With Christmas upon us — it’s coming up fast! —
And preparing for the chill of a cold arctic blast,
Staying indoors with not much left to do,
We’ll recount the blessings of 2022.
The year started off with sledding in snowdrifts
And a trip to the Frist to see medieval long-ago-scripts.
Then we jammed with Skillet, Levi’s favorite band,
And for David’s sixteenth, we put the keys in his hand.
But rather than driving, he’d much rather be
Writing his fiction or thinking of Skree*
Or filming a story with fun animations
Or dreaming of building trains and train stations.
We celebrated twenty years of marriage this spring
With a Beethoven concert and a Chris Tomlin sing.
A trip to Dollywood where we ended up stuck
For an hour on a coaster – that’s just Ferrell luck.
In May we enjoyed a homeschool field day
And a field trip with friends to Crystal Onyx Cave.
Then Stephen wrapped up his first year of college.
His head is now stuffed with all sorts of knowledge.
Roadtripping to Colorado with Brandy’s Mom in June,
We hiked Garden of the Gods and the Great Sand Dunes.
Bishop Castle was quirky, the Spanish Peaks pretty.
We painted Cadillacs & Bugs, and saw Combine City.
Palo Duro and Capulin were also great stops.
In Shamrock we dropped by Ramone’s Body Shop.
In June Isaac had his eighth birthday, too,
To Dollywood we went to see the Liquid Beats Crew,
And for Stephen’s nineteenth, a lovely drone show
At the park’s summer fest, gazillions of bubbles did blow.
We canoed down the Caney with the large Ferrell clan,
Six hours of paddling? That wasn’t the plan!
We took an old jon boat on the Cordell watershed,
Who needs a motor? We’ve learned to paddle instead!
We headed to Knoxville to honor Pastor Eddie,
Fifty years preaching and still going steady.
Camping in the Smokies, Isaac got bit by a dog
And camping in Defeated was as cold as a frog.
Brandy taught science on co-op days
And started a bit of a model rocket craze.
In the chemistry department, Stephen started research
And joined the choir loft at Stevens Street Church.
In Journey of Faith (the annual production this year),
Cast as an orphan, a cook, and a Chinese muleteer,
Our boys retold a great missionary story,
As always, the goal was to give God the glory.
David and Levi learned to grill a buffet.
Then these two with Brandy trained for a 5K,
Running our road, dodging potholes and skunks
David didn’t dodge one, and man how he stunk!
Each birthday at Dollywood gave us memories for life.
For his fourteenth, Levi forged a bolt knife…
…And memories are sometimes all we have left
Of those whom we love — and for those we are blessed,
For we said goodbye to Papaw this year,
A sad day indeed, but his reward was near.
He has no more sorrow, nor more sin, no more pain,
Our loss here on Earth is now Heaven’s gain.
If you find your heart aching this Christmas season
You’re never alone, and this here’s the reason:
The Word became flesh, in a stable born
The Gift to a world that’s all broken and torn.
He left immense glory from heaven above
To grant us His presence, His salvation, His love.
So let’s not forget — whatever we face
He came here to save us! What a great gift of grace!
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
Gary, Brandy, Stephen, David, Levi, and Isaac Ferrell
*A reference to a favorite book series, The Wingfeather Saga.