...from Craig & Susie: our very very long Twiggs familys double year newsletter...


Twiggs family’s “double year” newsletter for Christmas 2006:

Yes… Craig and Susie are horrible pen-pals. Horrible. This is the first
newsletter since 2004. No excuse. Reasons, but no excuses. We moved, again,
in the summer of 2005. (Big surprise, huh?) And we let the busy-ness of that
year and holidays get in the way of writing a Christmas newsletter. Well, lo
and behold, we moved again in 2006. (Last month, actually.) And we’ve let
the busy-ness of this holiday season get in the way of doing Christmas cards
again. So here is an email newsletter that will hardly do justice to what
you all mean to us, but I know that you know the source, and hope you will
continue to claim to know us as we move around the country and cross paths
again. We truly are thankful for the fellowships that God has given to us,
the friendships you have given to us, and we do wish you a very Merry
Christmas and a blessed New Year.

2005

2005 found us in Richmond, VA, for the second year in a row at the same Kent
Rd. address. (Big surprise!) We flew to OR to see family at Christmas and
New Years. The west coast Twiggs were doing well and the little ones were
growing like sprouts! In the early spring, Craig began working at one of two
of our state capital’s Baptist State Convention offices: the Southern
Baptist Conservatives of VA (sbcv.org) as administrative and mission support
worker, while he continued to take classes part-time toward his seminary
degree at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (sebts.edu). Susie
continued working at the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist
Convention, also as administrative and mission support, in the Office of
Overseas Operations. Her particular area of service is East Asia
(imb.org/easia/). By April, we took a vacation: our first trip to VA’s
eastern shore, Maryland, and Delaware – so beautiful! Yes, Susie grew up in
VA but had never visited VA’s eastern shore. Chincoteague and Assateague
Islands, Chesapeake Bay, DelMarVa penninsula… so many wonderful sights to
see. We also visited Brett, Craig’s twin, who was living at Baltimore’s
Inner Harbor. He is the lone “east coast Twiggs” with us.

In May 2005 we were hired as Part-Time Resident Asst. Managers by a local
storage company. We moved on-site and enjoyed the new job (two weekends a
month to “relieve” the Full-Time Resident Managers.) By the summer and fall,
we were getting used to the new job/new home, new area of town, and new
routine. In July, Craig served at the state-wide “Studentz Camp” in
Lynchburg. Susie accompanied him on that ‘business trip’ and enjoyed herself
as a tag-along spouse. Over a thousand kids in one week. God provided Craig
strength and stamina for a wonderful camp and brought us home safely and not
too tired. We were still at Bon Air Baptist Church, but had begun to think
about looking for another church home. We loved the church and pastor, but
it was just one of those “there’s something missing” feelings.

In August, Craig helped at the state Youth Conference, where Kirk Cameron
was a key-note speaker. Much to Susie’s chagrin, Craig had to rescue Kirk
from the hotel after a scheduling oversight, and had to chauffeur him to the
conference center. The first comment out of her mouth when told was, “Please
tell me you stopped to tidy up the car before you drove over there!” Craig
said that he did his best, but Susie’s not so sure. Craig said that he
probably didn’t notice; that they just talked ‘boy stuff’ and enjoyed the
ride. How funny to think of how time flies… that the teenager on the 80’s TV
screen is also simply a grown-up now, too, and both he and Craig are just
trying to be the men of God that they need to be, however that service finds
them.

The fall holidays flew by… before we knew it, Thanksgiving and Christmas had
come again. We spent time with family in VA for Thanksgiving and flew to OR
once more for Christmas. We were so pleased to spend almost two weeks in OR
with loved ones as 2006 approached. It is so good to see the west coast
Twiggs.

2006

2006 began much like the year before. Craig still enjoyed his mission
support service at the SBCV and Susie still enjoyed the IMB. The spring
semester went fast as Craig took a “one-night/wk” class at campus. That
actually worked out better than we expected: we arranged work schedules so
to get out early on Tuesdays, Susie drove on the way down so that Craig
could read or cram, Craig sat in class while Susie went shopping, and then
Craig drove home. The only dilemma (apart from the rising gas prices) was
that American Idol showed on Tuesday night. Susie had to tape the show and
watch it late. Then, a quick phone call to Mama Twiggs on Pacific time would
do the trick for Susie to have her cast a vote by telephone for the favorite
act. It was all the more exciting of an AI season because the local kid,
Elliott, made it to the top three, while several North Carolinians made it
pretty far in the competition, too. How fun it was to drive down the highway
with “Elliott” signs on the car and listening to the honks from the NC
residents!

In May 2006, Susie had the privilege to stand with her childhood friend,
Shay, at her wedding in GA. What a wonderful ceremony and what great new
additions to our extended “family of friends.” After the wedding, Craig and
Susie took vacation and invited the VA in-laws to share some time at Myrtle
Beach, SC. Jim and Shirley Anderson were great fun for the “double-date”
vacation. We’ll have to do that again sometime. Summer came quickly and
Craig had another opportunity to serve with the annual Studentz Camp. This
time, work prevented Susie from attending. She missed him. She heard every
sound outside. Very little sleep that week. She asked Craig when Studentz
Camp 2007 is scheduled, and immediately put in for vacation. :)

Also in the summer, Susie’s Aunt MaryAnn had moved from TN to the DC area
around the same time that Brett (the other east coast Twiggs) moved to DC,
and we enjoyed making several road trips on our weekends off. We also
escalated our church search and joined Swift Creek Baptist Church. We love
it. Great pastor, great Sunday School class, great activities and
ministries. We really enjoy our new church home. By Labor Day 2006, we took
another vacation (more of a vacationette) to the Outer Banks, NC. Again, a
first time for Susie and Craig. Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, Oregon Inlet, Cape
Hatteras, etc. – what beautiful sights to see! We had a great time getting
away, having a chance to talk dreams and share blessings, and decided that
we really wanted to focus more time on us and how God would have us cherish
our family of two... (and yes, we know exactly who’s counting.)

We decided to make plans to resign from our part-time job so to open up more
free time and lighten the stress load. We began looking to move closer to
where we work, and stumbled upon a cute little apartment complex about a
mile from Craig’s office. (Remember, our place on Kent Rd. was across the
street from Susie’s work.) Craig’s commute isn’t as short, but is less than
five minutes even if he is stopped by the lights. We put in a 30-day notice,
packed it up again, and moved across town. We were smart enough to get a PO
Box the previous summer, which we plan to keep as long as we’re in the area.
We’re on our third address in the same town, so just keep using our PO Box,
okay? Even we don’t know where we’ll end up and when. Our eighth home in
seven years… it might be a record.

So here we are, enjoying the new-found time and upcoming Christmas of 2006.
We will not be flying to OR this year but staying in VA. Susie’s older
sister is flying home from TX and this will be the first Christmas with all
four siblings and Dad Anderson in five years. We will miss the west coast
Twiggs, but look forward to vacationing there this summer so that we can see
the green grass of the ranch with the snow caps in the distance. We wish we
could come visit all of you… but please know that you are remembered just
the same. Each year we make a New Year’s resolution to be more diligent
about corresponding, and each year we fail miserably. Our hope is that you
realize how grateful we are for the memories we have shared throughout the
years with each and every one of you, wherever you are. Those memories are
the easiest to pack, and the most important for each new home we make.

May God bless you during this wonderful Christmas season,

Craig & Susie Twiggs
Richmond, VA
***Serving the Lord through Study with Southeastern Baptist Theological
Seminary***