Why do people write Christmas letters? Is it to assuage the guilt that comes from not keeping in close enough touch with people in the first place? I mean, what can you say in a one-page letter that couldn't better be expressed in a few phone calls over the course of the year? Is it to convince people that you really do care for them despite the fact that you haven't seen them all year? Or is it actually a selfish device by which we brag to others about all we've seen and done in the last year?
Supposing that some of the people who get our Christmas letter this year might be reading this, I suppose I shouldn't be pessimistic. But, in actuality, the reasons we wrote a Christmas letter are threefold:
- God has blessed us beyond measure this year,
- despite our good intentions, it has not been possible for us to see or talk to all of our friends and loved ones to share these great changes, and
- we want to share what has been going on with these same friends and loved ones so that they may join with us in praising God for his goodness!
I should also mention that our distribution list for this year's letter was limited to those people with whom we truly felt we had done a poor job of staying in touch. So if you are a friend or family member and did not receive our Christmas letter, know that those who did receive it saw even less of us this year than you did!
Without further ado, I am proud to provide, for your reading pleasure (ok, that part is questionable), our 2002 Christmas Letter! (260KB)
(Editor's Note: it has been edited somewhat for privacy reasons.)