Stone's Fence

So. This was going to be the year of "no Christmas letter." Angie and I were feeling so tired and hurried as the season broke…whatever happened to "when the kids are gone things will slow down around here?" We thought we'd just quietly let the annual Christmas encyclical go unwritten. Then today, pondering a stack of papers to be graded I thought, "Why not write a Christmas letter?"

Our calendar for 2005 is revealing. Over and over, I see "JM" (for days Angie works at Jessamine Medical,) "Art Lesson," Cross-Country Meet, Orlando (for when I fly down to teach at Asbury's Orlando campus), Academic Team, "Mow" ferrier, worm horses, "Grub Killer," vehicle repairs--lotsa those! and then there's something called "waxing." I don't even want to know what that is! Our lives have been consumed with work, with Lyman's school activities, grooming our farm, now christened "Stonefence," car issues, and the care of our beloved animals: the horses—Duke, Weeds, and Toby; the cats—Scarlet and Rhett, and Django, the arthritic-psycho wonder-dog.

The year opened with Lyman traveling with his grandparents and cousin Josh to the Philippines for 3 weeks. This priceless experience exposed him to another culture, to important aspects of America's history, and to the incredible ministry of his grandparents, not to mention tropical diseases. Lyman came home with a broader mind, lots of pictures, and a big grin. That broad mind has been expressing itself recently by writing several long stories, with layers of meaning. Lyman has also been writing his own book of Christian doctrine, not to mention a blog where he holds forth regularly on an amazing range of subjects. His writing becomes more mature with each project he completes. In January our marriage turned 26 and I turned...50. I confess, on January 10, 2005 I felt every day of 50—achy, stiff, overweight, and depressed about life. But I'd made a decision to exercise, take on some healthy eating habits, and see what happened. Today I'm about 45 pounds lighter, enjoy my daily 3-mile run, ride horses often with Angie, enjoy building drystone fences, and can't find any aches or pains. I've traded my 44/46 jeans for 38's! The last time I had 38's on my hips, they were pistols! I feel 20 years younger and am grateful for the encouragement I have received, especially from Angie.

Angie also did something to make my turning 50 a little easier. We don't share the same tastes in music. I like jazz, she likes classical. I like guitar, she likes piano. But she sneaked around and bought tickets for a major concert in Detroit by my favorite edgy-jazz guitar band, the Pat Metheny Group. She reserved a room at a swank hotel and we enjoyed a romantic anniversary-birthday weekend. The concert was sensational--Angie was as captivated as I was! Most significant, though, were the hours in the car each way soaking ourselves in conversation. We had not enjoyed uninterrupted, totally transparent talk in months. That heart-to-heart time remains my lasting memory of that magical weekend. What a privilege to love a woman who knows my heart!

Zach finished up his freshman year at Asbury College and went west for a job, lured by two magic words: camp and Colorado. His summer working at the Salvation Army youth camp in Estes Park, CO was a time of…insights. I'll let you ask him about the insights! In July the whole extended Coleman family vacationed in Buena Vista, Colorado. All three of the "senior" Colemans were there, along with kids, grandkids and entourages. Yes it was wild. Yes, there were tensions at times. But there were also slides, giggles, memories, and the delicious awareness of belonging to the "tribe."

In Colorado, Lyman, Hannah, and their two cousins joined me for a 12-mile hike up Mt. Columbia, a 14,000+ ft. mountain. Upon coming down the mountain, I noticed our new Ford wagon sitting mysteriously lower than normal. Plus, Angie's dad and brother were limping around rubbing their backs....she loves the Rockies so much, she just had to...steal some rocks. So she conned her dad and brother into loading a mere 600 pounds of boulders into the car, which we hauled all the way back to Kentucky! Now our own "Rocky Mountains" adorn the front yard. I feel a tradition coming on...

September saw an exit and an invasion. The exit was Hannah's departure to Hillsdale College in Michigan following a triumphant graduation from high school in which she gave one of the student speeches. We love her new college, but all the way home, Angie and I cried and argued about who was going to miss Hannah most, and who was saddest, for the best reasons! Yes, we're adults, most of the time. Hannah has taken Hillsdale by storm and I've decided that every young lady should own at least one small private college. The invasion was GRUBS. This slimy little monsters pop up every time we turn over a shovel of dirt and destroy our lawn. So Angie has declared chemical warfare on the grubs. God must love the grubs because we can't kill them off, despite dumping Saddam-Hussein class levels of chemicals with names like di-hydromethazonoidalhekalinephosphate. The grubs still come up grinning, munching on bits of poison like they were Reeses Pieces.

...oh yes...Christmas trees. Hannah and I decided to start planting Christmas trees every year so that when the children are grown and have their own kids, they can come visit "grandpa and grandma" and cut a Christmas tree. So we planted 10 Fraser Firs, of which 5 died immediately. Grubs again I imagine. The Stone "Black Thumb of Death" still plagues our efforts to grow things, except grubs!

The Fall also marked a new obsession: rock climbing. Zach has been at it for a couple of years, with Lyman and Hannah joining in. So the day came when I went rock climbing in the Red River Gorge. I love sharing activities with the kids, and climbing is now the shared activity. Even Angie participates: she screams and gives vital "beta" (climber jargon for technical advice) like "BE CAREFUL!"

Amidst all these sweet and bitter-sweet experiences, we have struggled as well. A crisis in the life of a friend left us hurting and groping for answers that just won't come. Working at a theological seminary means always struggling with how the church—and the seminary—is carrying out its mission. But in all things, I know two constants: the love of Christ, and the steadfast companionship of Angie. She is the other half of my heart-beat. Some of the finest moments of my life come when we are riding the horses and I look over my shoulder and just see her there in the glow of the late afternoon sun. It surely doesn't get any better than that!

Our Advent devotions this year have centered on the theme of the promised land and "Canaan"--motivated in part by an upcoming 3 weeks in Israel for Lyman and me in January. Canaan, like the coming of the Messiah, was a long-awaited promise of God. As a promise, it was the object of hopes and dreams. But Canaan was also the place where Abraham couldn't even bury his wife without paying an exorbitant sum for a grave plot in the land that was already his by God's promise. Canaan was a place they had to leave more than once due to famine. Canaan had people in it who didn't seem to know that God wanted Israel there. Canaan often seemed a promise that didn't want to be fulfilled. So with Advent and Christmas. We celebrate the fulfillment of the promise, but even in fulfillment, we know challenges, struggles, and often can only cling to Him whose Word cannot be broken.

That Word that became flesh is indeed, our Promised Land.

Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years

Lawson, for the Stones