Merry Christmas!

Writing from a snowy Ann Arbor, we are grateful for a cozy home as we reflect on another blessed year. Overall, we are doing very well – feeling settled now with new friendships, our involvement in church, good jobs, and getting into the swing of parenting.

The highlight of our year was the birth and growth of our daughter, Lily. She arrived on schedule, born after 3.5 hours of labor on the morning of her due date. There were some complications with nursing for the first couple of months, but other than that she is a healthy, tall and slender (minus the thighs) baby. She seems to be an “easy baby” – pretty much sleeping 10+ hours per night since she was 3 months old, and generally being of a smiley disposition. Kimberly and I (Archer) still fight over whose turn it is to get Lily first thing in the morning, and Lily typically breaks into a huge smile when two faces peak around the door to her bedroom.

We have recently been blessed by forming a small babysitting coop with other young parents in our church. We cheer also with one of the fathers, who said, “Hurray for the return of the date night!” These times that Kimberly and I can have together have been a lifeline for us in continuing to grow our relationship and plan our life together, especially as we try to figure out how to work together and support each other as parents. Fortunately, even when we’ve been exhausted and stressed at times this year, we have been reminded that “the Lord’s mercies indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness!” (Jeremiah 6:23)

Kimberly – now working half-time – has continued to enjoy programming at Menlo Innovations, a software development firm in downtown Ann Arbor. Their paired-programming approach makes it both a technical and interpersonal challenge – one to which she is well suited. I have been a graduate student instructor for classes in the spring and fall terms of this year, and have discovered and validated my love of teaching. It is now teaching opportunities, far more than research, that I hope to pursue in the future.

For a more concrete flavor of our life, we present: A day in the life of the Batchellers:
4:00am – Archer’s alarm goes off, he resets it to 4:30 and crawls back into bed
4:30am – Archer gets up, wraps up in blankets for prayer time in the cold house
6:30am – Kimberly’s alarm goes off, she turns if off and crawls back into bed
7:00am – Archer wakes up Kimberly
7:05am – Lily wakes up, stands up in her crib & tells us that she is ready to go! 7:07am – Lily gets a diaper change and breakfast with Mom
7:38am – Archer takes Kimberly to work because she’s missed the bus at 7:36am, and takes over care of Lily for the morning
12:30pm – Kimberly gets back from work, and takes over care of Lily for the afternoon; Archer goes off to his office, usually via bicycle or bus
5:30pm – Archer comes home, dinner quick before BSF or small group
9:30pm – Back from evening event and getting ready for bed (too late again for “scheduled” wake up times…)

Between working early mornings, afternoons, and Saturdays, I am working pretty much full time. However, my dissertation work has not been progressing very quickly (that’s what happens when you don’t spend time working on it). So recently, we have now a home schooled girl from church watching Lily one morning per week. This has also helped give Kimberly and I the time to prepare for our weekly Bible Study Fellowship meetings, where we have both recently taken up leadership roles. Kimberly is a substitute discussion leader, and I am a substitute children’s leader. I’ve been enjoying teaching more: this time to first graders instead of masters’ students! And it’s neat to be teaching God’s Word.

And the bullet-point chronicles of the year’s events and memories:
• Camping in upper Michigan, running the Lilac Festival 10K on Mackinac Island (all three of us!)
• Camping to & from Michigan & Texas, visits with folks in Dallas
• Sailing and family time at Lake Winnipesaukee, NH
• Camping and visiting folks in Princeton
• Kimberly takes a one day mini-retreat for some solo time with Jesus
• Date night to see the St. Petersburg Philharmonic
• Kimberly’s annual Texas Tech girls weekend, this year in Indianapolis
• Lily’s dedication to God at church
• Hunting in Petersburgh, NY at Thanksgiving
• Looking forward to Christmas with the Deals and Batchellers in Dallas this year for Lily’s first Christmas!

So what’s next? Archer applied for a Fulbright scholarship to fund research in Nairobi, Kenya for a year, beginning this coming August of 2008. We have long thought about living in Africa as Christian missionaries, but writing the proposal of how and when it might begin made it a lot more concrete, exciting, and a bit scary. Hopefully it will give us a chance to see what living in Africa as a family is like, get the data needed to complete my dissertation, and show us whether God would have us live and work in Africa long-term. There are a lot of details that need to be taken care of for the year in Kenya, so this year we will be praying and working for the Lord to make His Plan for us clear! Please continue to pray for us to have wisdom and Godly priorities as we attempt to settle things like visas, dissertation topic, vaccines & other travel meds, housing in Africa, what to do with our house in Ann Arbor, etc. We are so thankful for the Lord Jesus, who has been and will continue to be our source of hope, encouragement, wisdom, and peace as we follow Him. We pray that you have had a blessed year, a peaceful Christmas, and that “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.”

Love,
Archer, Kimberly, Lily
& Padme Boxy


Pictures:
1) Lily Minerva Batcheller,
March 8, 2007, 8 lbs 10 oz
2) April 2007 at home with Lily
3) Lily’s morning face from the crib
4) Lily’s afternoon exploration around the kitchen by way of cabinets
5) Lily hanging out on the tent while Dad & Mama are setting up camp
6) The frequent view of the backseat of our car this summer during all the road trips
7) October 23, 2007 – after Lily’s dedication

Lily's First Snow!

We are in the middle of the biggest snow-storm that we've had since moving to Michigan. So we took Lily outside with us while we (Archer) shoveled and played with Padme.
Click on the album to see our day!

Lily's First Snow Day

Lily's Christmas Picture.... Attempts

Deer Hunting

I went hunting with Archer & Butch over Thanksgiving- definitely it was cold and boring, but it was a teensy rush when we thought a deer was coming!

Butch built the deer stand we are sitting in - and there are shooting lanes he's cut in the trees. It was fun to see exactly what they do, and to learn some of the details of hunting strategy.

Batches In Africa?

It's kind of strange that even though we've been laying the groundwork for these things for the last few years, it feels to me like all of these actual possibilities have sprung up all of a sudden! So I'm beginning to work through the shock, the questions, and begin to pray about what my next steps should be, as far as supporting Archer and wrapping my own brain around all of this.

Bulleted Summary List of Possible Trips to Africa:
* African Knowledge Infrastructure Conference (put on by Archer & co.), December 2008.

* Idlelo Conference in Dakar, Senegal, March 16-20th,(2008)

* Fulbright scholarship, Research in Kenya, August 2008-July 2009(ish)
------ Archer does research with Bruce (30 years with Africa Inland Mission) on medical informatics in African hospitals

For every option we will be searching for ways for Lily and I to go as well, since we are strongly opposed to being separated for long (long to me is a week), and because it is important for me to be able to have some experience in Africa to determine whether this is the direction we are both being led to go.

Update Your Links!

Welcome to our blog!
All pictures of the Batchellers and our beautiful Lily will soon be completely moved to this blogspot. It is a private blog, so it should be just as private as our previous webspace. However, this spot is free. Hence our move here. Our update letters will also be posted here, when I get around to writing them.