January will be our eight-year anniversary of living in Azusa, located at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. We have been a part of the Azusa Foursquare Church—Christian Family Center—for the past five and a half years. The whole family is actively involved in the church and community. Our fixer-upper home is in a constant state of refurbishment, a job that seems never ending.
Dan is celebrating his three-year anniversary as associate director of continuing education at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is enjoying his ministry of creating audio and printed resources that provide training to pastors and church leaders across North America. This was the same kind of work Dan was doing at the Charles E. Fuller Institute, where he had been serving for six years prior to its closing in 1995. Dan has also been taking on the responsibility of managing and developing his division’s Internet website (
http://www.fuller.edu/cll). At the church, Dan serves as worship pastor.Dena is enjoying her new job as librarian at Hodge Elementary School. After years of teaching at the preschool level, she is now having a great time working with older children. And since all three of our children have been students at Hodge (Christa still is), Dena has been well known and well liked by the staff as she has served countless hours as a parent volunteer over the years. Dena has also been enjoying taking classes in library science at our local junior college, Citrus. She also keeps busy with our kids: getting them to and from school, afternoon activities, sports, church functions, orthodontist, scouts, and on and on. Her favorite pastimes are handicrafts and reading.
Micah turns 16 next month and is in the 10th grade. He continues to do well in school and is liked by all his teachers. He keeps busy with the church youth group, Boy Scouts, and school sports. Last year he played on the freshman baseball team, and this fall he has been playing on the junior varsity football team. Micah has become a skateboarding enthusiast. Besides actually skating, he
’s become quite skillful at building ramps and the various structures used in the sport.Anna is 121/
2 and in 7th grade. She does well in school and stays on the honor roll. She has been learning the flute since the 5th grade and plays in the top band at her school. She is active at church performing in the children’s choir and drama ministry. Anna’s been in Girls Scouts, but there was no troop for her this fall. Her favorite pastimes are reading and hanging out with her friends.Christa is 81/2 and in 3rd grade. She enjoys school and has lots of friends. She started in Brownie Scouts last year and is having a good time. She continues to participate in church children’s choir and drama. Christa is a talkative little girl with an inquisitive mind. She asks lots questions ranging from astronomy and geography to theology and sociology, in an eight-year-old sort of way.
Our family vacations for several years have been spent Truckee, California, 12 miles north of Lake Tahoe. Our accommodations have been a beautiful condo, complements of Dan’s brother, Rusty. It’s been great visiting with Rusty and Judy and their daughter Casey. We’ve had a blast jet skiing on Donner Lake, hiking, swimming, site seeing, building jigsaw puzzles, and simply relaxing.
We have much to be thankful for. God has blessed us with health, provision, and spiritual life. Christmastime for us is indeed a wonderful celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus. We pray God’s richest blessing on you and yours during this holiday season and throughout the coming year.
The Simpsons — Dan, Dena, Micah, Anna, & Christa
Azusa, California