Christmas Letter 2012

"For last year's words belong to last year's language, 

and next year's words await another voice..."  

TS Eliot, "Little Gidding" Four Quartets, 1942

Stopping by Mt. Airy, NC (Andy Griffith's hometown) on the way home from a holiday trip to Roanoke, VA.
The kids and Briggs love the Andy Griffith show.

   

Dear Family & Friends,

His blessings to you this New Year!   I am continually reminded by the pressing demands of life that my own blessings and good wishes are rather flimsy creatures. Thankfully, His steady hold on our shaky lives is firm.  His providential care is broad, unwavering, unlimited. And though we might not pick our individual journey out of a pile and call it a blessing, He would and does. C.S. Lewis comments, "You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage, but He is building a palace."  And so He is busy fashioning our little lives into something much grander than we would wish or fathom.  He remains the great I AM, the great shape-shifter of our lives.  To Him be the glory as we undergo more shaping in 2013!

 We enjoyed family hikes to Moore Cove Falls
and Lower Douglas Falls--blessed to live in WNC.

I’ve gotten away from Christmas pictures and formally mailed letters the last few years and can’t seem to make myself get back to them.  Perhaps it’s the lingering perfectionist in me that resists the thought of finding “the” right picture to send and hashing over the details of our lives in ink.   It can become increasingly ponderous as the years build up, and I understand why my father was sometimes hesitant to go through old pictures.  It stirs up the past, and all its sweetness and nostalgia is hard to settle back down again.  It's much easier make a pot of coffee and get about today than to contemplate the significance of our days as a whole.   But, as my pastor reminded me yesterday in his sermon, there is value in looking back with thanksgiving.  Getting on with life is important, but we also need to stop and  think about what we are getting on with!

Rose with her doll Josephina, on the Maid of the Mist,
Niagara Falls. NY

Each new year ushers in unexpected joys and griefs.  This year was marked most significantly by the much too early loss of my sister Linda’s husband, Mark Pacer.  We attended his surprise 50^th birthday party in Buffalo in late March, then buried him in mid June. Why?  There are no tidy answers for deep sorrows and to offer clichés or inept theology is irresponsible.  I do know that my brother-in-law was a cheerful man who loved his family and brought his joyful presence to any situation. Many people bring the weight of their troubles, but Mark brought lightness and relief.   He had a gift of drawing it out of us.  Only Mark could have you laughing over the story of his diagnosis, and even as he walked through the darkness of cancer, I often had to remind myself that he really was very sick.  He didn’t candycoat things, but he didn’t linger in despair either.   He was definitely a doer, one who "got on with the day."  I admire the grace and candor with which he walked a dark, dark road, and I pray that legacy of lightness will live on in the lives of those he loved.  I know he would wish it so, as he was a carpe diem kind of guy!

Briggs in his element on the USS Yorktown, Charleston, SC

A passing of the baton, we retired our old MPV of 14 years this fall
and moved from a 1993 MPV to a 2007.  Long live "the Beast!"

Easily, the next most significant event has been Briggs’ job transition.  This time last year, Briggs was  three months into the training process of becoming a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones.  February of 2013 will mark the official one year anniversary of his work as an advisor.  It’s been alternately humbling, gratifying, and arduous!  Even before you begin, more seasoned Jones  advisers warn you to brace yourself for a long uphill haul.  It’s a lot of hard work in any economy to start a business, but it requires a particular perseverance to establish financial trust in this discouraging economic climate.  People are rightfully cautious, and Briggs continues to be stretched by working outside of his comfort zone, learning sales, to best be able to help people within his comfort zone of financial planning.  "They" tell us to expect 3-5 years of strenuous work before it gets easier, so we are trusting them, trusting God and treking on. It's anything but boring--weeks seem to be tremendously encouraging or deflating, making us all the more grateful that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Our faith is strengthened as we trust that He is in the journey.  He is busy with the refining, the purifying and purging, growing us in ways we cannot always discern.  By definition, it is  the very essence of faith to step out into mystery. I don’t know of any other way to really grow in faith, do you?  Following the shoreline is delightful, but the crux of faith seems to require us to set our sails for deeper waters and be willing  to lose sight of the shore.

We saw the Lion King with Grandma Elaine in Greenville, SC

Generally, the children are a more straightforward topic.   Perhaps it is because they are always changing and we see the growth more immediately.  Adult growth is laborious in contrast! 

Grace (13) has been going through her own season of transition.  Not quite a young lady and not quite a girl, it’s unmooring to become a teenager in any culture, but especially this one.  She is bright, inquisitive, thoughtful, passionate, and intense. 

Grace on a mom & daughter outing, at the downtown
Basilica of St. Lawrence

In 8th grade now, she continues in her homeschool studies through our Classical Conversations program which meets on Fridays.  Her coursework is primarily dictated by this program and ambitious.   She loves the Latin, Literature, and Science, detests the Logic, and endures the Pre-Algebra.  I generally think the program is a good stretch and challenge for her, but there are days when  I long to chuck it all and go make daisy chains and wander mountainsides with her.  In many ways, Homeschooling, which I've heard aptly described as "extreme parenting," is a huge head game.  As the principal over your child's education, you are forever wondering if you should do more or less, change to something entirely different, or stay the current course and continue with faith.  It is a huge investment, a leap of faith, that we continue to walk out imperfectly in His grace.

In addition to her "homeschool studies" (Where does education leave off and hobbies or interests begin anyway--  Isn't all of life part of our education?), this year Grace has learned woodcarving, ukulele, grown in her knowledge of knitting, and begun singing in a middle school choir.  Out of all of these pursuits, the precision of choir seems to best suit her personality.  We are grateful for her choir director who sets the bar high but is sensitive to the youth he is shaping.  Grace is also finding her way in the Youth Group at our church and attended her first youth conference this fall. 

David's self portrait

David (11 in January) continues to find his own rhythm.  He generally flies under the radar, but will stick his neck out and make sure he's heard when it comes to something he values.  He's generally low key, low maintenance, and quite observant.  He is also more culturally sensitive than the other two and loves technology--a blessing and yet a beast that we fight daily. He loved his ukulele classes this summer with his mellow and encouraging instructor, Mr. Crowe. 

David at Crossfire Basketball Camp
this summer.

The more flexible style of stringed instruments seems to suit David's more bohemian nature, so I hope he persists and grows in his musical skill.  Also, both Briggs and David continue to be active in their Cub Scout troop.   Briggs is David's den leader, and a highlight was their weekend scouting trip to the USS Yorktown in Charleston, SC this fall.  David earned his Arrow of Light right before the holidays and will graduate into Boy Scouts proper this spring.  Again, I appreciate the camaraderie and commitment of the men who lead this pack, particularly Joshua Gates.  We are blessed to have so many dedicated people faithfully building into our children's lives. In his homeschool this year, David has begun the next level of our CC program, called “Essentials.” This class focuses intensely on grammar and writing skills, along with some math games and drills.  The poor child must endure me as his tutor—there’s no escape from  grammar terms and writing technique with an English teacher for a mother!  Actually, David--who tends to  be quiet in nature--is growing up to be a fine writer and can put things down on paper rather well when focused.   

One of Rose & Maya's summer creations.

Finally, our youngest, Rose (8) continues to be a fire hose—a constant source of motion and momentum. In the last year she has become fast friends with a little girl who moved in behind us named Maya.  Maya and her sister Jayce have become part of a sweet little pack of children that run and play freely from yard to yard. It’s sweet to watch them wander, playing on our zip line, then their tire swing, next building forts and making mud pies.  Play really is the serious work of childhood in my opinion. We are blessed to have these neighborhood friends, including Gavin who is David's boy buddy in the midst of the girls. When they all get together, they are like a roving, imaginative and joyful tribe.  (I must remember that next time I find my garden flowers painted with nail polish and my dishware abducted for tea parties in the yard).  They remind me of my own carefree childhood days when children roamed throughout the neighborhood without care.  To me, they are precious, a lingering relic of a simpler childhood and way of life. But, getting back to Rose...

Rose at the Grove Park Inn.

Rose is alternately painfully shy and unabashedly boisterous depending upon her surroundings and mood.  She is physical, affectionate, impulsive  and tenderhearted. In the past year, she has developed a deep devotion to her stuffed animals, all 31 of them at last count, and has named each one.  When we went to Roanoke to celebrate Christmas with Briggs' family, she packed them all up in her bags, not wishing to leave any lonely ones behind.  Her fondest wish was for an enormous plush white tiger that arrived on Christmas day.    

Long story--me at the beach with Rose's prized seahorse
---four of her fast expanding animal collection.

Grace was just peeking over my shoulder as I type and told me to “not forget yourself!”  Quantifying your own life is perhaps the most difficult of all.   Let’s see….   I continue to head up homeschooling despite the stress upon our income.  It's a battle of sorts--part of me longs to be able to help our family more financially while Briggs builds his business—but we always come away from these discussions convicted that I need to stay the course and provide stability at home.   I have picked up the financial ball in some areas and continue to teach on Fridays with our homeschool program.  This year I am tutoring David’s writing and grammar class which seems to be a good fit for David's needs and makes use of my background.  Also, I have started a side-business of administering the Woodcock Johnson III test for homschooling families in the community.  It is more than a mere "bubble test" and is more interactive and varied than many other standardized tests.  I really enjoy the testing process and working with the students and families.  The challenge is that the testing season (spring) places more demands upon my time.  Another adventure this year has been participating in the Christian Womens' Job Corp (CWJC) which is a national program that seeks to provide Christian mentoring for women coming out of crisis situations. The process has been humbling and inspiring. It’s amazing to step into the journey of others, and I would highly recommend this program as  a worthwhile investment.

Our missing "Missy"--not the nicest cat, but my constant
garden companion nonetheless, a member of the family
for 7 years...I will miss her company when gardening.

We continue to be active in our church community and after much contemplation formally joined New Life Community Church this past year.   Our church journey has been a long and circuitous one, something that would not make a whole lot of sense to most people, especially those not involved with church life.  Walking through it, I have found the journey confusing and discouraging at times.  But emerging from the fog and looking back, I see Him and His Church all the more clearly for the walk. Again, He is determined to have the best of us.  I am encouraged and rest in the truth that His Church is not contained by walls or diminished by the continual shortcomings of man.  His Church is distinct, made up of individual souls, not churches. He works through churches but is not limited or thankfully defined by them.  His Church rolls through the ages, through the seasons, and it’s this Church that ultimately matters in the final equation.  All other churches are just handmaidens to this Church.  In our journey, we've also had many conversations with people who have been wounded by "religion" or by "church" life.  I certainly struggled with empty ritualism and the hypocracy I saw within the church before I became a follower of Christ.  I would encourage anyone in this camp to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater---read the scriptures and seek Christ--not society's and man's endless distortions of Him, or the church with the little c.

Well, all of that is rather heavy--life is heavy, isn't it?  It's certainly much richer, more varied, more than we bargained for as children looking out in the world and wondering what we "want to be" when we grow up.  But, there is joy and satisfaction, blessing and growth in every corner of the map as it unfolds.  Thanks for taking the time to catch up and journey through our year with us.  May your 2013 be blessed with new voices and new adventures as we press on and hold true...

God bless and much love to you and those dear to you,

Elizabeth, Briggs, Grace, David & Rose

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained." Philippians 3:12-16

High summer in our front garden-- I always admire the zeal of the annuals,
tall sunflowers and tassling corn.  Another favorite this year was our
Lacinato Kale patch,  planted in May but still kicking  in January!