Dec

17

Our First Christmas Letter

Filed Under Abare News 


Dear Family and Friends,

Welcome to our first Christmas letter. It appears we’ve joined the ranks of seasoned writers, sentimental grandparents seeking to keep generations in touch, and parents who like to brag on their children to strangers they haven’t talked to since the previous year’s Christmas letter.

The first difference you’ll notice in our letter is that we have no kids to brag about, which is sad for some and yet serene for us. And while we do look forward to bragging about our children who will change history, we are, for the time being, enjoying the undivided attention of young love.

This was the first full year of living in our new home in Arcadia, Calif., just 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Our move from Anaheim Hills (Orange County) at the end of last year was due to a re-location of Brad’s company, b-moore, and ongoing role at Foursquare International. We’ve enjoyed living closer to the urban action and cultural life of burgeoning downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena.

Jamaica went back to work at Starbucks in March. This being her third time back in the green apron, she quickly acclimated herself to 4 o’clock mornings and free drinks. Her climb to shift supervisor was immediate, as was her interest in the people she worked with and served.

As in the past, Starbucks has been the means to an end for Jamaica. She has enrolled at Claremont University’s School of Religion where she will attend in January of 2004. Her Starbucks stint ends this month.

We made our way around the country this year. In February Jamaica went to Highpoint, North Carolina to be with best friend Jessica; to Chicago in June visiting her friend Amy returning from the Peace Corps in Africa; and to Colorado Springs in October to be with her family (the Duncans). Together we were in Philadelphia, New York, and Atlanta in April and May for business and leisure. We spent a week in Chicago in September for a visit with family and friends and to re-live some of the moments we made together in the city where we first met. In October we spent a weekend in San Francisco on a scouting trip for a convention Brad is helping to direct next summer with Foursquare.

We began attending Christian Assembly church in Eagle Rock at the start of the year after moving on from a church plant (The Bridge). Christian Assembly has been around for years and is pastored by Mark Pickerill. Worship is lead by world famous Tommy Walker. We love this place and are slowly getting acquainted with the people and ministries it has to offer. Jamaica is involved in a weekly Bible study with some great girls who attend there.

We were also fortunate to be involved in a small Arab church in Santa Fe Springs just 30 minutes from our house. We were guest speakers a few times and were able to connect with some very neat people. We don’t know if there is a fit for us just yet, but it has been great being involved in a whole different culture. And Arabs being the intellectuals that they are, Jamaica fit right in while Brad attempted to.

Speak of being intellectual… we took a class together at a local community college in Pasadena. One night a week we were students in a Philosophy of Religion course. This afforded some great conversations (and date nights) to connect with each other on a whole different level.

Throughout 2003, we’ve also been keeping up on our daily emails as we relate our personal devotional times to each other in written form. Our routine is to read one chapter each day and make comments, ask questions, etc., regarding the text we read, and email those thoughts to the other person. We started this back when we were dating and have been doing it (for the most part) ever since. What an adventure it is to dialogue and discuss - and then be able to go back and read stuff from the past to see what we’ve learned (or haven’t learned).

Our families are doing well. Jamaica’s parents and brother Colin live in Colorado Springs. Mr. Duncan has been going back and forth to Chicago for the past few months on short-term carpentry/construction projects. Mrs. Duncan has been frustrated with numerous health issues, but is quite the trooper as always. Colin is a junior in high school and aspires to be an extreme snow-sport superstar. Our prayers are with the Duncans for provision, health, and direction. Eliza, Jamaica’s sister, is finishing her first semester at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Ill. The whole Duncan clan trekked out here Thanksgiving week to celebrate together. It’s always so much fun when they’re here especially since they laugh at Brad’s jokes.

Brad’s family is in Tulsa. Mom and dad are still in love. Craig is still figuring out what to do with life, Luke thinks life is his for the taking, Joy thinks life happens only in the movies, and Paul spells life h-o-c-k-e-y. Mark is out here working for Brad and has been a tremendous blessing. He’s still working on the community thing, but he’s coming around. All of the Tulsabares made it out here this summer and we took a trip to Catalina Island just a boat ride away from Long Beach. We’re looking forward to being in Tulsa with the Abares, and then in Kansas with Brad’s extended family. This will be our first Christmas as a married couple not in California. (Click here to read the Christmas letter from the Tulsabares.)

If you actually made it to the end of this letter, we’re amazed. We don’t even want to proof read this its so long.

So from our hearts to yours, we wish you a merry Christmas and a great new year. Please let us know if we can ever do anything to serve.

Our home is open.
Our hearts equally so.

Love,
Brad and Jamaica Abare
December 2003

Comments

Leave a Reply