation, not aimless wandering. It’s a time for us to learn to deal with the frustrations of everyday life. It’s a time where God is teaching us not to whine and question His goodness and plan. And it’s a time to abide and remain obedient – ready to act when He calls us to our next step of faith. It was in the wilderness that Moses built the Ark of the Covenant. In Exodus 25:16, God told Moses, “And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you.” God was working in the wilderness. He was preparing them for a future testimony He would give them. We cling to this same hope.
Whether this Christmas is joyous for you or is one marked by sadness, we pray you rest in knowing God is faithful and desires to walk with you through every season. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13
Merry Christmas! With Love, The Leebrick Family – Brandon, Amy, Emmett, Everett, Allen, and Mila
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