Christmas Letter 2023

Greetings, loved ones!

What a beautiful, eventful, wonderful, and overall full year it has been for the Greer family. Our hearts are overflowing with thankfulness and joy this holiday season, and I wanted to share a little of that with you–especially those of you who don’t follow me on Facebook.

May 5th, a new addition to our family joined us! My Dad, Andy Stoeppler, retired from his 40 year long career in PG&E and arrived here from California, and we all moved together into a lovely townhome in the Cragmor neighborhood of Colorado Springs. It has been wonderful having him with us in so many ways! And our children love getting lots of Grandpa time in. Dad loves taking long bike rides on the many trails here in the Springs, and he can’t get enough of the fresh mountain air and blue skies. His health has improved greatly in the six months he’s been here, and I enjoy making sure he gets three square meals a day.

May was an eventful month. That was also the time TJ started his maintenance and construction company, Greer Innovations, which has skyrocketed into success beyond our wildest dreams. The first day we decided to start the business our first client found us, and it has snowballed since then to the point that TJ is hiring help and I am pulling back from my own business to help him with his (ours).  We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the wonderful people here in Colorado, who love and appreciate us! TJ is so good at troubleshooting issues for homeowners and making them feel comfortable and taken care of. He’s also become an essential part of the worship team at our church, the International Anglican Church, and will be helping run a workshop on parts singing.

May was a life changing month for me as well. My health had been deteriorating for some time, and I was finally at the breaking point. I made a number of significant life and diet changes, and lost 40 lbs in about three months’ time. I feel 90% better and all my lab numbers came back normal! I could  hardly believe it. Now I’m working on the next 40 lbs and hope to fit into my wedding dress again soon. I had a very eventful and busy year. I had the best year yet with my cinnamon roll business, Palo Duro Bakery, hitting at least two farmers’ markets per week. I joined my girls’ karate school and love the training and workouts–I have wonderful teachers and fantastic fellow students who challenge me to new levels of strength and endurance! I also began teaching the 2-3 year old class at church, which is so fun and rewarding. Lately I’ve broken out my neglected sewing machine and crochet hooks, and have enjoyed making homemade gifts for my children and friends in my spare time.

Our oldest, Isabella, turned 8 this year. She has matured so much and is such a great help to me! She mothers her little brother and he loves spending time with her. She’s in 3rd grade at the Rocky Mountain Homeschool Academy, and a blue stripe purple belt in karate. She’s killing it on the trails and at the skate rink with her favorite pair of black and orange inline skates, and is helping her old mama go faster and not fall over. She has developed an interest in video games and spends as much time as I’ll let her on the Nintendo Switch, playing Mario Brothers or Legend of Zelda. She’s also become a fluent reader over the summer and enjoys books of all kinds. Bella is a thinker and asks deep questions, and takes her family and faith seriously. She was baptized in November at our church, which was an incredibly special moment for all of us!

Lizzy Sunshine, our firecracker, is seven years old now and taller and heavier than her older sister. She’s pure muscle and fierce as a bobcat, with a heart as big as the world. She will literally make friends with anyone and everyone, of any age, and loves with all her heart and soul.  Lizzy is in first grade at RMCA, and a green belt purple stripe at karate. Sparring helps her punch out her feelings, and she enjoyed terrorizing the younger class until she was promoted and now she has to hold her own with the big kids. She’s gotten into cooking lately, and this summer she started her own business with her sister, Song & Sunshine Sweets. They made over a thousand dollars together, selling homemade lollipops at the local farmers markets. Lizzy was also baptized this November, and when pastor Mady and pastor Peter asked her the questions in front of the congregation, she jumped up and down and shouted the answers with joyful enthusiasm.

Our youngest, Oliver, is 2.5 years old and full of spunk. He talks fluently and potty trained this year in record time. We happened upon a firefighting training exercise while on a hike in Monument, where a helicopter was scooping buckets of water from a pond, and they let us watch up close. Ever since then he’s been obsessed with helicopters and airplanes! Some of Oliver’s favorite things are: snuggles with mommy and daddy, hot tea, chasing his sisters while they scream and run in mock terror, and taking off his pants. He also loves to sing!

Other fun little adventures this year: camping with dear friends in Muller State Park,  where it rained all night. Haunting the local creeks and rivers and finding swimming holes to cool off in. Climbing rocks and trees in all the local parks. Going up to Bailey to visit my sister Katie and enjoying a gorgeous hike in the Rockies. Trick or treating on a bitterly cold Halloween night, dressed up as characters from Legend of Zelda. Driving to Texas for Thanksgiving and returning home to a snowstorm. Hosting pizza and fellowship night every 2-3 weeks year round.

We hope that your year was as filled with blessings as ours, and we love it whenever friends and family from distant places visit! Remember, Colorado Springs is a vacation destination and we are right here in the thick of it.

Peace and Love,

The Greer Family

TJ, Jenna, Bella, Lizzy, Oliver, and Andy

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7

Baptism

 September 19, 1999.  It was a cool, sunny autumn day up in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and eleven year old me shivered in the icy stream as I waited to be baptized.  I didn't have a clue that 24 years later I would be witnessing the baptism of my own two young daughters. 

Today, November 5, 2023 I watched and listened as my 8 year old Bella and almost 7 year old Lizzy joyfully declared "I do!" as pastors Mady Long and Aaron Buttery asked them if they would follow Jesus for the rest of their days. Bella fairly shouted it, her face glowing with happiness. My eyes welled up with tears and a rush of memories, happy and sad, filled my heart as I watched them dedicate their young lives to God. They were both nervous and excited as they entered the water. First Bella, and then Lizzy were baptized, anointed with oil and then received the blessing of the congregation. TJ was right there with them in the water, participating as Pastor Aaron did the actual baptism. We were very blessed and thankful that this church not only allowed parental participation but also encouraged it. 

What a huge moment for the girls, for their father who cares for them so much, and for me and little brother to witness. As Lizzy came up out of the water, she had the biggest smile on her face and declared "That was fun!"  The whole congregation, of the International Anglican Church we are part of, prayed for the girls out loud, and pledged to be there for them and help them on their journey through life as they walk with Jesus.  Amen! How Great Thou Art.

The hymn we sang today:

Oh Lord, my God

When I, in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder

Thy power throughout the universe displayed

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in

That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing

He bled and died to take away my sin

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation

And heal the world, what joy shall fill my heart

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration

And then proclaim, my God, how great Thou art

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

 Growing up, I was always fit and trim and healthy, and never really worried or even thought about my weight. I lived on a small farm with my family, and not only did we eat mostly food from the earth--veggies and meat we raised ourselves, and bread from flour ground in our stone mill--but we worked hard and played hard. I remember rearranging an entire haystack just for fun on a Tuesday morning. We rode bikes, played volleyball and ping-pong, and for vacation went on backpacking trips. When I got married at age 26 I was in top shape: I had been practicing 4 hours of martial arts per week, and biking to and from work. Not only did I never imagine my weight could ever be a problem, but I also kinda looked down on people who were "gifted with significant presence" as I heard someone say once. I figured they were either lazy or gluttonous or both, and was dismissive of anything related to weight gain or loss.

Well, God saw it fit to take me down a peg or two.  I was expecting my first baby a couple weeks after our wedding, and the joy and excitement of looking forward to the birth of our first child as well as being newly married took over any other thought in my life. I was living in the city for the first time in my life as well, and it dawned on me one day that I was going to have to intentionally exercise. I joined a gym, but I ate whatever I wanted or craved. I gained fifty pounds that year, and everyone told me "don't worry about it, it's just baby weight and it will come right off after the birth!" Nope. That didn't happen. I think I only lost ten pounds after the birth when all was said and done, and a few months later we found that we were expecting another baby! Pregnancy is the easiest excuse in the world to let one's health go, which doesn't make sense because someone else's health literally depended on mine for survival.

We moved across state lines, to a very stressful situation where we were camping in a couple rooms of a house while renovating the rest of the house as quickly as possible to become livable. My husband worked a very low paying day job, and I worked an even lower paying night job. The stress of that first year in Texas turned time into a blur--I honestly don't even remember that year very well. I think I mentally blocked out the stress, and I definitely ate to feel better and not to nourish my body. I did join a CrossFit box thanks to a friend who helped and supported me and gave me a ride to the gym (I didn't have a car at the time). So I was building muscle, but still eating things that weren't good for me. The year after that I started my own home business, found a day job, and TJ got a much better job as well. Life improved a bit, and we wanted to have more children. I lost two pregnancies that year, which sent me into a tailspin of despair. Now I REALLY had every excuse in the book to do whatever made me feel better, including eating alllll the cake and cookies and drinking sweet coffees.

2020 came around, and in March I both lost my job and miscarried my fifth (total) pregnancy on the same day. We were blessed with two whole months of paid stay at home leave for TJ, and it was an amazing time of rest and rejuvenation and family time that we desperately needed! I also started talking with a friend who enthusiastically encouraged me to lose weight using her special meal replacement shakes. I was really skeptical because I didn't like the multi-level marketing aspect, and it was very expensive as well. In fact, every weight loss program I looked into was way beyond my budget. I thought to myself, "someday when I'm rich I'll be able to lose weight!"  Then my friend told my cousin, who was struggling with a number of health issues, that the same shake thing would help her GAIN weight--and I was done with that idea. It sounded scammy to me, just like every other weight loss program out there.

I decided to embrace my "curves" and stop worrying about being fat, and ignore the back pain and joint pain and other aches and pains I was experiencing, and put it all down to the fact that I was getting older (everyone said the 30's would do that to you!) I followed fashion blogs that targeted heavier women, and figured this was my new life. I also quit CrossFit because I was pregnant again and REALLY didn't want  to lose another baby, so I was cutting everything out of my life that I thought might stress my body.

April of 2021 I gave birth to my son, a gorgeous and amazing baby boy who made all the previous pain of losses worth it. I also weighed my heaviest, 236 lbs--100 pounds more than my trim weight where I felt the best.  But of course I couldn't "go on a diet" because I was nursing an infant now, and needed plenty of nourishment and couldn't afford to starve myself!

We made another move, across state lines again, and started life all over once again with three young children. I had basically given up on my health by then. I had a doctor's appointment where they took full labs of my blood, testing everything. The numbers were not good at all. I was pre-diabetic, had high cholesterol, blood sugar, triglycerides, extremely low vitamin D and my weight was out of control at 227 lbs. This scared me. I didn't want to die young and leave my children and my husband! I didn't know what to do though. I joined another gym, bought another program we couldn't afford, tried to give up food. None of that worked, just like every other time. 

One year after that, I felt like I was falling apart. My back was in so much pain I could hardly sleep at night. My feet were both in extreme pain, as well as splitting apart to the point they bled. I never  had enough energy for anything. Then I met a new friend, Kendra, through my girls' charter school program. I mentioned to this new friend that I was struggling with my weight, and she enthusiastically told me about yet another program--called Trim Healthy Mama. I had heard of it before, but it was one among many I had heard of. My friend told me she lost 70 lbs on it, and my ears perked up. So far every person who tried to sell me on a program was already skinny when they started it, so I was always skeptical. But my friend obviously had success, and additionally she wasn't trying to sell me anything. In fact the "program" cost nothing at all--zero dollars! The only thing it required was a bit of self control and kicking my sugar addiction, which I wasn't ready to do.

May 30, 2023 would change my life. I had joined a group of outdoor enthusiast moms called "Wild Mamas", and enjoyed hiking with all our children in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. That day we were going on a hike in Cheyenne State Park. It was an extremely easy saunter of about a mile, a nice level loop that I could have run in my youth. My children did run it, in fact I never saw them the entire hike because they were at the front of the group and I, well, I was huffing and puffing at the very end of the pack. I literally couldn't keep up with a bunch of toddlers and pregnant mamas! I felt like I was going to die, and had to stop and rest often. One of the ladies stayed back with me to make sure I was okay. When I got home, I had reached a mental crossroads. I could choose life, or I could choose death--a slow, painful, agonizing death. I sat down to read the books my friend Kendra lent me. I figured what the hell, this thing doesn't cost any money and it's literally all I've got left. I also really liked the fact there was nothing weird, crazy, or extreme about this diet. It wasn't even really a diet. I started that day. It was a complete mental shift for me, born of desperation and how utterly sick I was of feeling like an old woman at age 35.

I lost nothing for 4 weeks, and in fact I felt a little sicker because I was going into withdrawals from not eating refined sugar any more. (Fruit, honey, organic maple syrup, are all on plan with Trim Healthy Mama.) But I didn't give up because I had too much at stake, and also Kendra was such a huge cheerleader--encouraging me through texts and in person when we saw each other. Then July rolled around. I stepped on the scale every morning (got a new scale with an app for tracking!) and I couldn't believe it. The weight started FALLING off, like I was shrinking before my own eyes! This had never happened before, in the 8 1/2 years since I gained that first 50 lbs. Best of all, I wasn't depriving myself of any food whatever. I didn't have to go hungry! All the things I couldn't have were things I shouldn't eat anyway--refined oils, flours, and sugars. I think God knew what He was doing when He gave us Earth-food to eat. I felt so much better. When the first 25 lbs melted off my body, I knew this was my new life, my hope, and the way I wanted to live. Kendra still encourages me and cheers me on, and so does TJ and the rest of my family. But I'm self motivated now. I've lost 36 pounds so far and I'm not stopping. I feel younger, lighter, definitely much happier, and my feet and my back don't hurt any more! My foot pain disappearing was the biggest difference of all, at first. Go pick up a 25 lb sack of flour or something and carry it around for a while, that's what I carried with me 24/7! No wonder everything hurt. 

I recommend the Trim Healthy Mama way to everyone, because it takes you back to nature and eating the way God designed human bodies to eat thousands of years ago when He created us. I recommend it because it's FREE, and works on any budget at all. You don't have to buy anything expensive or weird or organic (even though organic is recommended). You can even lose weight without any exercise whatever, although exercise is excellent for your mental health and for building muscle, and helps the weight loss along. So you can do it even if you are wheelchair bound or had surgery or something. It doesn't cut out any food groups and requires no special shakes or programs. Look it up on the internet, there's free information about it everywhere. I especially enjoy the podcast, the two sisters who came up with and promote this way of eating are really great people and so fun to listen to!

Today, August 30th, exactly 3 months after beginning my new way of life and thinking, I conquered one of the most difficult hikes our area is known for: the Manitou Incline. Almost 3,000 steps straight up the mountain, and then a steep 3 mile hike back down again. Three months ago this would have been impossible, I wouldn't even have considered it. But today, I made the hike up in less than two hours, and then this evening I went to my karate class and pumped out a whole lot of kicks and pushups. I'm sore, but I'm not dead. I feel alive, I feel like my young self again. It's been amazing for my mental health too! I'm much more patient with my kids, and I feel the rest of my life becoming more organized and falling into place. I am looking forward to seeing what the next chapter of life holds and excited to see where the journey leads me! And Kendra, I'm so thankful for you. You saved my life.

To My Mother

I wanted you to love me, but you never said you did

I longed for you to touch me, but your hands brought pain instead

I would run into  your arms, but they were always closed

I hoped you would be there for me, but you never showed.

I would tell you all my secrets, but you never cared

Except to cause me heartache, so I learned to never share.

I kept hoping you would realize how much you meant to me

But you stubbornly refused to listen, look or see.

I have many happy memories, but they are tinged with sad

And ruined by the pain of wanting to be glad.

I always looked and waited to see the good in you

The hope is fading with the years, which are becoming few.

Time is passing quickly, and I no longer wait

I live my life without you, which seems to be my fate.

Every time I try to speak to you, you shut me out again

I’m learning that I’ll be okay without you as my friend.

Someday when you are gone, I know that I’ll be sad

But I won’t know how to feel the loss of what I never had.

The pain you cause is healing, but always leaves a scar,

I miss what could have been, and grieve for what you are.

Your daughter,

Jenna 

The Power of the Tongue

 I was in the local Sam's Club parking lot yesterday, loading my usual haul of bakery supplies and groceries into the trunk of my car, when I heard someone screaming. I jerked my gaze behind me in the direction of the sound, and spotted a mother occupied with the same duties as I--chivying at least four children and assorted goods into her Jeep. The mom was screaming at her oldest, who looked to be around 13 years old, and he was yelling back at her. She met my gaze and I could see her embarrassment and frustration even across the two wide aisles of cars.  She was much too far away for me to say anything, and I drove home in deep thought.  

I have noticed a trend among parents, as my children grow older and I also have to handle their frustrating and bizarre behavior frequently--everything from driving their cars in the toilet to tying their karate belts to their curtain rods and playing Tarzan. The trend I am talking about is complaining about our children as a form of bonding among us parents.  I catch myself doing it occasionally, and it revolts my soul. Recently I had a parent call their bright, sweet child terribly profane names in the course of a normal conversation with me, as if that was a regular and normal thing to do, while their child was listening. I didn't know what to say, I was so shocked. This person also repeated the same slur to me, at a different time and a different day, which tells me it was a regular thing and not a one time occasion. I wasn't quick enough to shut them down, but I didn't enter into their sentiment or agree with them.  Not too long ago my husband pointed out an unkind thing I said about one of my children, and I was jolted with another painful shock. Negativity is so contagious!!!!

Speaking Life into others is the duty of every decent human being, and especially of every Christian. And who is more important to speak Life into than our very own children and spouses, the people whom we see the most often and who also have the most numerous opportunities to annoy us?  There are things people have said to me in passing as a child that have stuck with me for the rest of my life, both negative and positive. I am doing my best to make it a habit to tell my kids every day that they are wonderful and beautiful and special, and that I love them. It is natural to love your children, but I also want to like them. I want to raise likable, fun humans who integrate smoothly into society and are productive and successful. 

Imagine the most important person in the world to you, the one that you look up to and admire above all else and unconsciously want to emulate. Imagine overhearing that person refer to you by a vile name in conversation with their friend. How would that make you feel? You might be used to it, desensitized by a lifetime of such abuse. (Yes, I will call it abuse.) But it slowly eats away at your soul, until finally you either believe you are the thing that they say, or you distance yourself from your abuser and find positive affirmation elsewhere.

This week we went to the bank with our girls and helped them get their first checking accounts. They were so excited to deposit the money they saved, and I was so proud of them. I am not a perfect parent by any means, but it would not occur to me to call my daughters the name my friend called their child, because I do not ever think of my girls as that nasty thing. On their occasional bouts of frustrating behavior, I take deep breaths and remind myself that they are little, immature humans who look to me as the mature human in the situation as a role model and example of responses to frustrating behavior. And with God's help I will never, ever speak of my children negatively again to another person for as long as I live. 

In conclusion, to the mom in the parking lot: I hope you find your peace and I hope someone in your life gives you a break, so that you can relax, recharge, and reconsider the way you communicate with your children. Best of luck to all you parents out there! Don't forget that "little pitchers have big ears."

"Death and Life are in the power of the tongue: those who love it will eat the fruit and bear the consequences of their words." Proverbs 18:21