our christmas letter

This Christmas we find ourselves moseying into a new season of life. After four and a half great years in Indiana, and after a thousand prayers and conversations, we realized that God was calling us to a new start. We left the pastor life and pasture land of Corydon, IN for a new season in Knoxville, TN. I also left a busy calendar, 7-minute-through-the-county commute and a 1.5 acre lot for a blank calendar, gobs of traffic, and a rental house with a lot so small that the last guy mowed it with a weedeater. I wish I was joking. Still, it’s odd how life on a street with 65 houses in a bigger city can move at a slower pace than it did in a small country town.

I now serve with Emerald Youth Foundation, an urban youth foundation that I am becoming more impressed with by the week. We work with 1000 young people, 20 churches, 12 schools, and lots more I still don’t know all about. My family is also part of Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, and are more thankful for the church everyday. When we moved here, there were a dozen people in our driveway ready to move us in, and the church has continued to care for us in humbling ways. It’s hard to put into words how thankful we are for the church. It is incredible in every way.

Anne is a real-life Green Acres story. City living is the life for her. She is enjoying Knoxville. She is the busiest one in the family, but most of what she does goes unnoticed. She deals with diapers and potty training, tantrums and night-nights, trains and trucks and hotwheel cars and little boy clutter that is foreign to her. She is incredible with our little men. I read a GK Chesterton quote that says that motherhood is being shut up in a house with children during the most impressionable years of their lives, when they ask every question there is and some that are not. That is Anne’s life, and the boys and I are thankful for her sacrifice.

Wyatt is three and a half. He is in preschool two days a week and loves it. He has more friends than his parents. His favorite things include running, laughing, cars, the color red (he says, “I yike wred”), trains, running more, chicken and fries, books and his brother. He also thinks he helps raise his brother and will put him in time out if he feels the need. Our favorite is watching them hold hands as they cross a parking lot. Rex likes to be close to his brother. Wyatt likes the control. Here’s a glimpse into life with two little boys: Not too long ago Anne heard Wy yell, “No Baby Rex; I wanted to eat that booger.” They are gross animals that we couldn’t enjoy more.

Rex is one and a half and hilarious. He wrestles and squeezes and hugs and pounces; he’s a physical dude. He loves his brother more than his one-syllable words can express. They are frick and frack, in a wonderful and terrifying way. If they gang up on us we may call you for backup. Rex loves a full belly and often eats more than his mom. No joke. He enjoys books and his Curious George and sausage. His mind works like this: He will say, “Mama!... car.” “Daddy!... car.” Us: “Did you see a car?” Rex: “No.” That is a Rex conversation. He is a good time.

So in this new season our zip code is different, our boys are bigger and our lives are slower. God is still wonderful beyond words and we are blessed beyond measure. Whatever season you are in, I pray you can trust that God is guiding and that He knows the way better than you. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV). I hope your season is as blessed as ours. Season’s Greetings.