2023!
I bring to you: 2023! This is my sixth annual recap blog, a yearly recollection of the faithfulness of God as we trace His nearness and goodness month by month. This year's nearness and goodness feels more hard-won and powerfully prevalent than ever before. 2023 -- let's go!
January: If I remember correctly, the sun didn't shine for thirty days straight, except a brief five-minute window when the world broke open to blue and we stopped class to stare outside. Students sword fought through Romeo and Juliet by day, I studied theology with friends and played Scrabble with my husband by night. We celebrated the baby showers for two of my dearest friends who told me they were expecting just two weeks apart.
February: My least favorite month was marked by the sweet wedding of Nate and Hanna, growing in community as a church family, wintry walks, attempted plant-raising, and celebrating my sister's senior season of gymnastics. Trimester two transitioned to trimester three and I eagerly welcomed the bright-eyed beams of a fresh batch of students. We studied research, persuasion, and rhetoric. The Fields Church continued to grow and we were ever so enriched by the closeness of that church family.
March: My besties had their babies and we got to celebrate the sweet snuggles of Nora Dawn and Baby Benny. Joe summoned me to try my first Big Mac, which was, frankly, nothing to write home about. We occasionally ventured to Crawfordsville for family dinners and eagerly awaited the arrival of Spring.
April: Joe and I packed up and headed south for a little spring break getaway to Louisville. We enjoyed long walks, delicious dinners, and worshiping God at Third Avenue Baptist Church. Joe came back and preached an amazing Good Friday message, we celebrated Easter with family and Cole and Riley, two of our single friends who we secretly hoped (one day) would get together :) Cam, Christen, and Riley all graduated, and we also enjoyed working with our student ministries team to pour into the youth of The Fields. Finally, we surprised Joe's parents with Hamilton tickets, and the whole dang family was there!
May: The hectic end-of-school festivities had us at a different school-sponsored event nearly every night; from American Pie to student cabarets, but we loved being immersed in the WHS community. I found out that 5/7 people from my teaching team were going elsewhere (either in the school or in the world), so I anxiously anticipated the future hires that would replace my beloved team. We enjoyed the Indy 500 parade, played our final game of trivia with my favorite co-worker, Weronika, and threw together a massive gala to support teen mental health. Unbeknownst to us at the time, we also celebrated our last Mother's Day with our beautiful mom.
June: As school concluded, Joe and I packed our bags for a two-year-anniversary trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We read tons of books and took tons of beach walks -- I couldn't ask for more. We enjoyed lots of hikes and bonfires with friends; I taught swim lessons while Joe coached tennis, and we loved the leisureliness of summer days. Every other week marked a different adventure -- church camp in Louisville, AVID training in Dallas, and lots of hiking and biking in between.
July was a month filled with poison ivy, pickleball, and parties. We met up with family nearly every weekend to picnic and pickle it up. We celebrated the 4th in both Bloomington and Cicero, then enjoyed pool parties with our Fields Student Ministries crew. We also eagerly anticipated the wedding of Cam and Riley and prepared to gear up for another year of school.
August is when life as we knew it came to a screeching halt. Mom was rushed to the hospital for difficulty breathing, where they found pulmonary embolisms, fluid around her heart, and cancer on her brain and bones. We spent night after night in the hospital, weeping by her side, begging God for a miracle. When she got to come home, we enjoyed going on walks, celebrated her finishing radiation, and made the most of every moment together. School seemed to be an insignificant blur -- we hustled home to Crawfordsville nearly every single day to cherish the seconds spent by her side.
September: The brand-new team of teachers proved to be excellent hires, and we enjoyed restructuring our curriculum and walking the hills and valleys of teaching together. Mom felt good, and we truly believed she was going to make it to Cam's October wedding. After a fun weekend of football, food, and family time, she suffered three massive strokes that paralyzed the left side of her body and put us back in the hospital for the darkest days of our lives. Gradually, her speech improved and we were able to sit with her, weep with her, and love on her. It drew us into the Lord like never before.
On the first day of October, a doctor broke the news that mom would have one week to live. That was exactly one week before Cam's wedding, so we rallied the troops to throw together a spur-of-the-moment impromptu wedding in the hospital chapel. It was heartwrenching and beautiful, and I praise God for that good gift. Mom got to come home on hospice, and we spent every day by her side -- laughing, talking, caring for her, and thanking God for giving us more days.
November: Mom slept the whole day on November 1, and breathed her last peaceful breath on November 2. As she woke up in the arms of Jesus, we celebrated the end to her suffering forever. We greeted nearly 2,000 people in a visitation line on my 25th birthday, then celebrated her life in the high school auditorium surrounded by friends and family. It was God-glorifying and beautiful beyond words. We had our first Thanksgiving without her, which in God's providence, was a miraculously joyful day.
December: I woke up on December 1 and peed on a stick which told me I was pregnant. Joe and I celebrated between the two of us, rejoicing in God's good gifts, while anxiously awaiting the big announcement that would take place on Christmas Day. We had many sweet dinners by our Christmas tree and a crackling Youtube fire. The school days crawled on by, and we enjoyed a much-needed break filled with cold winter walks, cookie baking, Christmas movies, and together time. That Christmas Day announcement turned sour following a morning of unexpected bleeding, but we're rounding out the year taking only what we've been given and trusting in the closeness of Christ until we know more.
A year of much pain and much rejoicing -- of moment-by-moment clinging to our Savior to get us through the next step, the next breath, and yet we are here. Thanks be to God. Bring on 2024!