Our family gathered no moss in 2003. The four of us traveled to Guatemala with a group from our church on a one week missions trip that went wonderfully. We helped with the on-going children’s ministries there, did some needed maintenance to the missions base and Sean got to teach some of the students and staff there. Two weeks after we returned home, we were off again on a 3,300 mile road trip visiting Heather’s family in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maine. It had been two years since we had seen some of her family and the two-week vacation flew by as we enjoyed each day. This fall both Sean and Heather journeyed to northern Wisconsin for our church’s men’s and women’s retreats, which were great times getting to know people better. Then just a few weeks ago we all flew to Pittsburgh to join some of Heather’s family for Thanksgiving. Several times we were asked if this was our boys’ first plane ride and we got to be thinking, this was Erik’s 3^rd and Ian’s 6^th—we’ve got some well traveled kids!

Ian’s Inklings

 I have a new play set in my backyard. It’s got swings, a slide, a fort, rock wall, climbing wall, monkey rings and a telescope. I call it my "tree house." Daddy and a friend built it this summer for Erik and me. We like it a lot! It’s our hideout against the "bad guys." I’m quite the video buff. I love to chat about every detail of every video I see. I could tell you a lot about Finding Nemo and the names of all of Moses’ relatives (from Prince of Egypt). I can write my name by myself and I’m learning other letters and the sounds they make. I also love looking at books and playing Reader Rabbit on the computer. My good friend Trinity moved into the house two doors down. It’s fun to have her so close by. If I could, I’d visit her every day.

I might be the biggest, but I don’t always think of the crazy things Erik does. One day Daddy took us to the church parking lot to ride our bikes. Erik found the one puddle in the whole place and promptly sat in it, so I decided to join him. As Daddy was explaining to Mommy why we were all wet he said, "Erik was the instigator." Then I chimed in, "And I was the alligator!" Mommy and Daddy say that describes us pretty well. J

Mommy and Daddy call me a "Goof!" I can’t help it if they always laugh at the funny things I do. I like to have fun! Grammie Leslie calls me "busy." Others might call that mischievous. J I used to enjoy taking Mommy and Daddy’s clothes out of their drawers and putting my toys in their place. Now I’m good at climbing. I can get out of a play pen, crib, and over the gate on my door. Mommy found me up on the counter trying to cut banana bread by myself one day. I was hungry! I like to dance to music and play and be silly. What I really like is to play with my big brother. We’re starting to be good pals.

My big news for the year is that after many ear infections, I had tubes put in my ears and I haven’t had an infection since. That came just in time since I’m learning to talk now; I can say a lot of words. Some of my favorites are: chickadee, ready, hooray, see ya, hi, bye bye and okay. I like to copy what everybody says and does. I sleep in a big boy bed now (because of my climbing proficiency) and I’m slowly learning to stay there. Mommy and Daddy are working hard to teach me to obey and to love Jesus. You can pray for them! 

By God’s grace every year brings growth in wisdom and maturity, but for me this year seemed especially so. Externally my ministry at church involved more preaching and leadership than in previous years; I performed the baptisms at our annual church picnic and officiated my first funeral. For the first time in my adult life it wasn’t a year of getting oriented to new things but rather of maturing within familiar territory with a little stretching here and there. Internally, looking back, I see a young man moving from self-identity with family duties to a man with family-identity taking initiative in the home. I think this is a difficult area for most men as we tend to focus our energy and attention in most anything other than our families—work, ministry, hobbies, sports, news, politics, entertainment. These have their place, but their place is below the God-given responsibility, privilege and joy of being a husband and father. God spoke to my heart about this in early November as I read Proverbs 27:8, "Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home." That verse is now taped to the front of my computer monitor as a reminder of where I need to give my best.

© 2003 Sean & Heather Christensen

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