Sung to the tune of Away in a Manger:
Away in a year ’09 has gone / In marches a new year ready or not…
Brenna started 2009 with continued preparations and plans for her mom and dad’s 40th wedding anniversary reception. Their official anniversary was April 5, but we celebrated on March 29 at their church in Winter Haven, Florida. Many friends and family were in attendance and had a great time remembering their times together over the past 40 years.
For Brenna’s birthday celebration in February, David took her to a Washington Wizards basketball game in Washington, D.C. That was an amazing experience to see a professional basketball team play live.
The next week was Valentine’s Day, so Brenna and David had dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse in Philadelphia. That was a treat to remember.
The week after Valentine’s Day was Mardi Gras and being the New Orleans lovers that they are, Brenna and David made their annual King Cake order from the Big Easy and discovered a New Orleans restaurant in Wilmington, Delaware. Crawfish and Po’ boys and Bananas Foster, O my!
David spent much of the early months of the year writing his dissertation at Panera Bread at University of Delaware. He was able to defend it in mid-March, allowing him to graduate with 9 members of his cohort.
On April 27, they celebrated 13 years of marriage the weekend before flying to Portland, Oregon, for David’s doctoral graduation. He graduated in May with a Doctorate in Ministry, Leadership in the Emerging Culture from George Fox Seminary. His dissertation was entitled “Understanding Behavioral Change through the Integration of Emerging Sciences and Theology.” He cherishes those years of study and mentoring under our new friend Len Sweet. Len teaches at Drew University in New Jersey as well as George Fox Seminary in Oregon. Living in Delaware has allowed Brenna and David to share a meal and visit with Len while in New Jersey. What an encouraging friend.
While in Portland, we went to Timberline Lodge, 7,000 feet on the side of Mt. Hood, and rode the train through the Mt. Hood valley. We drove through the Columbia River gorge and saw many breath-taking waterfalls, including Multonomah Falls.
David turned 40 years old in June and Brenna surprised him with a graduation/birthday party at their home. He was surprised until the day of the party when he wanted to go somewhere and Brenna had to tell him no because 35 people were coming over later.
The next week after David’s birthday party, they went to a Braves-Orioles baseball game in Baltimore. The Braves lost but it was a fun experience and they consoled themselves with a piece of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. It works every time.
For the July 4th weekend, Brenna and David rode their bikes on the trail and went kayaking at a Delaware state park. That was fun, but they would rather go canoeing than kayaking.
August through the remainder of the year has been a time of prayer for healing for Brenna’s mom. In August she had surgery to remove the pins in her hip from a fall 10 years ago. That wasn’t healing properly and giving a lot of pain and discomfort so she returned to the hospital in September to discover her hip was broken again. Meanwhile, her twin brother passed away suddenly. Brenna’s mom was in no condition to travel from Florida to Virginia at that time, but Brenna made the short 4-hour trip from Delaware to be with her aunt and other family members. She read a tribute from the twin sister at the memorial service on her mom’s behalf.
Brenna’s mom continued to have a lot of pain and the doctor discovered through x-rays that her hip had now dislocated. She went for the third surgery and continued physical therapy and occupational therapy at a center near their house. The center staff was impressed with how well she was recovering and getting back to a normal routine. She was finally able to return home in early December. Praise God!
Through social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, Brenna calculated that people from 12 states responded to her posts and tweets on her mom’s recovery journey. Thank you so much for the prayers and thoughts. We love you all.
A person is a professional when she gets paid for a work, right?! Given that definition, Brenna is now a professional writer. In September, she had 2 articles published in Group Publishing’s Children’s Ministry Magazine, and she wrote the VBS article for the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware’s State Missions Offering. She has been asked to write a chapter on multi-age classrooms for a children’s ministry book coming March 2010. She has an illustrated children’s book on the transition from preschool to children’s ministry also coming in early 2010.
David continues to write as well. He authored an e-book entitled Reframing Success: Missional Metrics for Missional Ministry. He is nearing completion of his book based on his doctoral research Wholly Rewired: Science, the Gospel, and the Journey Towards Wholeness. He has started a book on missional theology called The Miror: the Reflection of God to the World. This book looks at the Trinity as the basis for missional theology.
In October David flew to Huntsville, Alabama, to visit his parents and see some other family and friends. He enjoyed visiting with high school friends, Brad and Russ. He was able to see his 6th grade teacher and another high school friend he has not seen since 10th grade.
In November, David had an eye doctor appointment that resulted in bi-focals. Now he’s really feeling 40 years old.
In early December, Brenna and David divided the house for the second year in a row as the undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide took on the undefeated Florida Gators. David is looking forward to watching the National Championship game in January while Brenna will watch the Gators make Kool-aid in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Brenna will drive back to Florida with her parents after Christmas, visit with friends, and go to an FSC basketball game then fly home New Year’s Day. David will drive back to Delaware after Christmas to get the dog from the vet and spend a few days reading and writing.
For Christmas 2008 we met the parents in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We loved it so much that we are going again this Christmas.
We are looking forward to time off from work, visiting friends and family, and celebrating the season of Jesus’ birth.
Merry Christmas! from Brenna and David Phillips
Tags: Personal by Brenna Phillips
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