We
are a few years behind in our yearly updates and Christmas greetings, but you
have been in our hearts and prayers! To
find the time to reconnect with you this year is a blessing. We last sent an update at the end of 2010, just
before the USAF promoted Ryan to Master Sergeant. Ryan’s Dad was able to make it out for the
ceremony, and in spite of an unscheduled ice storm, we loved reconnecting. At that time, we were still working on
renovations to our Enid, OK home. All
the major renovations were complete with the main bath remodel in May, 2011 and
the addition of a large shed in June, 2011.
In January, 2012, Ryan had a two week TDY—uneventful but for the
lightning strike to the airplane, midflight,
on his trip home. That delayed his
return by a few hours, but we were very glad he simply made it home!
In
February we announced the upcoming arrival of Edwards Baby #5, which
immediately drew deployment orders from the USAF. To our disappointment, Ryan was scheduled to
be gone on the baby’s due date. However,
such is the way of military life (yes, Rebecca had a few temper tantrums, but
that is the way of the military wifeJ). We had an
awesome support group in Oklahoma through our church, friends, and neighbors, with
family waiting to come out and help as well.
Hours before his flight, Ryan went to complete his final appointment
when he learned his orders had been cancelled and the position he was to fill
in Qatar had been removed. Having never
experienced a cancelled deployment, we carefully rejoiced, rather uncertain of
the good news and our sometimes fickle Air Force. On a side note, Ryan told me that day he
volunteered for a special duty assignment in Hawaii that he wouldn’t get
because so many others would be volunteering for the same position in
“paradise.”
Though
we loved our home, friends, and neighbors in Enid, we felt the call to
move. And God did send us to
Hawaii! Because of the pregnancy, we
were allowed to push up the date to move so we wouldn’t be travelling during
the late months of the pregnancy. That
crunched our remaining time in Enid into a very small window. We attempted to sell our home, and had some
encouraging nibbles, but we ran out of time to pursue that avenue; so we are
currently renting out our home. It is
nice to know we still have a bit of Oklahoma in our hands—we have grown to love
that part of the country.
Not
much in 2012 worked the way we expected, yet God’s hand was very evident—right
down to the arrival of Isabelle Rachel Edwards on November 17th—two
WEEKS after her due date, at which point she was very anxious to appear: born
a scant few minutes after we arrived at the hospital. Hannah was, and is, overjoyed to have her
long prayed for sister. The boys
delight in playing with her and she already has quite a bit of rough-and-tumble
in her personality. Isabelle began
popping in teeth at the end of 2 months, walking at 8 months, and is currently
having pitched battles with us about climbing (at 1 year old). She jabbers, primarily about “Dada,” and has
the best belly laughs.
Seth,
our ever fun-loving, fearless boy caused a few heart-stoppers in the past
couple of years. Before we left Enid, on
the soccer field one weekend, both Ryan and Rebecca thought the other had Seth
and reached a state of panic when we realized he was not with us. We quickly had a number of searchers combing
the area for our lost boy (there were a lot of people, many of whom were
leaving at the end of the games, and multiple fields). As Ryan began searching drainage ditches (shudder), Nathanael’s coach found Seth
happily perched on a construction pile quite a ways away from the field,
throwing rocks into water. God’s
grace! Here in Hawaii, on one of the
kids’ and Ryan’s trips to the beach, Seth and Ryan were body surfing together
when a wave unexpectedly separated Seth from Ryan. Ryan popped out of the water searching for
Seth, when Hannah suddenly exclaimed, “What are you doing here, Seth?” Seth just happened to run into Hannah’s legs,
and hung on for dear life! Blessings,
overwhelming blessings! Seth now wears a
flotation vest and is much more cautious at the beach. Seth told me that he loves to play Minecraft
(he often has his Sunday School class at our wonderful church, The Gathering http://thegatheringhawaii.org/, pray for his Minecraft!). He also likes to play outside with his brothers,
sisters, and friends. At quiet moments,
we find Seth in his room fully engaged in building tracks for his trains and chattering
for the trains, cars, or Legos.
Thaddeus
writes: I play Minecraft and I play with
my friends, too. I play with Alex’s
(neighborhood friend’s) Ripstick. I
joined swim team, got to swim at a meet and got ribbons, too. Soccer was fun and I go to Awanas. I like catching geckos and I like to go to
the beach.
Nathanael
writes: I play with my friends and I
moved up from Silver 1 to Silver 2 (Swim Team) and that was awesome. I also bought Minecraft (a computer
game). Right now I am very thankful that
God sent His only Son to earth to die for our sins.
Hannah
writes: I dearly miss my friends from
all over the world and hope to see you again soon (maybe in HawaiiJ?). Hannah delights
in creating (as always) anything her imagination comes up with. She took a sewing class this year and helped
to buy her own sewing machine—so she has added sewing masterpieces to her
repertoire as well. She has also been
writing some books in her spare time. We
live in a cul-de-sac full of kids, so Hannah is forever establishing new clubs,
business ventures, and parties. She took
her Red Cross Babysitting course this year and has been babysitting for us for
short periods of time—it is nice not to have to haul everyone to the Commissary
now! Hannah is maturing into a lovely
young lady (faster than either Ryan or Rebecca are ready for); but we are
relieved that she still finds time to climb trees and be a kid every now and
then.
Our three
oldest have joined Hickam Hurricanes Swim Team this year and are swimming their
hearts out! It is great fun to watch
their strokes refine and their speeds increase.
Hannah and Nathanael have joined a competitive Lego group as well. The kids program a Lego MINDSTORM robot to
perform certain actions in, for instance, a town (that they also build) during
a hurricane. They have to present their
solutions as a team in front of judges and get their robot to do what it is
supposed to do—great challenging fun!
The four older kids and Ryan are also involved in Awanas here at Hickam.
Ryan
is conveniently able to ride his bike to work at PACAF Headquarters, which is
just a few blocks from our home on base.
Instead of controlling air traffic, here he is managing air traffic
control forces in the Pacific for the Air Force. Ryan thrives on finding solutions to management
dilemmas. He had taken a sabbatical from
his Master’s degree after Isabelle was born, but is looking into pursuing that
goal again in 2014. He has spent time
volunteering at a leadership camp for teens/young adults off base (http://www.winnerscamp.com/). He gathers
others to trek out to the camp every few weeks to help with grounds
maintenance, etc. To Rebecca’s delight
and frustration (because he is now faster than she), Ryan began swimming this
year in preparation for a triathlon in May, 2014.
Rebecca
has been able to snatch some time away from the home and kids to run in the
neighborhood and trails just outside our door, as well as swim at a nearby pool
at night. She is finding the
never-ending summer (difficult for a winter-loving person to adjust to) a boon
for a consistent workout schedule. It is
a delight to swim under a dusky evening sky with palm fronds waving and water
droplets sparkling in the lights—in December!
While it is a joy to teach and care for the kids, sanity escapes are
essential! Rebecca has also begun to
write in a more formal setting this year.
This has long been a passion of hers and having a deadline each month
has proven to be a good motivator to put pen to paper. She has joined several other women, sharing
from their hearts every month: http://www.letterstomysisters.org/.
As
we near the end of this year, immersed in the worries of the world—yes, even us!—it
is a relief to remember how fleeting this world really is. Envision, if you will, a leader, government
dignitary, or king even—complete with the trappings of state, majesty, fanfare,
security detail, etc.: scrubbing a
toilet. Mixing those depictions are like
mixing oil and water—one is grand, the other humble. Now imagine a god (not just a Senator) throwing
off all the heavenly glory (glory that can never
be matched on earth) and becoming the embodiment of humility. Not many of us may have a relationship with say,
the Queen of England and certainly not without a worthy reason; but Jesus—God
Almighty—humbled Himself and became a poor babe in a dirty world who even
washed filthy feet, fished, and cooked for others. He, we can approach. We could never hope to approach an awesome God
in our wretched, imperfect state, but Jesus seeks out the poor, meek, and
humble. “’The Spirit of the Lord is upon
Me, because He anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the
captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are
oppressed.’” Luke 4:18. Even our
insignificant, messy selves can approach Him—be welcomed by Him—and be saved by
Him. Who can ever hope to match His
offer? What a great assurance in this
time of disquiet.
Our
orders have us in Hawaii until September 2015; but who knows where the USAF
will send us next or when. We are
content to be on God’s schedule, however.
Throughout life all encounter hardships, tragedies, and wonders. Since we will too, we would rather face the
ones God has set for us, knowing He is crafting the best for us, than force our
own way and miss some of His glory and blessings. “And we know that God causes
all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are
called according to His
purpose.” Rom. 8:28. In spite of
the sometimes gloomy news, praise God, He will establish beautiful things! We pray you will likewise find rest in His
promises.
It
is a Merry Christmas, indeed!
Ryan,
Rebecca, Hannah, Nathanael, Thaddeus, Seth, and Isabelle
