We are enjoying life near downtown Austin hiking in the Green Belt, walking along Ladybird Lake, swimming in Barton Springs Pool, and playing in Zilker Park.
We all enjoyed our trips to Toronto and the Grand Cayman Islands as well as to see our parents, siblings and their families at Lake L.B.J., Dallas/Fort Worth, and East Texas! In the past year in our extended family, we have had two weddings, a funeral, and three newborns. It has been good to be near extended family for these important moments.
Caleb enjoys spending time with friends at Austin High School football games, playing basketball, watching movies, and playing video games. His greatest highlight was standing on the front row for the Eminem concert at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Trevi enjoys playing volleyball and redesigning her room as often as we let her plus spending time with her friends. She is in 7th grade at O.Henry Middle School, a great school and probably one of the few schools in the country named after someone who spent time in jail. 🙂
Deborah enjoyed celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary along with our almost daily walks and almost weekly visits to Alamo Drafthouse for lunch and a movie. She has been an amazing host for our small group and mentoring several women as part of our ministry at Gateway Church in Austin.
In addition to our family adventures, my highlights include seeing lives change (people finding faith and Christ-followers growing in faith) at Gateway Church. In the new year, we are working towards moving into a new 24/7 space (rather than renting a high school) and starting a Central Austin campus.
I’ve also really enjoyed my partnership with Bethel Seminary (teaching a Doctor of Ministry cohort in San Diego and a Post-Christian Ministry Certificate in Austin), and I had the opportunity to meet and/or spend time with some amazing people in Toronto, Kansas City, Las Vegas, California, Central Texas, Austin, at Mosaic Terra Nova, and in Shanghai. If you are in the area for any of my upcoming speaking engagements, let me know!
Our top 50 pictures of the year can be seen at my Facebook page here.
