"Christmas" Letter

The thing about Christmas letters is that if they are going to be both current and received on time, they have to be written at approximately the same time as final papers must be turned in. Thus, here is a belated Christmas letter.

I am writing from my parents’ house in McCook, Nebraska. This is the first year in a long time that we have not had to work over Christmas break and so we have been able to spend more time at home with family. This was a good year to do that since we haven’t been in Nebraska since May.

We are getting used to St. Louis. Our least favorite part is easily the driving time. They are getting ready to shut down one of the main freeways for the next three years so it is only going to get worse. How we long for the days when a quick trip to the store didn’t take an hour or more.

Aside from the hassle of getting from place to place we’re very happy with our apartment and our neighbors. We’re getting to know more people and developing some good friendships. Dawn has started a bi-weekly social time for some of the wives at our apartment complex and that has been a real blessing. They just get together to hang out and talk and I think they are all glad to have each other’s support.

Dawn left Bed, Bath, and Beyond shortly before Christmas break. There have been some problems there since she began in June and after sticking it out for seven months with no apparent changes made by the management we decided it was time for her to move on. She was essentially on the go from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (or later on some nights because of class) and it was really wearing her thin. She has some other opportunities lined up. She will have an interview for part-time secretary work with a Christian counseling office when we get back to Saint Louis. Please pray that God would provide something soon. Ideally we would like to see her have more time to take classes (which are free for her if she can just find the time to take them) and to be involved in the seminary community in preparation for our future ministry together.

Zoya continues to excel in sleeping all day and barking at the mailman. She has enjoyed seeing the family over break. It is nice to have a variety of warm laps to choose from when contemplating a nap.

I am still working part-time at the Campus bookstore and enjoying it. School has been challenging to say the least but very rewarding as well. My expectations have been exceeded in so many ways and I praise God for bringing us to this school. The professors exhibit such an encouraging combination of academic rigor and pastoral concern. Our school is small but is growing rapidly and we are well known in seminary circles as a school that consistently produces good shepherds of God’s people.

The most challenging class this semester was undoubtedly Greek in Exegesis. This class reviewed the basic vocabulary and grammar skills we learned in Beginning Greek this summer and began applying them to the real work of interpretation and understanding that goes into sermon preparation. Aside from our weekly review quizzes we delved deeper into Greek grammar and syntax. We learned how to do word studies and textual criticism. We learned how to diagram passages. We learned how to read and evaluate commentaries. We had to write our own commentary with our own translation of an assigned passage from Philippians and we had to translate the entire book of Philippians! I am probably leaving a few things out as well. All of it involves a tremendous amount of time and effort but it can be really exciting as well.

I’ve also really enjoyed Covenant Theology, which is a foundational course for every student. It is team taught by a Systematic Theology professor, an Old Testament professor and a New Testament professor so it is an all-encompassing course. I have come to understand the overarching story of the Bible so much better as a result of this class. I have particularly come to understand the Old Testament and the way it relates to the New Testament much better, something that I always found somewhat confusing before. The class has two parts and I am looking forward to the second part this spring.

I’ll be taking a heavy load of classes this spring – hopefully not foolishly. It sounds like it will mostly be reading and writing response papers, which I am certainly accustomed to by now. Please be praying that I would not take on too much or that God would make it apparent if I need to ease off somehow. The classes I am signed up for include:

Covenant Theology II
God and Humanity
Apologetics and Outreach
Elementary Homiletics
Gospels
Masculine Spirituality

Three of those are only 2 credit classes but that is still 15 hours! They will all be great classes though so I can’t see dropping anything. Dawn is hoping to take two classes. One is a non-MDiv version of the Apologetics & Outreach class that uses the same materials and is taught by the same professor but is tailored to students who won’t be in pastoral ministry. The other is a class called Christ, Humanity, and Redemption and should be a very rewarding class as well. Please pray that whatever job she finds will be flexible enough to allow her to take and enjoy these classes.

Spring semester doesn’t begin until Jan. 29th, but we are taking a one credit Jan-term class on the weekend of the 12th called Gospel-Centered Marriage. We are looking forward to doing this together and also to enjoying the rest of the break with each other.

So things are going well and we are happy to be where we know God wants us. He has brought so much growth to our lives in these past eight months it is hard to convey it in words. We have seen our share of challenges but by His grace they have served to bring us closer to each other and taught us to rely on Him. Our union with Christ has become a source of strength and comfort in the face of trials. We long to know him better and to image forth the glory of God in all that we do. We pray the same for you.

We are so thankful to all of you who are reading this and who have supported us with your prayers and gifts. It has been a sign of God’s grace in our lives and we are so appreciative to have your support. We have truly been blessed.

We pray that you have had a wonderful holiday season and that God’s glory would be your passion in the year to come.

May His peace be with you,

David and Dawn