The year 2001 brought our family many memorable moments. We continue to enjoy living in Fort Wayne, spending more time with our extended family, being blessed by our church, and sharing special times with friends old and new. This year, in addition to visiting family in Kentucky, southern Indiana, and Michigan, we wandered northern Indiana during occassional day trips, we ventured to Cedar Point (an amusement park on the shore of Lake Erie between Toledo and Cleveland) for a couple of days, and we spent a week exploring New England. Of course, we spent most of our year at home, with normal activities augmented by several remodeling and redecorating projects inside and out. We were even blessed to have family and friends visit us several times this year!

The year 2001 brought our family some challenges as well. Our family and extended family has faced (and some are still facing) medical problems of varying severity. Our family has shared in the shock, sadness, and insecurity our country has experienced from the events of 09/11/01. And our family has shared deeply the shock and grief of the tragic loss of our church’s Worship Pastor, who was killed by a drunk driver on November 27. Still, we are confident that God is (as He always has been and always will be) in control. His love for us is still as great as it was 2000 years ago when He sent His only Son to a sinful, hateful, arrogant, and violent world — where that Son would, of His own free will, take upon Himself the painful, humiliating punishment that we each deserve; so that we would be spared that punishment and receive instead an eternally loving, joyous relationship with God.

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As it must have been for most of you, the events of 09/11/01 were a shock that left an imprint that still remains three months later, and will probably remain for many months to come. It is often the small things that make these monumental events more personal, more real. For instance, we never realized that the absence of the muted sound of commercial jet planes traversing the sky far above our heads could be so troubling, or that the eventual return of that sound could be so comforting. Remote “coincidental” connections also make those distant events more personal. For instance, it had been exactly four weeks (nearly to the hour) before the doomed planes took off from Boston’s Logan Airport that the four of us had boarded a plane at that same airport as we were returning home from our New England vacation. Whatever connections you had to the events of 09/11/01, we hope they have spurred you, as they have spurred us, to re-evaluate priorities and invest more time and energy into those things that really matter: God, family, and friends.

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Redecorating and remodeling projects kept us busy, or at least, kept us thinking about being busy for most of the year. We began this spring with the kitchen... replacing the major cooking appliances, the countertops, the sink and disposal. We stripped the old wallpaper off ... and, boy!, is that a LOT easier said than done! The wallpaper had been applied to untreated drywall, so it was impossible to remove the paper without severely damaging the drywall. Since then I’ve read that if wallpaper has been applied to untreated drywall, then you should have a professional remove it for you. My advice to you, IT WILL BE WORTH IT to hire the professional!! Anyway, after a few layers of drywall “mud” and lots of sanding, we finally had the walls in shape to paint, and now they are a cheery pale yellow.

After a couple of months of recuperation from the kitchen project, Denise started pulling the wallpaper off the walls in the family room. Fortunately, those walls had originally been painted, so the task was much easier and once Tony found that out he decided it was safe to help with this new project. Now our family room walls are warm and inviting, sort of the color of a cup of hot cocoa with marshmellows melted in it. Our next redecorating project will be in the master bedroom and bath... but Tony is in no hurry to start that project!

One of our main projects outside was removing the old “railing/bench seat” from around the deck. That involved some theraputic use of a sledge hammer, and also gave Tony an excuse to buy a special power tool he has been wanting. Then we set out to paint the deck. Another tip... buy or rent a paint sprayer if you want to paint a deck! We didn’t. Anyway, the deck is now about the same color as the house, and it looks much better than before. We have a bit more work to do before the deck remodeling is finished, but that’s something to look forward to in 2002!

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Winning this year’s award for Longest Distance Visit... the Brunks from Downingtown, Pennsylvania! Nate and Diane and their four children, Tim, Sara, Steve, and Hanna, made our home their first overnight stop west of PA on their grand tour of America this July (the kitchen project had been finished just a couple of days before they arrived). We had a most enjoyable time together catching up on each other’s lives. From our house they continued westward, visiting Mt. Rushmore, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and friends and family in between before finally returning home after a month and several thousand miles of traveling.

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Our big family vacation of the year may not have covered as many miles or lasted as long as The Brunk’s vacation; but we enjoyed it nonetheless. After flying into Boston, we spent a couple of days exploring Vermont and New Hampshire on our way to our Maine destination. (Did I just hear a few groans?) We spent four days at a wonderful bed and breakfast inn on the coast of Maine just a few miles north of the charming little town of Camden. Then we drove back down to Boston, where we spent our final evening before flying home. If you would like to read more about our vacation and/or see a few pictures of our trip, click here.

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Late breaking news...

This in from Saline, Michigan: Tracie and Corey have just announced that they are expecting their first child in August, 2002! The grandparents-to-be, after initial shock and disbelief, are as thrilled and excited as the parents-to-be. Congratulations, Tracie and Corey!

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The snow is lightly falling here in Fort Wayne as Christmas Day draws to a close. You may not enjoy snow as much as Tony does, but it is a reminder to him of God’s grace (Psalm 51:7 and Isaiah 1:18), and it thrills his soul whether there is just one flake falling or a blizzard. God's blessings are just like that — sometimes you may not even notice them, other times there is just no denying them; but they are always a sign of God’s grace. Our prayer is that you—and we—might be more aware of God’s grace and blessings in 2002.