this is joy
The soul of the one who serves God always swims in joy, always keeps holiday, and is always in the mood for singing. --St John of the Cross
The year was sprinkled all through with joy! There were so many gatherings & conversations stretching past reasonable hours. Everything from soup nights to rocket builds to a make-your-own-meat-pie party for Taylor’s 40th birthday! There were plentiful and wonderful God-sent opportunities and encounters, and we stand in awe at the abundance.
Our family continues to find its rhythm at St. John Chrysostom parish, where Taylor was ordained to the subdiaconate January 11: Axios! Bishop Artur came from Phoenix for the ordination; it was truly a beautiful liturgy. Bishop said in his homily, “the Year of Hope has ended, but it’s not the end. The Year of Hope becomes concrete here and right now! Hope is not the escape, but it is a comission!” We are grateful and humbled to be invited to serve our community in this way, and we look forward to the continued growth and grace as we live this vocation together.
Macie (15) is thriving in the performing company of her tap studio, it is such a joy to watch her dance! She is a freshman this year and while we don’t feel ready to have a child old enough to be in high school, we are routinely amazed by her grace and wisdom as she grows. We are excited for what the future holds for her
Mia (10) has grown in so many seen & unseen ways this year. She enjoyed a character-building baseball camp over the summer and has risen to the challenge of fifth grade academics! She is in three dance classes at the tap studio now (tap, hip hop, and majorette) and occasionally gets to help out with the younger classes. It is a joy to see her grow in responsbility.
Nathan (3), our not-so-Tiny Manno, continues to bring us so much joy. He’s in an era of constant wonder and discovery and his vocabulary and articulation have exploded, much to everyone’s entertainment (including his own).
Annie held it together while Taylor was at seminary & traveling: organizing schedules and transportation and emotional regulation for 5 humans and two dogs is no joke! She’s grateful for the village who have leaned in to help when Taylor’s away; we couldn’t do any of what we do without them! Over the summer she was asked to participate in a collaboration between the Eastern Catholic Eparchies in the US and Franciscan University’s Catechetical Institute, with the ultimate goal of crafting a program to train Eastern Catholic catechists. Getting back into “academic” work has been a little awkward but mostly fun and enriching.
In the spring, Taylor taught a course at UW on entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. He enjoyed bringing in several guest lecturers and experts (including his dad!) and made great connections with his students. He was asked to teach again in the fall. Unfortunately for UW, Taylor accepted a position with Catholic University of America as inaugural director of the Leonum Institute for AI and Emerging Techoogies. In November Tayor and Annie traveled to Rome to attend the Builders AI Forum. It was beautiful to walk the ancient streets together again and to work with so many other bright minds building human AI. The weekend concluded with a hackathon at the Ukrainian seminary (huge thanks to T’s mum for watching the kids while we traveled!).
In the fall, we reopened our foster license and almost immediately got an email for a foster placement. Welcome, little D (4), whose bright, sassy energy has transformed our family yet again. It’s been pretty wild having two toddlers running around and getting into mischief, but overall the little extra chaos has been enlivening and refreshing for all of us.
The Christmas chaos is behind us & we settle into the deeper Celebration of the Incarnation, the house full of four children & evidence of a year lived fully; we keep you all close in prayer, wishing you peace in your waiting & joy in the arrival.
Christ is among us!
He is and shall be.