A Little Coffey For Your Morning

Enjoy some Coffey this morning. I think it will fill you up and keep you going for the whole day.

Thanks Coffey!

Our Christmas Letter

This year the Christmas Letter that would be mailed to friends near and far, will be staying home. Right here it will find ears to hear... or not. 

Either is okay, as we can become overwhelmed with news from friends at this time of year.
Much can transpire during a year of our lives.
Some good, some wonderful and some... not so much.
And then there are the stories....

There have been times I have been nudged awake by my dog, Christmas letter still in hand......waiting to hear what happened to Aunt Edna's third cousin, once removed, living in a hut in Peru. My dog may have been checking for a pulse. If I was still alive she would be assured her dinner that evening.

If at anytime you begin to feel feverish or faint, please desist from reading 

The Coleman 2011 Christmas Letter. 

It's okay. There will not be a quiz at the end.

Greetings dear friends. I am writing this letter to you from Wichita, Kansas. Yes, if that makes you laugh, you are not alone. We chuckle too, though Dan and Ali not so much. They just roll their eyes and look at us like we must have really lost our minds this time.....

Alexandria and Daniel are both living in Nashville. Ali at Belmont University, Dan at Lipscomb University.

Yes, we are VERY thankful they are in the same town.

Ali is a senior and moved into a lovely house with 4 amazing ladies. They are all students at Belmont and we are impressed with each of them. They are from Tulsa, Chicago, St Louis and Louisville. 
Thankful.
They have recently added a puppy to their home. Joey is his name and he has his own twitter account. Sorry I do not follow him so I am unable to give you his twitter name.

Ali will graduate in May with a degree in Social Work. She finished an internship with Big Brothers and Big Sisters and will be working with a foundation for Autism and Aspergers in the spring semester.

She in undecided as to her choice for next fall. She may work for a year and decide if she wants to pursue a masters in Social Work or Education.

She loves her home and friends in Nashville and we are thankful for that. 

We give our children wings to fly and we thank God when they do.... but we do like it when they come back to us, from time to time.

It is nice to have her home(even though it isn't the home she grew up in) at Christmas.
Grateful.

Since last December... Dan graduated High School from Champaign Central, worked as an intern for Fellowship Of Christian Athletes, traveled to the Grand Canyon, traveled with FCA doing college camps, met lots of new people who love Jesus, continued as a life guard with the Champaign Park District, prepared himself for college athletics with a tough running schedule. This was the hardest part of his summer. 

The unknowns of college life and college athletics.

We delivered Dan to college in August where he joined the Lipscomb XCountry and Track teams. This has been a blessing as Dan has solid teammates and friends and has learned that he can run 18 miles every sunday morning and still make it to church.

He has exceeded what he thought his body could do and he has enjoyed college life to the fullest. 

He even attends classes and does quite well. 

He did call me the first week of school and told me to get him out of this crazy biology class he had found himself in, as he had no idea what they were talking about. 

After he vented I reminded him of two things. First, that he had to take two science classes to graduate college and second, he was a science major ... just in case he had forgotten. 

Being the kind of kid he is, he started laughing and said, "Oh yeah."

I suggested he get a tutor or find some cute girls in his class and ask to study with them.

He called me back the following week and said everything was fine and he understood everything. Hmm...

Good news... he passed Biology. 

On to Physics and he is quite excited about this class.

Thankful.

After we dropped our kids in Nashville we drove on to Wichita where the moving truck would be delivering all our worldly possessions the following day.

Yes, we like to drop off the youngest at college, leave our community of friends for the past 16 years and move to a new town... all in one weekend. 

It's nuts and we do not suggest you try this.

However, we survived and found ourselves loving all things Wichita. The people, the restaurants, the shopping and lots to keep us busy. 

We had hoped to do some fall planting.... do you have any idea how hot it gets here?? 

Makes an Illinois summer look like Minnesota on a cool day in March.

You can get a tan in the shade of September out here.

We had lots of plans for fall....

We were able to see two of Dan's races, spending time with he and Ali in Nashville, and watch him settle easily into college life. 

A trip to San Francisco where Bob was taking a course, a visit to friends new lake home a few hours from us, a 10 day sailing trip to the BVI the end of November.

The good Doctor turns another year better this December 25th and it was a good year for the boy. It was time to retake the General Surgery boards to keep that coveted Board Certified status. Yes, he passed! 
He is enjoying his time at the Robert J. Dole VA Hospital and meeting some good people and patients.
He continues to entertain us and make me laugh.
Feeling blessed.

I am trying to settle into a new community. 
I left wonderful people who I worked with, volunteered with, did life with. Best friends don't get replaced... but we make room for new blessings in our lives, as God provides.
I miss all that I was involved with and yet I know God has a plan for us out here in the wild, wild west.

Life is a beautiful melody until someone goes off key. 

My dear dad went off key.

At 78, he was diagnosed with liver cancer. A terrible shock to him, my mom ... all of us.

They were the ones who took care of others. 
They were the ones who walked every day, did meals on wheels, golfed, played tennis, were active in their church.
They loved their kids and grandchildren. Dad would call often and leave sweet messages for us.
We miss his voice. We miss him.

Life is like that sometimes...

No warning.

The blessing is dad did not suffer long. 7 weeks..... so the shock is still fresh. 

He handled the diagnosis with amazing grace and peace. We lost him and God claimed him on November 9th of this year. 

Of course we are thankful that he is in heaven as he had faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour, but we miss him. 

Mom misses him terribly. 

54 years will do that to a couple. 

At least it should. 

So this season is different in many ways. 

We will celebrate the birth of Christ in a new home, a new town.

The joy in the blessing of Christ is evident in our hearts, but there is also a sadness for the loss we all feel. 

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas.  May your hearts be glad with the joy of the season and know the truth of Christ. 
He is the One we celebrate this season.

Love, Bob, Dale, Alexandria and Daniel Coleman

Do Your Eyes See It's A Wonderful Life ... This Christmas?

Do our eyes see what a wonderful life it is?

It's easy for our eyes to wander from the truth, especially during the Christmas season.

 The very season where we want to focus on what is important, 

what we stake our lives on, 

what we claim we believe in our hearts.

This is the time we are pushed and pulled in directions we didn't know existed.

 Soon we are overwhelmed and thinking like George Bailey in,  It's A Wonderful Life, as darkness overtakes him following the loss of a large bank deposit.

 He feels defeated, finished. He wanders home and explodes on his family.

Life had dealt him an unfair hand.

He had stopped believing.... It was just too hard.

  "This drafty old barn! Might as well be living in a refrigerator! Why did we have to live here in the first place and stay around this measly, crummy old town?...Everything's wrong. You call this a happy family? Why do we have to have all these kids?" His son asks for help with his homework: "Dad, how do you spell frankincense?" George unwillingly snaps back: "I don't know. Ask your mother."

"Everything is wrong" he announced to his family. His eyes were blinded by fear of failure, letting down his family, his town. Loss of respect... pride crept in, anger took over, hatred was given oxygen to ignite into a fire so big, it threatened to change the direction of his life.

But..... then hope showed up. Hope shows up and it becomes a great story.  Truth wins in that movie. 

George is given a fresh perspective, thanks to Clarence(and God).  His eyes could now see the truth of who he is, what is truly important, the joys of a life well lived..... as compared to living a Mr Potter existence... empty, Scrooge like, Grinch loving, kind of life. 

Love won.

Does love win in our life durning this season? Do we remember God's words to us?

Deuteronomy 4:9 says, " Be on you guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don't forget the things your eyes have seen."

My prayer is that we would see with a new perspective this Christmas season. Loving one another tenderly, reaching out as Jesus taught us. 

Recognizing the responsibility, joy  and blessing in living a life that can be wonderful in spite of the situations we may find ourselves in.

Let us guard ourselves from the lies of this world and not forget the truths He has given us.

It really is A Wonderful Life.

Merry Christmas From Bart Simpson

Christmas is the one time of year when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ.- Bart Simpson

We celebrate this time of year with family and friends by exchanging gifts, preparing special foods, opening our homes for fellowship with those we care about.

It is a time to be thankful for all that we have and to share with those less fortunate. We open our wallets a little wider when we walk by the red kettles and write a bigger check when we hear from an organization we believe in. 

You do not have to be a Christian to celebrate in these traditions. 

Yet, there is a reason that the celebration exists.

Many of us, including those of faith in the Messiah tend to forget what the celebration is all about....

Bart says, "Christmas is the one time of year when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ."

I think Bart was tongue in cheek. 

Worship is a strong word. We all worship something, especially this time of year.

 We worship people, stuff, food, the dollar bill, our puppy, a new car... The list is endless.

Maybe this year, we will remember to worship the only One who deserves our worship.

Remember this Christmas season that Jesus IS the reason for the season.