2005 Christmas Letter

Posted on December 24th, 2005 at 03:41pm by Phil

Dear Friends:

How many years in a row can be “a year of new beginnings?”

Christmas ‘04 found all of us in Atlanta . After participating in Northview Community Church ’s “Night Before Christmas,” including 16 performances, Chris flew to Atlanta , to give Dave and Maia ( especially Maia) a hand getting ready for Christmas. After having dinner with Maia’s parents in Kent , Washington , and meeting up with Chris’ girlfriend, Anna, Elsie and Phil flew to Atlanta to join them. Soon, Melodie flew in from St. John’s , and we were together again, just in time for Christmas eve.

Dave (who is now 32) and Maia are now in their 6th year in Sugar Hill, just north of Atlanta . Dave has completed his Master of Counseling degree, and is now doing addiction and substance abuse counseling in the northern suburbs. Maia has continued to work at Egleston Children’s Hospital at Emory University , and has also completed her Master of Counseling. Another brother, Bryce Gray Stewart, joined Bren and Jace, the 4½ year-old twins, and 2½-year old Joel in January. Chris was able to stay with them until after Bryce was born, being what Maia affectionately referred to as her personal slave. We look forward most weekends to a long chat with Bren and Jace, in which we usually hear the events of a couple of very busy little lives, and often, the retelling of a story from a favourite book. So far, it’s still too difficult to carry on much conversation with Joel over the phone, but that will change, and the phone bill will rise accordingly.

For Chris (now 29), the big news of the year is that Anna, whom we referred to earlier in this letter, became his fiancée in July. They are being married in January, at Anna’s church, Illuminate, a ministry of Overlake Christian Church, in Redmond , WA . (www.occ.org/illuminate/index.asp) Chris continues to develop his free-lance career in web design, as Sketchboy Productions (www.thesketchpad.net) but hopes to find a position in the Seattle area after the wedding. Knowing that their marriage was coming up, he moved in with us one last time in July, along with his cat, Sushi. Apparently, when Chris moves out, Sushi is staying. Anna is a wonderful Christian girl, originally from Tillamook , Oregon , who also happens to be brilliant. A couple of years ago, she graduated as a Biomedical Engineer, from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland . Her current position involves research at Syntrix Biosystems. (www.syntrixbio.com) Check out their website to learn more about an incredible couple! (www.routly.com/chrisandanna/index.htm)

Melodie (28) finished her second year at The Salvation Army’s College for Officers Training in St. John’s , Newfoundland , and in June she was commissioned, ordained, and appointed to Nipawin , Saskatchewan . In March, she had been able to spend three weeks in Zambia , renewing her desire to eventually serve overseas. Nipawin has been a challenge, as she is responsible to lead all SA ministries there, including a congregation of 30 or so. But, if you know Melodie, she has never backed down from a challenge! While driving through Winnipeg on her cross-country trek, she met and fell in love with a little fellow by the name of Tornik – a puppy. After visiting us in Aldergrove over Labour Day, Elsie had the privilege of driving back to Nipawin with Melodie, and her cat (since 1993), Callie, so Melodie’s family is complete. At least, for now.

In many ways, this year has been a whirlwind.

New Years Day began in Sugar Hill, at Dave and Maia’s home. Soon, Melodie flew back to Newfoundland , while we returned to BC. Bryce was born on the 15 th , and Chris returned home.

January 31 st , Phil’s Mom, Dorothy Routly, passed away, in her 90 th year, after many years of suffering with Parkinson’s. Have a look at the tribute at www.routly.com. Although the conversations were more laboured as time wore on, we miss the regular phone calls, and knowing she was there.

June was Melodie’s commissioning in St. John’s , so we flew there, literally for the weekend.

July 1 st , we moved from the basement suite, into the main part of the house. We couldn’t have a nicer home to live in!

In August, Elsie concluded her position at Noah’s Ark Day Care. She is now able to be Phil’s “social convener” for his business.

Later that month, our Japanese “surrogate daughter,” Vada, arrived with her husband, Toru, for a visit. We had met Vada when she was studying at the International College in Kamloops , to improve her English skills. She attended our church there, and fell in love with Jesus. For a couple of months she lived with us, before returning to Tokyo . She got married a while back, and they have a beautiful little boy, Daiki, whom we look forward to meeting some day. It was so good to see Vada again, and to meet her husband.

We managed to go camping for three long-weekends this summer, at KOA in Lynden. (www.koakampgrounds.com/where/WA/47157/) Our trailer is stored there whenever we’re not using it, and the campground puts it on the site when we’re ready for a weekend away. Eventually, we’d like to have a larger trailer, and to be able to spend most of the summer there. Except that we have to cross the border, it’s only about 10 minutes from our house.

Thanksgiving was also our 34 th wedding anniversary, and meant a trip to Oregon with Chris and Anna, to visit her parents, and meet other members of her family who live in the Tillamook area. We had a terrific time getting to know this loving, Christian family.
At the end of October, we had the joy of flying to Orlando , where we could meet up with Dave, Maia, Bren, Jace, Joel, and (finally!) Bryce. We had reserved a couple of suites through RCI at Orange Lake Country Club (www.orangelake.com) and had a fantastic week that included four days of Disney World. (disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/index?bhcp=1) It was so wonderful to get to know our four incredible grandsons, who are growing up so fast, and to reconnect with Dave and Maia, who are such fantastic parents.

After returning home from Orlando , Phil wrote his next Professional Financial Planner exam, and the following day (November 9 th ), Elsie’s mother, Dorothy Gray, passed away in her 86 th year. So, it was back to Kingston for a week or two. Dorothy had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s several years ago, and was pretty much confined to bed for the last five years, and incapable of much communication. It had been painful for the entire family to watch what Nanny was going through, but encouraging to see the tremendous love and devotion Vic continued to share with her. Vic misses her as deeply as you would expect. There is also a tribute to Elsie’s mother at www.routly.com

Phil’s business continues to grow. You can go to www.edwardjones.com, go to the bottom of the page, click on “Find a Branch,” type in Routly where it asks you for “Representative’s Last Name,” and it will take you to his web site. It is challenging to basically begin your own business at this stage of life, but it’s also a wonderful opportunity to build a new career serving people by helping them develop plans for retirement, education, etc.

One of our greatest joys has been our involvement with Northview Community Church (www.northview.org). We are in a really special Life Group with some truly wonderful people, who are determined to learn and live out God’s purpose for their lives. In November, we were welcomed into membership, and it looks like we’ll be getting involved in leadership in our church’s Aldergrove neighbourhood congregation.

We continue to travel down a road that had never occurred to us. The Lord has blessed us so deeply, and in such diverse ways, while challenging and stretching us. We are constantly reminded of the truth of Romans 8:28, “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Have a wonderful Christmas, and a remarkable 2006!

Phil and Elsie Routly

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