New Year's Letter

2006 with kendall and charleen

Well, we’ve decided to try this New Year’s Letter thing. Keeping in touch is a good idea. J We love all of you and would love to hear from you. Here’s our news:

Highlights of ’06

As most of you probably know, we’re both in seminary right now at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart Indiana. We’re doing our M.Div. degrees in hopes of pastoring in a church together. We miss being in Ontario, close to family and friends. We miss being in Toronto, with the community of people we had surrounding us there. But – life takes us in new directions, and it seems that there are a lot of interesting turns yet to come.

In January we spent 2 weeks exploring urban ministry in Chicago through a seminary consortium program: SCUPE. We stayed with a good friend in the city and traveled the city by transit, discovering some inspiring ministries within difficult situations. Ask us for stories about B. Herbert Martin, Bethel New Life Centre and Father Pflager at St. Sabina’s Catholic Church…

Kendall completed his internship at Sunnyside Mennonite Church in Elkhart, with Pastor Terry Zehr, in the spring semester. We both had a full course load, and did well in our studies. We each grew in our sense of ‘rightness’ about entering into ministry, and started discussing pastoring together in the future. Our plans had been less clear when we entered seminary. We feel richly blessed to be here, and are growing in relationship with God and with each other.

This summer we had a wonderful opportunity to pastor together in a really cool small country church in Harrow, Ontario. The picture above is us sharing the pulpit at Harrow Mennonite Church. Greg Yantzi, the pastor, was on sabbatical. We preached, led worship and music, and visited pretty much everyone. We loved the experience and the people. Our accommodations were also stellar – a golf course on the beach, anyone? We had plenty of visitors, and went to Toronto twice to see family and friends. Ah, God is good. The summer went by so quickly, but won’t be quickly forgotten.

This fall it’s been another whirlwind of studies, both of us taking heavy course loads. Charleen started her internship at Kern Road Mennonite Church, under Janice Yordy Sutter. We’re in our ‘senior’ year and starting the process of applying for churches. We’ll be ready to start already next fall! Sounds crazy, no? But it’s true… watch out, world! Ready or not, here we come….

What’s the best part of seminary life? Greek and Hebrew. Well, maybe not the very best thing, but we have both enjoyed learning the biblical languages and putting them to use in our biblical study and preaching. Kendall loves Ultimate Frisbee. We have a lovely games-playing community here (Settlers of Catan, especially) and good friendships developing. Living in proximity with like-minded passionate people is always a good thing. It’s good to be here. We are enjoying community events and the positive spirit at the school. We also have some wonderful professors to inspire us.

Another big event in the year was Charleen’s parents’ 35th anniversary celebration. As a special bonus, Charleen’s niece Madeline traveled down from Colorado with her Grandma and Grandpa, and camped at the Pinery with us before the big event. We were excited about that, and so was she. The rest of the family (Phil and Kim, Annika and Elise) came down from Colorado with their daughters. In lieu of gifts, donations were encouraged for Christian Reformed World Missions- Haiti. Approximately $1000 was raised. The catering was also a fundraising affair, raising another $1000 for Worldwide Christian Schools. What a cool thing. We are proud of Mom and Dad Jongejan and hope for many happy years of marriage for them.

We are so grateful for the way God continues to walk with us. We feel richly blessed in so many ways. We’d LOVE to hear from you. Do check our blog often - and leave comments. :)

We wish you joy in the Christmas season of ’06 and peace throughout 2007.

Affectionately,

Charleen and Kendall

Longest Night

Tonight, December 21st, is the longest night of the year. For some people, this a night to honour lament. In the middle of a season of Advent joy, with Christmas lights and parties everywhere, many people find it difficult to join the spirit of celebration. For some, it's the first Christmas without a loved one. Some are longing for a child but are unable to conceive. Some suffer depression. Some are far from home. Some are sick or dying. Some have chronic pain. And the list is long; we struggle. Life is full of shock, trauma and sorrow. Longest night is a time to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn.

Tonight after supper, Kendall and I will be praying in solidarity with those who grieve; those who are longing for the light of day but are at present sitting in the darkness.

We know that God weeps with us. We wait, in hope, for the coming again of the Prince of Peace.

A Glorious Sabbath Rest Day

Ah, yesterday was lovely. A sabbath to the nth degree. It had felt like a month between Sabbaths, rather than just a week. End-of-term will do that to a person. Each moment felt like a treasure.

To start off with, the singing at church was wonderful. One of the Service Adventure volunteers at our church plays the cello, and that added a rich dimension to the singing. We also had a group from the congregation singing music from the Sacred Harp tradition - shape note singing. FUN!

We had a good conversation in Sunday School about financial stewardship and Christian living - generosity and miserliness, retirement savings, the Depression area generation, issues pertaining to wealth. I know, I know, it doesn't sound all that exciting perhaps. But there was such an open tone to the conversation, a willingness to be honest and raise real questions. People shared their own stories and their steps forward.

We don't talk often enough about money - not in the church, and not in the world at large. Not this way - not about when to save and when to give - and how to determine how much is 'enough'.

I am convinced that generosity is not spurred on by guilt and duty. That produces giving without joy. Generosity is a joy-filled act that spills out from a deep sense of trust that we have enough, and that we are cared for. Generosity is a joy-filled action that spills out from a rich connection between ourselves and others. Generosity cannot be forced.

When we got home from church, Kendall had an opportunity to play some ULTIMATE FRISBEE (the last game of 2006) for over an hour; and I spent that hour talking with my friend Sharon.

We went back to church in the afternoon for a choral concert of Bach, Vivaldi and Mozart by the Vesper Chorale... hearing various settings of the Magnificat. We went out for dinner (Italian - Papa Vino's - num!). We've been eating VERY simply at home lately, a lot of soup and bread. We're a bit tired of soup. This dinner was a feast for the senses.

Back at campus, it was 'Games Night' and a group of 8 people were gathered (including us) to play. We learned how to play an old game - new to us - called Acquire. Such a capitalist venture - buying and merging hotel chains, and acquiring stock. For those who love the feeling of power that comes with acquisition. Ah, a group of simplicity-loving Mennonites out to take over the corporate world. It was a very fun game.

All in all, a Sabbath non-pareil. (without parallel)

Stickers.... or 'my inner child'

Sometimes when I'm very stressed, my inner child comes out and wants to play. And if I don't give her time to play, she won't let me work. She'll fuss and fuss and fuss till she gets some attention. Or at least a cookie or maybe some stickers. :)

Seriously... last fall my spiritual director, Nina, gave me some advice that has stuck with me. I was having trouble writing, I had deadlines looming and the stress was compounding. She mentioned, almost casually, that writing is a left-brained activity. Perhaps my brain needed to re-balance with some right-brained activity. Perhaps I could ask myself what I wanted to do, and maybe give myself some space for creative play. Perhaps that would help the ideas flow again.

So I went home and asked myself out loud what I wanted to do. I was very surprised to have an answer coming forth, and even more surprised about the answer. "I'd like to make snowflakes!" So, I pulled out paper and scissors and cut and cut and cut. I taped the snowflakes to the window. And you know, the writing started to flow.

I've learned from this to ask myself from time to time, 'what do you want?'. And so often, it's a childlike response that emerges. "I want chicken noodle soup, with an egg dropped in, please".
I've become fond of that little voice, and a bit protective. I have learned to have scissors, markers and glue available. I have started playing a bit more.

So when I was facing a lot of end-of semester deadlines this week, I asked myself again, "what do you want?" And the answer came out loud and clear: "STICKERS!" So..... I'm giving myself stickers for each task accomplished, and posting that on the fridge. Hurray! You did it!

Perhaps it's silly. Perhaps it's childish.
But it's me.

About St. Nick (no pics!)

After all this set-up, I'd hate to leave my blog without a follow-up. The suspense is tremendous - did we have a St. Nicolas Party? How did it go?!? Rest assured, we had a delightful celebration. But we did forget to take pictures.

It's interesting how a group of adults can become so thrilled with the 'playfulness' of tradition. Part of my St. Nicolas party tradition includes leaving gold coins (chocolate) in people's shoes for them to discover when they leave. Now, our apartment is not large. The door going out is right off of the living room where everyone was gathered for the party. It's hard to make a big secret about going into the hall with a lot of gold coins to spill coins in the shoes. The very first time someone left, I think there might have been some genuine surprise. But after that, people were clued in. And still, almost every time, there was evidence of delight when people found 'their' money in their shoe. People who arrived later, walked past shoes with glittering gold in them to enter the apartment, and continued to play along.

The 'kid' in us is not buried so far, I surmise. We still need some play time. That's what St. Nick is for me.

What better time for deliberate rest and play for students than the beginning of December - when papers and tests are due? When we're working so intensely, it's good to have regular outlets for play.

Speaking of working intensely, I'd probably better get going on my Theology of the Church paper. I'm writing about..... surprise, surprise..... sabbath-keeping and the church.

First Advent celebrations

It was a lovely Sabbathed day of celebration for Kendall and I. We had a choir (Bethany Christian High) in for the morning service, and that's always fun. Kendall also led the congregational singing, which he enjoys.

Then this afternoon we rolled and baked peppernuts with our friends, each with our own styles. It's fun to see them all make one huge pile at the end. I'd love to see this become an annual tradition for us - getting together with friends to make peppernuts, in time for Saint Nick.




We stopped in quickly at our friend Samantha's birthday party - they were making Danish paper stars - but we had to go before we learned how to make them ourselves. :(

We were heading out to Kern Road Mennonite Church for the annual 'Hanging of the Greens' service. They have a chili supper, then we made Christmas ornaments, and there was a service surrounding the decoration of the sanctuary with caroling. What fun.

So it's been a day of celebration. It's so important, I think, to find time to joyfully mark the different moments of our lives and the seasons of the year. Celebration is foundational to our ability to make sense of living, and to be rooted in joy and love. Celebration also helps us carve out space for wonder, and even, perhaps, room in our imagination for God.

My friend Mary Ruth Kamp is the Acting Director of Wilderness Wind camp in Ely, MN. In the newsletter this fall she wrote about celebration, saying, "In choosing celebration we do not push away the hard times and the pain that we experience; rather in choosing to celebrate more of life, we are drawn into a more palpable awareness and experience of God's compassionate presence." This same friend quoted a children's book by Byrd Taylor recently, titled I'm in Charge of Celebrations: "Last year I gave myself one hundred and eight celebrations - besides the ones they close school for". How delightful.

Why not celebrate? Happy first Advent, all of you.

Peppernuts / Pepernoten

Depending on your tradition, you may know these tasty little treats as Peppernutes (English, Russian Mennonite) or Pepernoten (Dutch). It's fun to discover a shared Christmas tradition between our two ethnic traditions. Of course, many the Russian Mennonites were Dutch a while back, so this 'shared' tradition has a common heritage. Whatever the history, they are delicious.

Tonight we invited some friends over to participate in the first step of the peppernut making process, according to Kendall's recipe. We mixed the dough. Now it's cooling and waiting to dry. Here's Rachel and myself enjoying the first step of the batter-making. LOOK at all that sugar and butter!





And here's the a lovely sculpted dough that Sandra made. It seems a shame that we'll have to deconstruct that lovely face to make cookies. But the cookies will be tasty...

We're letting them cool all day Saturday while we write papers and stuff like that, and then Sunday they'll be ready to roll, shape and bake.

We hope to have the pepernoten / peppernuts ready in time to celebrate St. Nicolas day this week, on the eve of December 6. They may be accompanied by some boterkoek (Dutch butter-cake), some chocolate coins, and some really fine poetic verses penned by St. Nick himself. :)