Merry Christmas from the Stillers 2009

Family & Friends –

For the first time ever in four years of marriage, we haven’t moved, found new employment, changed schools or made any major life decisions. Meaning – I got to cut and paste all of the contact information you see at the bottom of this page from last year’s letter. It might make for a boring Christmas letter but a very happy and stable Stiller family.

Danny has finished over half of his seminary education, and, as of January will only have three semesters until graduation. I (Laura) am not counting down the days or anything ridiculous like that! In commemoration of all the hours Danny spends reading at the DTS library we decided to preserve the memory with our Christmas picture. I am still working as the administrative assistant at Bessemer Trust and after almost two years have enjoyed settling into the routine of organizing the office every day.

After an injured hamstring deterred me from running the White Rock Marathon last year, I decided to train with some experienced runners this season. In July both Danny and I joined the Dallas Running Club. We’ve enjoyed training together and meeting new friends. Everyone keeps telling me I’m going to get addicted, but I’m still waiting to feel sprightly after running for four hours. Hopefully, after December 13, you’ll read on the blog that Danny successful ran his half marathon and I completed the full marathon without keeling over.

One piece of news that I never thought I’d write about: we got a dog this year! She’s a five-year-old Pomeranian/long-haired Chihuahua mix named Chanel that flew to us all the way from Danny’s brother in Arizona. I was an apprehensive dog owner, but her little personality has won us over. We’ve discovered that we love reading and relaxing at the dog park, although Chanel finds other dogs torturous and spends most of the time cowering in our laps.

Our biggest trip this year was to Tacoma, Washington to attend Soma School. Soma School is a week long immersion and leadership development experience where we learned to live on mission and in community with others. We observed first-hand how Soma mobilizes groups of people to live like family and to be a blessing throughout a city by serving and communicating the message of the Gospel. We were also taught how to use storytelling to communicate the big picture of the Bible. This trip was invaluable, not only for leading/planting a church one day, but for learning how to live out our identities as Christians now in our natural rhythms of every day life.

And those are the highlights of our year. The blog (http://thestillers.blogspot.com) always has life events on it – if a few weeks behind.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Danny & Laura Stiller