Five Hundred Twenty Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes

That’s how you measure a year.  February 10th will mark the one-year anniversary of Neil’s colon cancer diagnosis.  I’m planning on posting the events of that day soon.  In the meantime, here is a re-cap of our 2011 in case you aren’t on our holiday mailing list.  (and if you’re not, WHY not?!) 

This year…

…as the clock struck twelve and 2011 began, Neil looked at me and said he had a feeling that this year was going to be a great year.  Depending on how you look at it, it was actually the best year of our lives.

We experienced…

…joy!  Adrienne graduated high school and is thriving in college.  She is living her dream at Duke University in North Carolina. 

We celebrated…

…a birthday!  We spent Erica’s sweet-sixteen in NYC.  Adrienne met us there and it was fun to be reunited as a family.  We also celebrated with some of Erica’s best friends who attend college in the Big Apple.

We endured…

…tough stuff.  Neil’s mom passed away in May.  We are grateful that we were able to travel to Canada in time to say goodbye.  We spent a peaceful week in her home, packing up all of her treasures, and remembering her with family and friends.

We learned…

…a very important lesson.  A person really only has two choices in life:  to live in fear, or to live by faith; the two principles cannot co-exist.  We chose the latter, and that has made all the difference.  As a result of our choice, we were able to experience constant peace during the terror of Neil’s colon cancer diagnosis in February and ensuing treatments and hospitalizations.  Now that the nightmare is over and he is cancer-free, we have an even greater knowledge that God lives and that Jesus is The Christ.  So Neil was right after all…2011 was a great year.  In fact, it definitely has been our best year ever.

Our prayer for all of you this holiday season is that you

replace all of your fear with faith

and always remember that

God lives and that Jesus is The Christ.

With love from The Harrevelds …Neil, Charlene, Adrienne & Erica