Ok, so about the title;  I suppose it is January’s news in February. But you’re getting the news in February, so it’s February’s news that happened in January. We good? Ok.

Things in this post: Chewie Update, hipster food photos, what Evan has been up to, family adventures.  There are 25 photos in this post, so you don’t even have to exercise your brain very hard to get a sense of what we’re up to.

Chewie is definitely lost forever. We can only hope that whatever airplane gremlin found it is enjoying it. I would recommend they wash it first. GOOD NEWS though! Naomi (Mimi), Missy’s mom and creator of Chewies 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2, has already completed Chewie 3.0! It was shipped to PA where our friend Curtis picked it up and took it to Haiti. Curtis is scheduled to visit us in Belize in a couple of weeks. Pray that the unrest in Haiti – nationwide protests seeking to oust the current president – will not keep Curtis away. Clearly you should pray for the people of Haiti as well.

Annabelle seems to cycle on and off between handling the transition here. This is normal and we’re finding ways for her to express frustration and anger in healthy ways. Please pray for all of us in this.

Part of taking care of Annabelle has meant we are being super intentional about taking our Saturdays as our day off and declaring them FAMILY FUN DAYS!!! Those are three exclamation points for those who are counting. One for each of us.

Enjoy the slideshow and be sure to read the captions.

I’ve been playing way more music than I expected and I’m so happy about that. Before I arrived, Fr. David (a great musician) was handling all of the guitar playing and singing duties as well as the priestly duties. It was made more challenging by an elbow injury. He asked me to step in and I have. I have learned more music in the past month than I have in the past several years combined. I never lead worship, and most of you know I’m a songwriter who has spent much more time playing in public than in church. This has been stretching to me musically and growing me in a good way spiritually. I play a lot of Wendell Kimbrough. The liturgical music we use is from a wonderful artist, Judy Bailey. Her album is “Lift Up Your Hearts.” Check i t out. 

I’ve also been asked to teach a group guitar class. My students are awesome! This is the first time I’ve taught a guitar class and I’m really enjoying it.  Look at the photo below. Seriously. How cute can you get?!

Also below is a photo of our sister church, St. Hilda’s. We went to a baptism service there a few weeks ago. I’m not posting photos of the baptism, out of respect to the family, but I’ll share a photo of the church, with a wonderful girl in white dancing in the aisle.  The photo above of Annabelle  in the purple dress was taken in front of St. Hilda’s. Beautiful.