I went to Africa, and it was fabulous. I go through periods of intense longing to return, not just for the blue skies and the exotic animals, but because I miss the simplicity of our life there and the friends, ex-pat and Kenyan both, that I made.
I muddled through my first annual parish report, bishop’s visitation, Lent, and Easter as a solo priest. I took the spring off from marathon training and focused more on strength-training. I spent a lot of time in Indiana due to Abby and John’s nuptials in June and the bridal shower before, as well as a half marathon in Evansville and the Indianapolis Marathon in October.
Joe and I traveled to Asheville and Chicago for vacations and to Cancun to celebrate our 5th anniversary. We drank good beer and ate good food and enjoyed time together in nature without the distractions of our normal lives.
We ran the Derby Festival half marathon together in Louisville in April and a 15K together in October.
Both of my grandmother’s died this year, and I presided over both of their memorial services.
I attended my 10-year high school reunion in Michigan, even after it was cancelled for non-participation. And then I went back to Ontario with Abby before travelling down to Indianapolis with Abby and John later. We spent A LOT of time together, which was great. I joked that I should move in with them to cook and clean.
I read 30 books. I ran 1080 miles. I baptized my first baby. I spent time in some of my favorite places and with some of my favorite people. I learned a lot about myself, about leading a church, and about God’s grace and forgiveness. My friends bought houses and got married and had babies and some of them got divorced. We acquired bikes, and I started swimming again.
So maybe 2013 was about learning to be happy in stasis, without any of the big dynamic changes (jobs, school, change in geographic location, etc.) that have seemed to characterize my life up to this point. I guess this is what it’s like to be a grown-up, now at 29, with a refinanced mortgage, a marriage going on six years, three cats, a vocation I love, and real friends.
Here’s to more of the same in 2014 – to travel, to more weddings and fewer funerals, to reading more, to sitting less, to deeper relationships with the people that matter.
