Grateful for 2022

As 2022 wrapped up we found ourselves very thankful.  We finished the year with some delightfully warm weather (the kids were outside in shorts and I was gardening!), some pick-up indoor soccer games with neighbors, and then a rousing evening of fun at the Unverzagt home on New Year's Eve.

On New Year's Day I asked the kids to write a paragraph about what they were thankful for this past year.  Here are thoughts from all of us...

Rayna:

Things I am thankful for:  I am thankful for my George Junior class and my hard work at the horse farm and at blackout burger and at The outlet mall and at Zumba and at Caperm Club. I am also thankful for Mrs. Lowe.

Colsen:

2022 has been an amazing year.  I have grown in lots of ways and I feel like I am a much better person.  Here are 3 things I am most thankful for: First, is my youth group.  The Casa has an awesome group of leaders that are great mentors.  Also many of my friend go to.  Second, I am thankfull for such good friends.  Many of the friends I have are Christians and it is a blessing.  Finally, I am thankful for good schooling.  All of my teachers are great and I am enjoying shcool a lot.  2022 has been a good year.

Miles:

2022 brought a copias amount of blessings.  Fellowship, gathering, oppurtunities, only to name a few. I started a band with my friends which has been really fun and I have really enjoyed my classes this school year. In 2023 I hope and pray that the same will follow.  God has been very loving.  I will continue to be grateful.

Jinna:  

I am thankful for 2022 school year and have learned a lot.  I learned what Logos, Pathos, and Ethos means now.  I also lerned some new things in science which is going well.  I am so thinkful I have a lot of friends to play with in Grove City. I am thinking about Gateway that you can grow your faith in Jesus.  I am lerning to be a good babysitter, a good friend, and a good listener.  My class called "The babysitting class" was great and I now know about how to babysit well.  My casa group is also I am thinkful because it is at our church, not far over, and you lern about Jesus.  I am thinkful friends and family relates that cares about me.  This what I am thinkful for.

Amy:

This has truly been a good year of realizations and, I think, growth.  I have appreciated having extra time and a more relaxed pace to do more thinking and processing.  My counselor, Faith, has shown me so much and I feel like she has been a spiritual coach, which is such a gift.  I've been thankful for the opportunity to teach a little bit at GCCA.  The SAT prep class is an easy one and it's nice to be a small part of that community.  The women's Bible study I led this year, on the Martha study I wrote, was a gift as well.  There's something very life-giving about hearing others talk about how God has worked in their lives, and what He is showing them now.  Grace Anglican has continued to be a blessing to us as well and we are all growing and learning there.  Because it was so packed this year, we also had the opportunity to worship with other churches here, and that was a blessing, too.  We love living in the community we are in.... Just a couple days ago the boys were playing soccer at the Y and I looked around the arena and realized that just about all of the boys (about 20 of them? live within a a quarter miles of our house, and they all come from Christian families.... So rare!  And, I've been thankful to have Strider so nearby, and to see him enjoying his college years.  He has made good friends and has been getting more involved in various activities, which are definitely some prayers come true.  Even he said that he is glad we all made the move to Grove City, and I never expected him to say that!  It's been an "ALMONDS" kind of year here in many ways. (Numbers 17)

Pete:  

Much to be thankful for in 2022; here are a few highlights:

• Amy's wisdom and encouragement to/toward me, her trip to Scotland, learning from her more about vision in my job, not getting so focused on day to day, trip with her to Montreal!
• Rayna's graduation party and so much family support.  Rayna's positive growth and resourcefulness.
• Trip to Harbor Island - -so thankful for the break and time more focused with the family
• Miles' guitar playing and Soup
• Colsen's state championship
• Jinna going to school more -- Gateway for girls
• Learning more about liberal arts -- growth and wisdom from other provosts and colleagues
• Surprise 50th birthday party
• Strider's friends/PANS -- more connection to GCC
• Amy's Bible reading plan -- encouragment from those reading along and FB messages -- my parents doing this plan
• CASA for all the kids and Capernaum for Rayna (Lydia!)
• Friendship with Brian and Darol
• Many visitors to our home -- Darol, Burkes, Linns, our families, parties, Amy's birthday, Amy's Bible study
• Town of GC

First Christmas Gift Trip of the year

 For Christmas this year Pete suggested we give the kids more experiences and fewer gifts, so that's what we did.

Strider's big gift was a trip to watch the Cowboys play in a Thursday Night Football game -- in Nashville.  He and Pete had a great time!  They left 3 days after Christmas and drove the 9 hours down and back in a few days.

They both seem to be big fans of Nashville now.  All of the bands playing live music in venue after venue amazed them and they spent a lot of time going from place to place to hear as much music as they could.

One of Strider's friends from the college lives in Nashville now as a musician so they went to see him play with his band, which was a highlight.

And the other, bigger, highlight of course was the GAME!  It was a dramatic one and the Cowboys won, so it was a good trip all the way around.

This was their third trip to watch the Cowboys play now in 3 different cities.... wonder if this father-son tradition will continue!

Boxing Day

...And Boxing Day brought the Tottas, Crossleys, and Grandpa and Gee-Gee!  It was nice to have everyone all together for a couple days.

We did a white elephant exchange, put together some "boxes" (bags) as a Boxing Day observance, played games, and enjoyed some meals together.

After dinner, we had the annual cousin performance of an original song.  This year's was "Gritty for Jesus" and was their best composition yet!

We loved having everyone in Grove City! We missed David and Erik's families, and Andrew who is across the world, but it was good to have the rest of the family here.  The addition of Karl into the family is a very good one -- according to everyone!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day brought the Boyers and the Bains!

We had a lot of fun eating, playing games, celebrating Krista and Karl's recent engagement, and singing!  I don't know why I don't have more pictures.  :(

The cousins also spent some time downstairs in the basement, composing something special that would be debuted the next day.....

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve brought some snow -- and Dean and Wendy for brunch!

We enjoyed a cozy celebration at home.... and when we weren't eating, the table was being used for ping pong allllllllll day!

We ended the day with a lovely candlelight service at church, all 7 of us.

It was a nice calm before the whirlwind of the 25th-28th....
 

Thoughts on my 50th birthday

Last month my therapist suggested that I start praying daily that God would show me how He loves me.  This might be my all-time favorite prayer to try.

I expected that He would show me through some small ways, some little "coincidences" through the weeks.  And He has.... but He's also shown me in very big ways, ways that could not be written off as just coincidences.

In fact, I would say that these last few months leading up to my 50th birthday have been full of some very big realizations and mind-shifts... a time period unlike any other.  I have felt God telling and showing me things I really needed to hear.

I'm not sure why this season has been so rich, but maybe there are a few contributing factors. Talking with my counselor, aptly named Faith, has been instrumental.  She has been a real spiritual coach, praying with and for me regularly in very powerful ways.  A few books I've read have also been key in showing me things I needed to hear (You're Only Human and Hinds Feet on High Places among them).  Practicing a couple habits have also probably helped:  reciting Psalm 23 before bed, praying the Lord's Prayer more regularly, even my new weight training regimen.  Attending a church where the weekly messages are full of reality and hope, where the priests depend on the Spirit and look for Him to change us, has definitely helped. Finally, I think having the space and time to process, think, and pray more have given this season the fullness I was looking for.  I'm thankful to be in this stage of life with fewer demands on my time and to have the luxury to talk with friends more and spend more time reading and studying.

God alone knows why I needed these messages now and His orchestration of how I was to hear them is beyond my comprehension.  I am very, very thankful that they corresponded with the conclusion of my 50th year though.  That just feels like such a gift.  Happy Jubilee birthday to me!

As if to confirm that He is delighted with me and wanted to show up in great form on my actual birthday, this is how the first hour of 12/21/22 went for me:

1. My Advent devotional reading for the day just happened to include 1 John 4:7-8 -- my life theme verses

2. I was greeted by several friends and family via texts before I even got out of bed

3. The author I have been so changed by this month just happened to be interviewed this week on one of my favorite podcasts and I was able to listen to it as I worked out

4. I got my highest score ever on the SpellTower app

5. Pete decorated the house with balloons and a big banner and the kids all joyfully celebrated me when I came downstairs.

The day continued on in this fashion.... I was able to meet both Strider and Miles at the coffee shop while I was there for a few hours.  Then Pete made a fantastic lasgana dinner and invited over the Browns and Jefferises for a little dinner party.  I haven't laughed that much in a long time!

Turning 50 was pretty great.

Harp debut

Jinna has been taking harp lessons over the last few months and this week she had the opportunity to play with her teacher and a few other students as the prelude to the Academy's Christmas program!

They all looked quite elegant up on stage!

 Hopefully this is the start of a long harp career!  It's a beautiful instrument to hear around the house, even when the student is a beginner (which I think is really saying something, after all the years of out-of-tune violin screeching and shrill tin-whistlers practicing!).

Quick visit

Nonna and Poppa graciously invited Rayna to stay with them for a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving and then they drove her home to our house.  We wish they could have stayed longer, but we enjoyed seeing them for a day anyway!

 

St. Nicholas Day

This year's St. Nick's Day was a neighborhood affair!  We invited friends who live next door to us, behind us, and across the street from us (such a blessing to have friends like this SO close!) and we had a fun dinner together.  This year's crowd was already well-versed in who St. Nicholas was, so we breezed through the story and then got organized with over 1100 candy canes!  

Off we went on our stealth missions.... although we weren't quite as stealthy as may have liked at a couple houses.

Thankfully no one called the police -- because one of the town officers was in our group with us! 

As always, it was a memorable night!
 

Girls' group, senior edition

Over the last few years I've had the joy of meeting with these 6 college women for Bible study and prayer and I've loved watching their journeys!  We started meeting when they were sophomores and now they're seniors and making their plans for after college.  I love getting a glimpse of life through their eyes and look forward to seeing what else the Lord will do in their lives!