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Merry Christmas!

Dear All,

Merry Christmas and happy New Year! I hope all is well with you. Writing (and actually sending a Christmas letter) marks a changing of the seasons in my life - the hesitant starting of a career and all the ensuing trappings of responsibility (then again, maybe not!). This year was marked by a graduation, a short trip around Iceland, working as an engineer, and settling into rural Vermont life.

In early May of this year I was fortunate to be able to return to the UK for my PhD graduation. The trip began by meeting two good friends, Tom and Pip Stace, in Iceland for five days of bicycle touring in the Westfjords. The good company of the Staces made the journey through the spectacularly rocky, windswept, and grand terrain all the more fun. Even the slightly chillier than anticipated weather became only a minor nuisance.

The conferment of my degree was also a very fun occasion marked by British ceremonial understatement, the opportunity to enjoy the company of friends and family, and a wonderful post-graduation dinner cruise on the River Cam.

Much of the remainder of the year was spent working, settling into the local community, and impatiently waiting for future career plans to take shape.

Employment at Concepts NREC, my father’s company, has provided a welcome job with a great deal of latitude. Working at my father’s company has also provided many useful, but at times challenging, opportunities to gain insights in to my father’s life and how it has shaped mine. Surprisingly (at least to myself) I have actually had the opportunity to apply many of the things that I learned in my studies at Cambridge to my present work!

Outside of work, my primary community involvement has been through an ad-hoc interdenominational bible study and through a local Calvinist church. The bible study has lead to a diverse set of friends united by a common faith. Eclectic and at times bordering on comically tragic, the cohesion of the group has been a real testimony to the uniting power of Jesus. Attending a Calvinist church not only has broadened my doctrinal vocabulary, but it has also given me a great new set of theological perspectives. The preaching has been solid, concise, and penetrating, the songs still seem staid, and my attendance has single-handedly given a major boost to the young professionals demographic. The church has also provided a refreshing, but intermittent opportunity to be involved with a ministry at a men’s maximum-security prison.

Having been thoroughly surprised at the course the last year has taken, I cannot help but to eagerly wonder as to where the next year will lead me. I hope the New Year finds all is well with you.

Cheers,