The Metcalfe Family
					Christmas 1998

Dear

We wish you every joy this Christmas season and in the coming year.
We know that life has its ups and downs and we pray that you have many
ups and tolerable downs.

The life for our family changed this year with Miranda (18) going off
to Eastern Nazarene College in September.  Instead of being a family
of six, we've become a family of five plus one.  Miranda was in the
top 5 percent of her class. The road to college was bumpy (hunting
scholarships, working at UPS, and the like) but she made it. It poured
11 inches of rain the day we held her cookout graduation party. We
miss her and wait eagerly for her to visit and call.

Jessica (16) has been taking driving lessons - mostly Dad's driving
lessons for now.  She hopes to get her license and a turn at taking
the car.  Jessica was inducted into the National Honor Society, is
Vice President of the church teen council, and has assumed residence
in what used to be Mandy's room.

Emily (soon to be 13) has won her school's speech contest.  She has
won speech contests before in her school in Nashua, so the beat goes
on.  She has also completed our church Caravan program earning the PF
Brisee commendation, the highest in the program. She plays the flute,
is interested in becoming a teacher, and very interested in becoming a
teenager in January.  I no longer have any girls in my house; only
young ladies.

Andrew (10 1/2) is still a boy.  He is excelling in such things as
math in school (#1 in his class for math and spelling), plays his Aunt
Faith's trumpet, and played various positions on the Indians little
league baseball team.

My grandfather (Russell Metcalfe, Sr.) passed away this past summer at
the age of 96. Representatives of the Texas and Massachusetts families
traveled to Ohio to bury him.

Joy has started a home business selling Tender Heart Treasures
merchandise.  She the lowest pressure salesperson you'd ever want to
see, discouraging people from buying if they are not really sure they
want something.  But low pressure sells, her product is well made, and
it is so affordable that people feel it is a refreshing change from
other home party scenes. Joy's physical health remains under
observation but she never slows down.

On November 12, 1998, Joy turned 39 years old.  On November 14, 1998,
I threw her a surprise 40th birthday party and instructed the guests
to disbelieve her claims of being only 39; after all, 39 is the last
official birthday a woman gets.  The practical joke hit its peak when
she went to her wallet for her license to prove her age, but the
license was misplaced.  Her own sisters and father called to wish her
a happy 40th.

Joy and I approach our 20th anniversary on May 12.  We're more in love
than ever and still enjoy each other's company.

I am still working at Cadence Design Systems, Inc, in Chelmsford, MA
and I'll have been there 4 years in April.  The company has doubled in
size since I got here, but that also means bureaucracy has a way of
settling in and squeezing out some of the fun.  It is less of a party
and more like work, but all in all, it is still a good place to work.

I finally had some extra vacation time to spend and agreed to spend a
week at camp as a counselor for 10- and 11-year olds.  On my first
night, one boy fell out of the top bunk and split his head open so we
were at the nurse's station until 2AM!  The rest of the week went much
more smoothly though. On the recommendation of the counselor next
door, who happened to be in my youth group years ago, I learned to
bribe the kids in my cabin.

My father has announced his intention to retire at the close of 22
full years as Pastor of the Wollaston Church of the Nazarene
(effective June 30, 1999).  Over the past year, I have set up a web
site (http://www.enc.edu/org/wollynaz/rmetcalfe/sermons.html) to
archive his sermons and make them available as a free resource.  In
one year, over 21,000 people visited his sermons site.  I send out an
unposted sermon every Tuesday and Thursday to a free email
distribution list of over 330 people, at least a quarter of whom are
other pastors, and to over two dozen world locations.

I've set up my own web site
(http://www.fortunecity.com/millenium/tulip/309/index.com) which
include archives of my published works, some Bible lessons, and a
weekly family journal that my email friends get each week - it's
contents are not unlike this Christmas letter.  It also shows pictures
of the house, which received a new paint job this past May.  The house
now sports five colors. The primary color has been best described as
black raspberry ice cream, the trim is a sort of pale pink, the
accents are two kinds of green, and the shutters are black. We also
refinished the chicken coop into a bath house out near the pool.  It
looks wonderful but my own negligence gave me bronchitis by not
wearing a dust mask while sanding the walls.  We also discovered that
our pool had emptied out in November (!) prompting some quick fixes
and refilling.  We're looking at a new liner after next swimming
season.  The beat goes on.

While the world around us shakes, rattles, and rolls, there is still a
sure foundation on which we can stand.  And even in the midst of
political turmoil and other troubles in the world, there still can be
"peace on earth toward men of goodwill" because peace (contentment)
radiates from within the heart. We pray for you the very best
(whatever that may be) for you and your family, and for contentment,
wherever 1999 may lead us. God bless you!  See you on the internet, in
snail mail, or perhaps a phone call.

Mark