Nathan 5 years:
Judah 6.5 years:
Monday, 10 January 2011
Christmas Letter 2010
Since it has been a ridiculously long time since we posted anything on here, I thought that this Christmas letter might help fill in a few gaps.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Dear family and friends,
It would probably make sense to have the writer of the family prepare this letter, but since he needs all the time and focus he can muster to keep chipping away at his 100,000 word dissertation, I figured that I’d give it a go. As I type this letter, we have around five weeks to wait for the birth of our fourth child. We are all very much longing and waiting with great anticipation to meet this new addition to our family. I can only begin to imagine how Mary felt; pregnant with her first born son, knowing that she was carrying the Son of God! It is such a precious time for us to be celebrating the birth of our saviour, and expecting our own little one’s imminent arrival.
So for the Coombs family, we look back at yet another year living in the States, and are thankful to God for His love, His generous provision and unfailing faithfulness. I know it all sounds very cliche, but we really do feel incredibly thankful for the life that we have, and for the lives that we have been entrusted with. There is something wonderful about children, and we are enjoying having them in our lives.
We can hardly believe that Judah will be seven in just a couple of months. He loves school and has a wonderful first grade teacher who takes great delight in him. This year his reading has really taken off and he now enjoys reading chapter books. He is an avid Lego creator, likes to draw, break-dance and play outside with the neighbours. During the summer, his favourite activity is swimming and racing down water slides at the local pool, and now that we’ve entered the winter months, he is taken with zipping down hills on a snow sled. In typical first born fashion, he is diligent, responsible, helpful and protective. We are so very proud of Judah not only for his accomplishments, but more so for his heart. He’s our quality-time guy, and with life travelling at the fast pace that it does, we have to be mindful of taking the time out to just sit and play chess or Monopoly together from time to time.
Clayton junior, oops, I mean Nathan, who is five, is our budding philosopher/theologian. This is not something that we have projected on to him, but in all seriousness, the kid asks HUGE questions and ponders the mysteries of God and the universe. Having said this, Nathan is not ALL serious. He is the wacky one in the family, and loves to goof around. He has a very tender and generous heart that we have to be careful to protect and not trample on when we are in a hurry (I continually seek God for more patience!) Nathan is creative and can spend hours at the kitchen table drawing. He like Judah, also takes pleasure in break-dancing and playing with Lego. He also enjoys riding his bike, playing soccer and playing with his best friend Lilyanne who lives next-door.
Jordan, is the sweet and charming, yet tough two year-old who we all simply adore. He has brought so much joy to our lives, and continues to be a very easy-going child. He’s a big talker and has had become quite confident at expressing himself. The youngest of three boys, Jordan is keen to grow up and be a ‘big boy’ experiencing all of the same things that his older brothers enjoy like riding a real bike. (Actually, he rides a toddler two-wheeler balance bike—one that is without pedals that he can sort of scoot around on). Probably the most significant thing that happened to Jordan this year, was that he gave his heart to the Lord. It was a very precious moment that quite honestly took us by surprise. It was a real privilege to take part in this and it was a great reminder that the Kingdom of God really does belong to such as these.
Clayton has continued to work hard. Having earlier this year completed the course work component of his PhD, he has been working on writing his dissertation/thesis. Facing the enormous task that this represents, he has had to establish some rather disciplined habits and daily practises. He suspects that writing this ‘beast,’ is as least as much about developing life-long habits of a writer as it is about the actual written content itself. So I guess it’s true of this process, that it is more about the journey than the destination. The staff at the local Dunkin Donuts that he walks to at 5:30am each morning, now address him by name, and know his ritual order for a black half decaffeinated coffee with a plain multi-grain bagel. Aside from writing, Clayton has taught several classes and even enjoyed teaching a series at church. He recently presented a paper at a theological conference that was held in Atlanta and looks forward to travelling to Oxford next year to do the same. He has had a paper that he wrote on “Pentecostal hermeneutics” published earlier this year and hopes to have one or two others published before he is done. But the thing that most impresses me about this man, is that with all of this, he still has his priorities in order. Devoted and whole-hearted follower of Jesus; present, involved and tender loving father and selfless lover. I couldn’t ask for more. Apologies for gushing, but yes, we are still very much in love—I guess I shouldn’t be apologising for that.
I suppose that this letter would not be complete without me sharing a little about myself. It goes without saying that during this season of life (that being motherhood), each day is filled with the mundane: changing nappies, serving meals, cleaning, driving children to school and so on. But each day is accented with moments of sweet pleasure and from time to time, reflections of the reality that God’s eternal purposes are presently being forged in the mundane. A favourite Christian singer/song writer of mine, Steven Curtis Chapman sings of how as parents, we are “changing the world one little heartbeat at a time.” I have been encouraged as I watch my children grow and mature that giving my life to raising my kids is exactly where God wants me. In the past, it has been tempting at times to be impatient and wish for this intense season of motherhood to all hurry up and be over, so that I can get back to getting on with the life that I had before, but I’ve woken up to the fact that this is REAL life, and that raising these precious children, should end up being my greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God. A year ago, on the way home from a women’s retreat, I talked with friends about the sorts of things that we hoped to accomplish once we had more time to ourselves. I shared about how I would like to become a lifestyle photographer. I later realised that there was no reason to wait, and that these things simply didn’t happen overnight, so I just began taking photos. I figured that I could just learn as I went. It has been fun and I have already taken a number of photo shoots for families, church and will this week be taking photos for Nathan’s pre-school. Getting heavier into this pregnancy, I am shifting gears and have taken up knitting. Call me old fashioned, but there is something magnificent about knitting for your unborn child while they are being knit together in your womb.
Earlier this year we moved into a townhouse just walking distance from Wheaton College. It has been wonderful to live again in a community with a couple of other young families and has reminded us a lot of our time at Fuller Seminary. It has been tremendous for the boys to have friends to play with outside around the little playground that we have on the property and to have other parents to share life with. Our community has not only been a great source of love and support, but it has also presented us with many opportunities to live and give outside of our comfort levels and we are thankful for that. It has been wonderful to see our children grow in acceptance and affection of others who they would not naturally be drawn to. There has been an older Vietnamese widow that we have had a lot to do with this year. To start with, Jordan would say to me quietly, “But I don’t like her.” And he was not alone. Hoa was loud and inconsiderate, pushy and demanding. And her face and hands, which were severely disfigured by a house fire in which she lost her granddaughter, were unnerving to our two year-old. But Jordan would slowly learn that Jesus loves Hoa, and so would he.
Thank you for slowing down and taking the time to read this letter. We would love to hear from you, so please do drop us an email and let us know how you are doing. To those of you who have faithfully supported us during this time of preparation and foundation building, we thank you for your commitment and generosity.
Wishing you the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of His love at Christmas and always.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Dear family and friends,
It would probably make sense to have the writer of the family prepare this letter, but since he needs all the time and focus he can muster to keep chipping away at his 100,000 word dissertation, I figured that I’d give it a go. As I type this letter, we have around five weeks to wait for the birth of our fourth child. We are all very much longing and waiting with great anticipation to meet this new addition to our family. I can only begin to imagine how Mary felt; pregnant with her first born son, knowing that she was carrying the Son of God! It is such a precious time for us to be celebrating the birth of our saviour, and expecting our own little one’s imminent arrival.
So for the Coombs family, we look back at yet another year living in the States, and are thankful to God for His love, His generous provision and unfailing faithfulness. I know it all sounds very cliche, but we really do feel incredibly thankful for the life that we have, and for the lives that we have been entrusted with. There is something wonderful about children, and we are enjoying having them in our lives.
We can hardly believe that Judah will be seven in just a couple of months. He loves school and has a wonderful first grade teacher who takes great delight in him. This year his reading has really taken off and he now enjoys reading chapter books. He is an avid Lego creator, likes to draw, break-dance and play outside with the neighbours. During the summer, his favourite activity is swimming and racing down water slides at the local pool, and now that we’ve entered the winter months, he is taken with zipping down hills on a snow sled. In typical first born fashion, he is diligent, responsible, helpful and protective. We are so very proud of Judah not only for his accomplishments, but more so for his heart. He’s our quality-time guy, and with life travelling at the fast pace that it does, we have to be mindful of taking the time out to just sit and play chess or Monopoly together from time to time.
Clayton junior, oops, I mean Nathan, who is five, is our budding philosopher/theologian. This is not something that we have projected on to him, but in all seriousness, the kid asks HUGE questions and ponders the mysteries of God and the universe. Having said this, Nathan is not ALL serious. He is the wacky one in the family, and loves to goof around. He has a very tender and generous heart that we have to be careful to protect and not trample on when we are in a hurry (I continually seek God for more patience!) Nathan is creative and can spend hours at the kitchen table drawing. He like Judah, also takes pleasure in break-dancing and playing with Lego. He also enjoys riding his bike, playing soccer and playing with his best friend Lilyanne who lives next-door.
Jordan, is the sweet and charming, yet tough two year-old who we all simply adore. He has brought so much joy to our lives, and continues to be a very easy-going child. He’s a big talker and has had become quite confident at expressing himself. The youngest of three boys, Jordan is keen to grow up and be a ‘big boy’ experiencing all of the same things that his older brothers enjoy like riding a real bike. (Actually, he rides a toddler two-wheeler balance bike—one that is without pedals that he can sort of scoot around on). Probably the most significant thing that happened to Jordan this year, was that he gave his heart to the Lord. It was a very precious moment that quite honestly took us by surprise. It was a real privilege to take part in this and it was a great reminder that the Kingdom of God really does belong to such as these.
Clayton has continued to work hard. Having earlier this year completed the course work component of his PhD, he has been working on writing his dissertation/thesis. Facing the enormous task that this represents, he has had to establish some rather disciplined habits and daily practises. He suspects that writing this ‘beast,’ is as least as much about developing life-long habits of a writer as it is about the actual written content itself. So I guess it’s true of this process, that it is more about the journey than the destination. The staff at the local Dunkin Donuts that he walks to at 5:30am each morning, now address him by name, and know his ritual order for a black half decaffeinated coffee with a plain multi-grain bagel. Aside from writing, Clayton has taught several classes and even enjoyed teaching a series at church. He recently presented a paper at a theological conference that was held in Atlanta and looks forward to travelling to Oxford next year to do the same. He has had a paper that he wrote on “Pentecostal hermeneutics” published earlier this year and hopes to have one or two others published before he is done. But the thing that most impresses me about this man, is that with all of this, he still has his priorities in order. Devoted and whole-hearted follower of Jesus; present, involved and tender loving father and selfless lover. I couldn’t ask for more. Apologies for gushing, but yes, we are still very much in love—I guess I shouldn’t be apologising for that.
I suppose that this letter would not be complete without me sharing a little about myself. It goes without saying that during this season of life (that being motherhood), each day is filled with the mundane: changing nappies, serving meals, cleaning, driving children to school and so on. But each day is accented with moments of sweet pleasure and from time to time, reflections of the reality that God’s eternal purposes are presently being forged in the mundane. A favourite Christian singer/song writer of mine, Steven Curtis Chapman sings of how as parents, we are “changing the world one little heartbeat at a time.” I have been encouraged as I watch my children grow and mature that giving my life to raising my kids is exactly where God wants me. In the past, it has been tempting at times to be impatient and wish for this intense season of motherhood to all hurry up and be over, so that I can get back to getting on with the life that I had before, but I’ve woken up to the fact that this is REAL life, and that raising these precious children, should end up being my greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God. A year ago, on the way home from a women’s retreat, I talked with friends about the sorts of things that we hoped to accomplish once we had more time to ourselves. I shared about how I would like to become a lifestyle photographer. I later realised that there was no reason to wait, and that these things simply didn’t happen overnight, so I just began taking photos. I figured that I could just learn as I went. It has been fun and I have already taken a number of photo shoots for families, church and will this week be taking photos for Nathan’s pre-school. Getting heavier into this pregnancy, I am shifting gears and have taken up knitting. Call me old fashioned, but there is something magnificent about knitting for your unborn child while they are being knit together in your womb.
Earlier this year we moved into a townhouse just walking distance from Wheaton College. It has been wonderful to live again in a community with a couple of other young families and has reminded us a lot of our time at Fuller Seminary. It has been tremendous for the boys to have friends to play with outside around the little playground that we have on the property and to have other parents to share life with. Our community has not only been a great source of love and support, but it has also presented us with many opportunities to live and give outside of our comfort levels and we are thankful for that. It has been wonderful to see our children grow in acceptance and affection of others who they would not naturally be drawn to. There has been an older Vietnamese widow that we have had a lot to do with this year. To start with, Jordan would say to me quietly, “But I don’t like her.” And he was not alone. Hoa was loud and inconsiderate, pushy and demanding. And her face and hands, which were severely disfigured by a house fire in which she lost her granddaughter, were unnerving to our two year-old. But Jordan would slowly learn that Jesus loves Hoa, and so would he.
Thank you for slowing down and taking the time to read this letter. We would love to hear from you, so please do drop us an email and let us know how you are doing. To those of you who have faithfully supported us during this time of preparation and foundation building, we thank you for your commitment and generosity.
Wishing you the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of His love at Christmas and always.
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