December 25, 2002

Greetings Friends!

Not having written a Christmas letter in three years, it’s hard to know where to begin. Our last few years have been full of many turns and surprises!

After living in Boston Massachusetts for two years, we currently find ourselves back in Grand Rapids. Steven is back at Calvin and Deb is back at Blodgett, but she is the full-time breadwinner and he is a full-time student at Calvin Theological Seminary.

Back in 2000, Steven received a great job offer in New England, so we packed up and moved east. We rose to the challenges of gutting a house, finding a new church, choosing good schools for the kids, making many new friends, missing Steven as he traveled around the country, and offering our home as a spot of Midwestern hospitality.

Throughout these adventures, we had a growing sense of our gifts for ministry. In summer 2001, Steven’s project at work was terminated, and he was reassigned. He took the opportunity to enroll in a single course at a New England seminary while still working. The job wasn’t as challenging anymore, but we weren’t about to leave a good job for full-time graduate school. But after six months, we were nudged on our way; we accepted a severance package and returned to Michigan for seminary.

Ironically, we are in a house very similar to our previous Michigan home (it’s our fifth set of living quarters in just over two years!). We have enjoyed being in a welcoming, friendly neighborhood that is near so many friends. The kids, who have done well throughout all the moving, love being close to grandparents again. With two parents working full-time, they have all stepped up and chipped in with family housekeeping.

Jessica, at age 11, has grown to be a sweet young lady. She enjoyed the homecoming to familiar classmates at Sylvan sc

hool. Over the summer she took accelerated flute lessons to catch up to her new sixth-grade band.

Though Nathan is in second grade, Sylvan is his fourth school in as many years. He and his older sister played on the local soccer league this fall, and he is enjoying the boy’s club at church. Nathan has especially enjoyed having so many boys to play with in the neighborhood.

Like her siblings, Sam is a delight. She is just thrilled to ride the bus to school along with the big kids. She smiles easily and freely expresses her opinions. She’s not yet reading, but will spell any word she sees.

Steven has found seminary to be an immense but rewarding amount of work. In his spare time he is also completing his master’s thesis in telecommunication at Michigan State (that he started over ten years ago). He is also still doing contract work for Avid Technology, the company for which he worked in Massachusetts.

Deb is struggling with balancing full-time work and a busy household. She has returned to the cardiac rehab unit she has served for nearly ten years. In early December she twisted her ankle and wound up in a cast and physical therapy just in time for the holidays.

In all, the past few years have been a mighty journey which has confirmed our desire for ministry, exposed us to a world of people eager for good news, and provided better financial resources for five years of graduate school. We are excited to see God’s leading in our lives and look forward to what the New Year holds.

Love,

Steven, Deb, Jessica, Nathan, and Samantha Koster