It’s time for me to post another yearly review:
Cost of Living
2022 was the year that expensive stuff kept breaking (like my car and my teeth). We didn’t have as much of that this year, but the overall cost of living presented a challenge for us. I’m sure many of my readers can relate: the average American Family spent about a thousand dollars a month more in 2023 than in the previous year just to maintain the same standard of living.
I’m not mentioning this to complain or to dwell on problems. I’m simply writing it down so that some day I’ll look back and remember God’s faithfulness through the challenges.
Church/Ministry
A few things come to mind when I think about ministry this year.
- I have continued to preach through the Gospel of Matthew. This may be the most enjoyable sermon series I’ve ever done. I always say that I hope the congregation gets a fraction of what I receive from studying when they hear the sermons.
- I mentioned that a good friend of mine, a retired pastor, joined our congregation last year. He also started a new Bible study (“Sunday School” class) last year for some of the younger families that have been attending our church. It has gone really well, and we’ve had more young families get involved with our church. We’ve also seen growth in our children’s ministries.
- We had good turnouts for both Vacation Bible School and Trunk or Treat. Vacation Bible School resulted in children putting their faith in Christ and getting baptized. Our children’s ministry in general has had a great year.
Clark: from Prekindergarten to Kindergarten
Clark “graduated” (completed) prekindergarten back in June. We were very happy with the school, so we enrolled him for kindergarten. It turned out that one of his best friends and one of his teachers from prekindergarten ended up his class this year. We also discovered that one of Clark’s new teachers is an Alabama Crimson Tide fan (not a common thing for a native-born El Pasoan). This school year has gone really well so far.
Breakthroughs
I didn’t mention this in last year’s review post, but Clark had a bit of bumpy start to prekindergarten last year. There were several days that he didn’t want to listen to his teachers and disrupted the classroom. I had to come to the school a few times to “persuade” him to behave.
But something clicked when we returned here in January of 2023 from our vacation in Alabama. He brought home a bad conduct report early that first week and I took away one of his favorite toys. We’ve used this punishment before, but it’s as though that day he finally made the connection between cause and effect. He’s only brought back one or two bad conduct reports from that day all the way through kindergarten this year.
Another breakthrough started in January: Clark’s speech, which had been a bit delayed, seemed to transform overnight. He began formulating longer sentences, asking more complex questions, and mastering all kinds of verbal skills that he was unable to do in previous months. Cris and I have been both astounded and relieved by this.
Clark has also continued to grow in his strong points, such as letters, numbers, and reading. He’s an amazing kid and I’m so thankful to be his dad!
Dual Citizenship
Mare Cris completed her path to American citizenship back in 2017. That was a long, expensive process and we were grateful for it to be finished.
This year we had an opportunity to acquire dual citizenship for both Mare Cris and Clark. The Philippine Consulate General of Houston Texas did an outreach here in El Paso back in April (this event was sponsored by one of the local Filipino-American groups). We were able to send some documents to them ahead of time, then finish other steps while the representatives were here in El Paso. My wife and son are now dual citizens of both America and the Philippines.
We’re not sure exactly what this benefit will mean for them. It should at least make future visits to the Philippines that much easier (no need for any kind of visa when you are a citizen of the Philippines).
A Season of Death
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die . . .
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a
Late August and the following weeks brought what I can only describe as a wave of death to our lives. It began with our family in the Philippines–one of my wife’s paternal relatives passed away. Then a young mother in Alabama we were good friends with died in a car accident. My wife’s maternal grandfather passed away next. This was followed by the death of yet another young mother–a church member who died within weeks of being diagnosed with cancer.
All of these deaths happened within about a month. The before-mention moms were both in their 30’s and had young children. These losses are still hard for us to wrap our minds around. I’m thankful for God’s grace, strength, and comfort.
Family
Mare Cris and I celebrated 11 years of marriage back in March. She grows in grace and beauty every day. We are still partners in life and ministry and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
We have continued to enjoy watching Clark grow up. The time goes by quickly!
This year’s cold and flu season has not hit us as hard as it did last year (so far, at least). We are grateful for that!!
We also continued a tradition we started last year: visiting my family in Alabama during July and Christmas time (instead of Memorial Day and Thanksgiving). This has allowed us to build great holiday memories with family without disrupting Clark’s school routine.
I’ll leave you with this quote from A.W. Tozer. I think it is fitting since we are bidding farewell to another year:
May you have a blessed, God-honoring 2024!
