2019 Year in Review
10 years ago on January 1st we landed in India with four suitcases, no children, and no clue what would happen next.
As we round out this decade, our lives look a lot more 30-ish. We’ve got a house full of kids, full-blown careers, and are paying property taxes.
What did we do in 2019? We found our groove in Indy.
Homestead
We started the year with four chickens, and ended with four! This was also our first year for a real garden. It was a moderate success with small quantities of raspberries, cucumbers, bok choy, arugula, okra, and beets. We tripled our maple sap collection (hooray!), but didn’t realize it needed to be sealed better so it didn’t go bad (boo!).
We also put up a tree platform which makes for a nice reading spot in the summer.
Inside, we segmented our basement out a bit to make it more usable and got a ping pong table.
Neil wants everyone to know that his beloved compost pile is still going strong, and the paw paw harvest was plentiful as well. He’s still working on convincing the rest of the family to love this native Indiana fruit.
Friends and neighbors
There’s always something brewing with the pack of feral kids that run around in the neighborhood. We’ve shared a lot of good life with neighbors and had some memorable karaoke nights!
Travels
Courtney went to Mumbai in January to visit with dear friends and kiss a precious new baby.
For Spring Break, we went to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. It was a great trip (especially for planning late!), and a beautiful place. The cabin was freezing and wonderful.
In October, Neil and Marcus went to India for his first trip back since we left in 2016 (more on that later).
Courtney and Neil went to Nashville in December to see Andrew Peterson’s Christmas concert (incredible).
Family updates
Braydon
Perceptive eyes will notice there’s another kid in some of these pictures! Braydon came to live with us in June. He’s a 4th grader who loves animals, reading, being outside, listening to music, and having fun. He is very intuitive, intelligent, and loves to learn new things.
Marcus
Marcus is now in 2nd grade and enjoying school. He’s still a die-hard Boxcar Children fan, but has started to learn the world of Harry Potter (thanks to one of Neil’s colleagues). Still sweet as punch.
The big event of the year was a two-week trip to India with Neil. They stayed in the same apartment complex where we used to live. The trip was full of lots of events and even more good people. We hope it’s a trip that cements the memories he has of growing up there.
Abigayle
Abigayle finished preschool and started Kindergarten this year. She is still an amazing climber and always keeps things interesting. She made a really close friend in preschool and also has a new best friend in the neighborhood.
Our ever-quotable child:
(imagining herself convincing a bear to not eat her)
“Don’t eat me, I taste like bottoms!”
(after discovering there were children when Jesus fed the 5,000)
A: I didn’t know there were children there.
Papa: Where did you think the children went?
A: Didn’t they have grandmas?
Courtney
This was a year of transition for Courtney as she embarked on a new career, transitioned from her home church for the past 34 years, and welcomed a new child into the mix. It was a big year, at times overwhelming, but through it all a sense of confidence that God was taking her where He wanted her. She loves her role in real estate and had the added joy of her first clients being some of our dear friends — she even got to be fed by one of their mothers when she was in Mumbai! The world can be so wonderfully small.
Neil
Work with Kissflow goes on strong, though a lot of what he’s doing has shifted to a new podcast called WorkMinus, which has been a lot of fun.
He completed the classes for the Indiana Master Naturalist program, which is highly recommended. He also did the OPSF 14 mile run, which is not. This has also been a big year for learning new things, which also means lots of writing as he processes.
Church transitions
One of the biggest story lines of the year was that Courtney’s parents decided to retire from church ministry after 35 years! During the transition, we started attending a house church through Common Ground Northeast and now attend full time. We feel very grateful for a wonderful community!
Losses
We suffered the loss of Courtney’s uncle Bill and her grandma this year, which made us especially grateful for the presence of Christ in grief.
………………..
The year was full of good, and also not without challenges as our family grew and adjusted and transitioned, but here we are in 2020 and ready for another year of God’s faithfulness.
Let us know how you are. As always, we’ve got a room for you if you are coming through!
Neil+Courtney
