2005 Christmas Letter

For another look at the summer of '05, we included a true story from the year in our Christmas letter that was also like a parable . . .

Dear Friends and Family,

What a crazy year 2005 has been. If a year begins and ends with the birth of Christ, then this year began with the Tsunami, to be followed by more disasters any year has ever seen and the only year ever that the weather service ran out of hurricane names and had to scramble for the Greek alphabet. The Pope died; Billy Graham retired; and Brother Roger who started Taize, was stabbed in the back while praying. Though they may not admit it, many leaders have been humbled. Even the news represents change: all three major network anchors have either died, retired or been demoted. There is much more to say about this year in a general sense, but onto our own year . . .

For us personally, 2005 has been complex, painful, wonderful, and challenging to our Modern Western minds. It all began in May when Karen took a short-term mission to Venezuela. Between the mission and the aftermath, we could easily fill a long novel, but we won’t do that to you. :-> Instead, we’ll just share one part of one week from our year, a week slightly representative of the entire year . . .

We, along with Karen’s parents, had been planning a joint vacation on a train from Vancouver, BC to Jasper, AL, departing at 5 pm on June 17. On the 11th, Dad Langdon had a stroke and had to go to the hospital. The doctor wanted to see him again the day before their flight to Seattle. Karen’s parents worried this might end their “dream vacation” plans. Thankfully, the doctor gave Dad the go ahead.

Then, on the morning we were scheduled to leave, Karen woke up with a strong migraine headache (only the third in her life). Both the headache and the vomiting kept getting worse. She tried medicine, but threw it up, so her doctor’s office instructed her to go to the hospital. The doctor saw her, gave her migraine shots, saw her again, and discharged her after our planned departure time.

Once again, was a sickness going to botch the plans? We needed both cars so Karen’s parents would have one to drive and the drive to our first destination, Chris’s parents’ home in Belfair, was three hours away. Thankfully, the doctor said she could go later that evening.

In the chaos of the activities, we never found Melanie’s birth certificate. We had our passports, both children’s SS cards and Andrew’s birth certificate, but could not find Melanie’s. Was this going to be a problem? We hoped not, departed 6 hours later than planned, and arrived at 11 pm. Chris drove ahead with Melanie and Karen followed with Andrew. She felt barely enough strength, but concentrated on Chris’s car.

About half way there, Andrew helped. “Look, Mommy, an airplane!” he said excitedly about a dozen times, pointing to all he saw. But in the midst of the airplanes both he and Karen saw, he shouted with equal excitement and confidence: “Look, Mommy, four angels!” “Really? Where?” Karen asked. Pointing again, he said, “Two above Melanie’s car and two above our car,” Smiling, Karen said, “So we all get an angel then.” “No, I get two angels,” he replied, in typical four year-old fashion. Karen saw all the airplanes, but not the angels. But Andrew’s confidence boosted hers.

The next day, the 16th, we all met up at Uncle Bob & Mary’s (an hour from Belfair) and drove north, to Bellingham, WA, to stay the night. At breakfast, on the morning of the 17th, we informed Mom & Dad that we didn’t have Melanie’s birth certificate. “It shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Karen asked Mom. While 20 month Melanie was sweetly sitting on Chris’s lap, we teased to an imaginary border patrol agent, “She’s your typical international terrorist.” We all laughed, but knew the border patrol probably wouldn’t share our sense of humor. So Mom asked the hotel clerk, who gave her the bad news that we needed it and the good news that a department that issues them wasn’t far away. We called and discovered their hours: M-F, 8:30-12:00. It’s already 10:30 am and we hadn’t yet packed.

We arrive . . . at the wrong building. With Chris carrying Melanie and Karen holding Andrew’s hand, we run in the 11:00 hour on Friday in torrential rain, wearing summer clothes. Andrew is delighted! We arrive at about 11:30 am and get the certificate. Whew!

At some point on the way, Melanie came down with a fever and events prevented us from getting lunch. But for the sake of time, we’ll skip ahead to 3:30 pm, two blocks from the train station. Directly behind Mom & Dad Langdon in the left turn lane, we watched the scene of their accident: an SUV rammed into the passenger side of their Toyota Corolla. The blow was about 6-8” deep and we couldn’t open the door. But Dad Langdon, sitting in the passenger’s seat, was miraculously uninjured.

Naturally, the accident held us up and we barely made the train. But once we did, we enjoyed an amazing vacation. Mom and Dad booked us in First Class on Canada’s world famous Via Rail. Special amenities that make Via Rail a cut above other trains are their gourmet dinners, served with china and silverware, followed with desserts so luscious one could faint; the more completely equipped game cars, and – Andrew’s favorite – their dome cars. Imagine London’s double decker buses, modified for a train. Dome cars have two levels, a bottom lounge with couches, chairs, and a table of fruit, juice, water, and, in the First class dome car, cookies, champaign and a waiter. The top level is all windows, including the ceiling. What a place to view the Canadian Rockies!

First Class cabins have comfortable mattresses, plenty wide enough for Chris to share the top bunk with Andrew and Karen the bottom with Melanie. We had our own toilet, sink, closet, and luggage space under the bed, and nicely packaged gift bags with lotion, soap, shampoo, bottled water and chocolate. Almost the entire side of our cabin was a window, permitting us to view through a wide-angle lens. While the others enjoyed the dome car, Karen cuddled Melanie back to health in our own cabin, while also enjoying the scenery.

Whether one is traveling First Class or not, what truly makes Via Rail special is not what the Canadian train company has done, but what God has created. Via Rail takes passengers through miles of uninhabited terrain of lakes, forests and mountains. Ice capped mountains provide the backdrop for the deep blue crystalline lakes and lush green trees towering high into the heavens. The glory can’t be described in words, but only experienced. For our family, this train trip was a wonderful time of laughter, tears, hugs, deep bonding and enjoyment of God’s artistry.

There you have one part of one week of our year. And for the sake of space and the appreciation most have for science, much was left out, even from this one week. May to September looked something like that week in June. These last few months have been much more restful, giving us time for reflection on the previous ones. The finale is yet in the future, but the glory of the Rockies gave us a glimpse of what to hope for, as long as we keep pressing on. At this writing, Avalon’s “Speed of light” is playing and has this favorite line of ours: “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” Yes – that gives us hope, peace and joy, as well as the strength to love, even when disturbances occur. We send our warm wishes for these same blessings for all of you this holiday season.