Every year, my wife and I have a scheduled date the morning of Christmas Eve. On that date, we look back at the previous year and share our highlights and what we are looking forward to in the coming year.
2011 was a good year to look back on, although not without it’s hardships or challenges. Here are some of our highlights from 2011:
- Our 2nd son, Stone, was born. There are so many memories and fun things that surround his birth:
- our awesome Doctor (Adkins) and how he nearly missed the birth of our son
- our friends Stephanie and Thomas who were visiting when my wife went into labor (kind of)
- how much our oldest, Howie, loves his little brother
- the timing of a summer baby
- and more…
- We both changed careers after being in full-time ministry for over half a decade. I have gone into marketing & owning my own business, and my wife is now unemployed (joyfully, might we add).
- First the first time during our marriage, we stayed home for a summer. Full-time ministry brought much travel, and summers were always spent in at least a different State, if not a different Country.
- I have begun a bible study / counseling group with Aphesis. I feel that this is the start of really understanding more about my relationship with God, leading my family spiritually, and understanding more about who I am.
- I meet with 2 friends, Josh and Ryan, early every Thursday morning (or at least most mornings). This has been a big highlight of my year.
- My wife and I do a date-night-kid-swap every Friday night, and this has been awesome. We love going to Bucer’s and enjoying their happy hour and $1 americanos those nights.
- I began working part-time for Textbook Recycling, doing marketing, a bit of web design, and whatever else they might need me to do. It has been a blessing to have a bit of consistent income during our transition!
There’s much more that we talked about, but those were some of our big highlights.
What are your highlights for 2011?
Now, on to 2012. I’m excited for this year…
I am proud of you both for taking the risk to make big changes – may this year bring continued, growth, insight and blessing. We missed you guys so much during the conference. Everybody did well – great group of volunteers. But we missed Jason in his suit and headset, orchestrating everything!
Thanks, Carolyn. We feel like this past year was full of risk and changes, and this next one will be no different.
I’m glad the conference went well – I know it would with everyone that helped put it together! I did miss being able to help shape something so influential, but I’m sure that will happen again someday. We look forward to staying in touch, Carolyn. Thanks for your kind words!