2017 Christmas Letter

Peter and I very intentionally wrote this letter for you about a week or so ago. We’ve shared it at www.bit.ly/webbchristmas but it’s important to us that you read it, so we are sharing it all here, too:

2017 LETTER
DEAR FRIENDS & FAMILY,

We wish you a very blessed holiday season. We hope you are encouraged by reading the story of our year, and are drawn closer to God as we spotlight what He’s accomplishing and teaching us. He’s the star of our adventure.

Oh, 2017, what a beast you have been. This year, we faced the greatest battles of our lives so far, as Peter faced the diagnosis of Testicular Cancer, and thanks to the Lord’s provision--through our incredible community and His constant, powerful presence--we are on the road to victory.

We began the year adjusting to life as parents of a 6 month old. Tori began transitioning her job at New Day from Administrator to her current role, Social Media Manager, which she is able to do mostly from home. Peter dove into WorshipArts 17th season, pouring into interns and students and loving every minute. We remember both being tired a lot, but that’s life as new parents right? It was hard at times, but our little bundle of Joy was a constant delight and we were slowly getting to the point where we felt we could manage this whole parent thing AND the other aspects of life.

In March, our entire family came together to celebrate Esther’s baby dedication. It was truly a miracle to have Esther’s aunts and uncles from both sides, who live all over now, all in the same place. The power of a family that seeks the Lord and is a refuge for one another is one of the greatest testimonies and rare treasures. Little did we know how much we would lean on the strength of our family this year.

April brought a much anticipated vacation--Esther and Tori went with her dad, mom, and brothers to Florida to surprise their Nana, who had not met her great-grandbaby Esther Joy yet. Peter, and our family Emily and Andrew, all drove down to join us for two days in Walt Disney World. It was a magical time showing our little Princess one of Tori’s favorite places in the world!

During the trip, Peter was quite exhausted and not feeling well--when we returned home, we discovered he had chicken pox. We are so proud of our interns who did a phenomenal job leading WorshipArts! Esther also caught the chicken pox, which was difficult for us to see our little peanut sick.

In May, we celebrated Tori’s first Mother’s Day, and she was in our dear friends Hannah and Benjamin’s beautiful wedding. At the end of the month we decided to dive into a crazy project that started as just redoing our floors, and quickly turned into painting our main floor, cabinets, and redoing the layout of our kitchen. Looking back, in May, we can see that Peter was more exhausted than Tori had ever seen him be previously. Of course, that didn’t stop him from running hard into every challenge that came our way, and we assumed he was still recovering from last month, and just tired from a baby and all the normal life things. Tori remembers continually praying for health and vitality for our family. How surprised we would be next month to learn what was really going on.

Despite all the challenges we faced this year, Tori achieved quite a few personal accomplishments. She walked her first 5K in September (in 92° weather!), started a serious journey to eat better and has lost 12 lbs, and she has begun her own venture sharing her favorite make-up, LipSense and SeneGence, through her own business. We are especially proud to share that she graduated this fall from Wellspring, a ministry school offered by our church. I (Tori) feel so much closer with the Lord after completing this course. One story I want to highlight: All through Wellspring, God kept bring health to the forefront, specifically physical health. I knew He wanted me to focus on it, but at the time it was unclear to me what specifically He wanted me to do. On June 15th, I wrote this in my journal, from the perspective of God talking to me: “My promises are true. Enjoy this journey of health.”

June 17th, our lives changed forever. Peter had been experiencing abdominal pain so difficult it kept him from working on the house project. After many hours of waiting at the hospital we were told that Peter had Testicular Cancer, and that he would need surgery first thing in the morning, on Father’s Day.

The next five months were filled with the hardest days of our lives, and also the closest experiences of encountering God. Extreme pain, 12 weeks of intense chemotherapy, five hospital visits and four admissions (edit: after we sent this, we went back into the hospital for a bowel obstruction, and he is recovering well), receiving prayer from friends in at least 14 countries, learning to accept more offers for help than we ever had before, entrusting our precious baby to family and friends more than we ever anticipated, surprise gift after surprise gift literally sustaining us through months when we both couldn’t work, and at every turn the Lord’s faithfulness in the forefront. Tori wrote updates along the way, which are all at www.posthope.org/peterwebb.

Every need that presented itself has been met, physical and spiritual. We came home to a house remodeled and reorganized by our friends and family. Friends, students and alumni carried on the ministry of WorshipArts, leading a camp without me, and carrying on rehearsals and chapel this fall. We ate wonderful meals cooked with love for us. Experienced encouraging visits, phone calls and facebook messages. Elders came and prayed, anointing me (Peter) with oil and laying hands on me, believing for healing. Students of mine came and led me in worship. I feel like the cripple in Luke 5 that didn’t have the strength to get to Jesus, but He had friends that knew the way. He had friends who could pick Him up and put Him in the presence of God.

Thank you, friends. Your help and prayers were the hands and voice of Jesus to us. And we rejoice at the doctor’s pronouncement after this last surgery: I am cancer free!

We are still fighting. The battle is not over yet. The chemo and three surgeries drained my strength to empty, and I feel like I got hit with a wrecking ball. We’re believing for more healing and restoration. But we’re on the road to victory, and we celebrate the miracle God has done.

Here’s the truth: this year we struggled with fear and doubt. There were moments of intimidation and confusion. We had a heavy weariness, and came to places of utter brokenness. There were moments where we had faith for the future, and moments where we had none. And we dealt with a sense of shame for the weak moments.

Maybe you’re in that place this Christmas. Asking yourself, “aren’t I supposed to be stronger than this?”

We’re learning answer is, “no.”

It’s not our strength that God glories in. He’s strong in our weakness. So it’s okay to have moments of fear and doubt. It’s ok to be broken. It’s ok to be in a place of yearning and waiting. Because it’s in the brokenness, it’s in the waiting, that we’ve experienced the most profound moments of encounter with God. When you know that you don’t have any strength, any strength that comes is obviously from God. When you’re in an impossible situation and you have impossible peace, you know it’s the Holy Spirit.

Moments of brokenness bring us to a place where we recognise our need for someone to make things right. It’s easy to think we’re strong enough to be self-sufficient when everything’s going well. But it’s these places of brokenness that we realize the truth: We can’t do it ourselves. We need a savior. We need the One who makes all things new. The one who bears our burdens, who heals the brokenhearted, and the one who proclaims that 2017 is not the year of sickness and pain. 2017 is the year of the favor of the Lord. We are blessed because Christ the Lord is here. Oh come let us adore Him.

“Long lay the world, in sin and error pining... ‘til He appeared, and the soul felt it’s worth.”

I was broken, and then He came. My soul has worth in Him.

This year God is teaching me that the most important fact about me, the thing that overshadows everything I’ve done and everything I ever hope to do, that truth is that I’m the beloved of the Lord. Jesus loves me, this I know. Not just because the Bible tells me so. I’ve experienced it. Peace that passes understanding. Joy unspeakable. The love of God. That’s all that matters. I spend a lot of my time believing my situations are more important that God’s Word and assured love--and that’s the truth I need to be reminded of. The presence, power and love of the Lord outshines my situations. Ultimately, it’s not cancer that determines how long I’m going to live. It’s not invasive surgeries that determine whether or not I’ll ever have kids again. My days are written in His book. Jesus is Lord. Not just in name, but in power and authority. And my life is the Lord’s.

Thank you for being a part of our lives and allowing us to be a part of yours. May you experience profound closeness with Christ and the family of God this season.

Tidings of comfort and joy,
Peter, Tori, and Esther Webb