My Newsy Christmas Letter

interrupting normal recipes & back to regular programming in 2023

*back to regular programming with recipes in 2023

My family is not mailing a Christmas card this year; we experienced several life changes in 2022 and something had to be undone.

A friend from overseas recently emailed and asked, “How are you guys settling in to your new community and church?” I wanted to shoot back a newsy note but didn’t have the margin.

Many of you readers are friends in real life (or feel like real-life friends from Instagram!) I thought a newsy note here would be fun.

When 2022 began, we knew it would be rife with changes, unexpected challenges and general hard things but boy-howdy! What a ride it has been. Probably everyone reading this could say the same.

The year began with my husband starting a new career as a first time pastor at the church where he grew up, where his parents have been for 46+ years, and an 8 hour drive from our then home in Little Rock. The first 6 months of 2022 he spent more time away from us than with us. That was hard.

We sold our house in a booming market, which meant buying a house was challenging. Some very generous empty nest friends let us live in their upstairs the final 6 weeks in Little Rock so John Isaac (our oldest) could graduate with friends and not disrupt the youngest 2.

Two days after prom, John Isaac was finishing his senior project. He and two friends spent the semester creating a video montage of mountain biking trails in Little Rock to promote tourism. On the last day, the last run, his bike went off the trail, fell 40 feet and landed on a small ledge 100 feet from water. My palms are sweaty and my heart races as I type. I am not exaggerating when I say he was spared from death. The Lord protected him. It took about 50 people 2 hours to get him off the ledge.

After 5 days in the hospital, countless follow up doctor and dentist appointments, 3 surgeries on his face, and 6 months of healing, he is almost back to normal. We saw an ophthalmologist this week who said there is permanent optic nerve damage and he will need to be serious about yearly exams to watch for glaucoma. We are grateful he has most of his range of vision and just a little double vision when he looks down. The trauma eye will always be more dilated than the healthy one.

Every doctor we have seen in the last 6 months cannot believe he is alive. I will never get tired of telling the story.

Barely a week after his last surgery to repair the shattered orbital floor (bone that holds the eye in socket), we packed his car and drove 3 days to Phoenix, AZ where he began his freshman year at Grand Canyon University. He is thriving. Loves school and roommates. Loves the West. He sends pictures and videos of his escapades. I’m not generally a Nervous Nellie but my heart leaps when I see some of them. He is an adventure junkie. I love that the accident didn’t squelch that. He loves Jesus fiercely and we continue to be proud of him.

The Younger Kids

After spending too much time researching school options, we settled on Christian Academy of Louisville’s Southwest campus school 7 minutes from home. It has been a good fit our first year - there’s one class per grade.

Caroline is in the 7th grade and joined the volleyball team; her first sortie into team sports. It was exactly what she needed to make friends and build confidence. She continues to hone her art skills loving sketching and painting. We hope to get her private lessons next year. She has a solid head on her shoulders, thriving academically and growing spiritually. Besides creating things she loves to read.

Schaeffer has 8 other students in his 4th grade class. He loves his male teacher and is a hard worker with strong study habits (read: perfectionist). He also joined organized sports for the first time and played church league soccer. Loved it. He will play basketball for the first time in January - it’s KY’s national sport. He is tall for his age; I’m excited for him! Schaeffer is tender hearted and mature. After school he is almost always on the trampoline.

If moving states, changing jobs and schools wasn’t enough stress, we brought a rescue dog to KY. This dog has been a weapon of mass destruction chewing everything left within reach and digging trenches where moles have been. Thankfully she is outside only. Yesterday we bought a GPS shock collar and have renewed hope of at least keeping this Houdini on our property and stopping neighbor shoe theft. (I’m sorry neighbors.)

My Husband

John is absolutely thriving in his new position as pastor. He loves most everything about the job. All past experiences in life and ministry have prepared him to excel here. He’s gets to combine his natural leadership abilities and organization with his love of learning and teaching. A solid group of 7 other wise elders help give oversight to the church; we are grateful for them. He is energized like never before. I am so proud of him.

The church has been welcoming and loving to all 5 of us. We are glad to be here, linking arms with believers to share the love of Christ with SW Louisville. Currently he is preaching through the Gospel of John.

Our Home

Our house sits on 3 wooded acres between 2 other houses with acreage in the midst of a regular neighborhood. It feels like our own little retreat in the back yard. We are 5 minutes from church.

There’s a cleared spot for a garden and while I didn’t have margin to jump in last summer I am gearing up to garden in the spring. Oh how I love gardening!! It will be interesting to see how well we can keep out deer, moles, AND THE DOG.

I want to get chickens in the spring but don’t yet have a chicken coop or infrastructure to keep them safe from the dog or hawks I see all the time.

It has been wonderful to live so close to family. John’s parents are 10 minutes away. It still feels weird to join them for dinner on a weeknight after living far away for 20 years. My parents and siblings are 2 hours away; at Thanksgiving we were all so happy not to spend a total of 20 hours in the car to visit!

Exciting for 2023

We will remodel our 1970s kitchen! Separating the current kitchen and dining room is a stairwell to the basement. We are removing the stairwell, combining the two rooms for one large kitchen. The former formal living room is now the dining room. Someone gave us the perfect beautiful long table to fit the space!

We’re not sure where we will install the FREE spiral staircase snagged from FB Marketplace and will live without internal stairs for a bit. We’ve purchased new cabinets and appliances and January begins demo. This is the 6th kitchen renovation (and most complex) I’ve lived through and seriously hope it is the last.

From the Heart

Six months in a new place have raced past. I find myself driving places without GPS and able to recall names of people easier. There are days I still find a box to unpack. Our house is beginning to feel like home. I’ve volunteered some at the kids’ school. On occasion I’ve had the treat of driving to see my parents for the day.

Every week is filled with something. To borrow a title a friend ascribed to herself, I’m the Cruise Director for the Majors. Most of my work is unglamorous behind the scenes. It’s taken two decades to feel comfortable in this role. I’ve fought against cultural expectations (and my own) to be productive in a real job. As time marches on I realize the necessity of the unglamorous and grateful that John and I have made intentional choices over the years for me to focus on our home and family. Sending a child out of the nest brings perspective that changing diapers can’t.

In my 20s and 30s I pushed myself to know all the things, do it all, do it right (at least what I thought was right) and prove my existence to the world.

In 4 months I turn 47. It’s the year I’ll be married longer than not married. I feel more confident than ever of who I am, what my strengths and weaknesses are, and who God created me to be. It’s a great place to be. I have loved my 40s.

Now at 46 I feel a bit of release from the striving. I am recovering from chronic over activity. I try harder to say no to things that are not mine to do (if it’s not a ‘heck yes!’ then it’s a no) while fighting for margin like never before. I am striving less and resting more. I have a lot to learn and practice.

I am living the abundant life.

Life is hard, food doesn’t have to be.

Julie

PS - I would love to hear from you, just reply to this email.